Anyone using your Maverick as a family vehicle?

[ThisWas]

This is a Maverick forum so of course everyone will tell you that a Maverick is perfect for families when actually the correct answer for you is "minivan."

Congratulations on your good news! You will find that two children require more than twice the stuff you carry for one - it's exponential.

I don't know where you are in the U.S. or if you have a garage but here in the northeast the thermometer dropped below zero last night. You put strollers and so forth in the back of a minivan and they'll stay warm, dry, and secure, which a pickup bed with tonneau cover can't guarantee.

I promise that your child and future children will grow bigger... you can never have too much space. I've owned exactly one minivan, a 1996 Grand Caravan we called the Queen Mary because it seemed so huge, and it was 200" long - the same as my Maverick.

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[SkeeterB]

Empty nesters here, but, still have grandkids, car seats and boosters. Not to metion collecting broken bikes and scooters to bring home and fix. Son in law somehow just doesn't know how. I suspect maybe he is a little lazy. An fixing interferes with hunting.

 

[ralatalo]

This is a Maverick forum so of course everyone will tell you that a Maverick is perfect for families when actually the correct answer for you is "minivan."

Congratulations on your good news! You will find that two children require more than twice the stuff you carry for one - it's exponential.

I don't know where you are in the U.S. or if you have a garage but here in the northeast the thermometer dropped below zero last night. You put strollers and so forth in the back of a minivan and they'll stay warm, dry, and secure, which a pickup bed with tonneau cover can't guarantee.

I promise that your child and future children will grow bigger... you can never have too much space. I've owned exactly one minivan, a 1996 Grand Caravan we called the Queen Mary because it seemed so huge, and it was 200" long - the same as my Maverick.

Bring home a real tree for christmas will give you a lifetime of needler in the car as well. My kids complain putting the garbage in the car for a trip the dump makes car smell for a week. So there are always going to be trade offs between interiors and exterior cargo space.

 

[shizelbs]

Yes. We are, however, well past rear facing car seats. Fits all of us comfortably (I can fit behind the drivers seat easily). I mention that because I don't see us outgrowing the cabin. The Mav ticks my boxes of being able to haul us all plus smelly sports gear in the bed. It's also my daily driver.

 

[notfast]

I second this. In my opinion, if you're looking at any vehicle as a family car that's something other than a full-size pickup or SUV, I'd load up the child seats and typical weekend stuff and do a test fit.

There's just too many variables to determine if the Maverick (or any smaller-than-a-full-size) vehicle would be good for a particular family. As others pointed out, it depends on how tall everyone is, how tolerant every one is, how much stuff is toted along, where the wife likes to sit, what position you like to have the child seats, what position you like to have the front seats in, what kind of child seats specifically, etc.

Midsize SUVs typically have more rear leg room than a midsize pickup. The Maverick isn't bad, but a 4Runner or Wrangler has more rear leg room, which makes a difference if you're using rear-facing child seats.

This is a Maverick forum so of course everyone will tell you that a Maverick is perfect for families when actually the correct answer for you is "minivan."

I wholeheartedly agree. If I had more than one kid, I'd hang up my man card and buy a minivan in a heartbeat.

With a Maverick plus a bed cover, anything in the bed can't be taller than the bed tub (18"?) unless you want to keep the bed cover partially open or remove it and tie everything down to survive a category 1 hurricane. A minivan carries 4 people extremely comfortably and can swallow just about anything in the back and keep it locked and dry.

In-laws want to come along? Even if just one in-law comes along, you go from being squeezed 3-abreast in the back seat to being spaced out comfortably across 3 rows and still have plenty of cargo space.

Kids getting older/taller/more independent? Minivans have power sliding doors. This means that kids can easily open/close the doors without help, and you don't have to worry about them swinging the door (or losing control of it in a wind gust) at cars/poles/walls.

Like road trips? There is no better vehicle in my opinion than the minivan. Plenty of space to take whatever. The minivan is your house-on-wheels. Kids can quite literally stand and walk around inside.

I owned a 2015 Honda Odyssey as an unmarried guy. Went on a road trip with the GF and another couple. The trunk swallowed all our luggage (5 carry-ons plus three large duffel bags) with the 3rd row seat up, so we designated the 3rd row seat as the couch. Whoever wanted a nice(r) nap kicked it on the 3rd row seat (while still buckled in).

A fast-food restaurant we stopped at was packed because it was raining sheets outside. So we got to-go and quite literally set up a (albeit small) table in the van.

Half an hour or so later, we got caught in standstill traffic for two hours because of a rolled-over semi on the Interstate we were on. Still raining sheets outside. No sweat; we had plenty of room to stretch out inside. We clamped an iPad to the B-pillar grab handle. We rotated "drivers" (someone in the driver's seat, ready to move the van) while the other three of us kicked it on the couch, watched NetFlix, and played a couple rounds of Splendor.

The Toyota Sienna LE still has some basic luxury features (3-zone auto climate, power driver's seat, etc) and rings up at roughly $3k more than a hybrid Maverick Lariat Lux. The Sienna gets 36mpg to the Maverick's 40ish MPG. The Sienna has a larger fuel tank (600+ mile range), can be had with AWD-e at the cost of 1mpg, and is rated to tow 3,500lbs.

 

[pjlawton]

Hey everyone.

I've been infatuated with the Maverick after checking one out in person. The wife and I really like it and it meets a lot of our needs and wants at this time. My preferred build would be hybrid Lariat w/Lux, but as everyone's aware you can't order a hybrid right now.

This would have become our daily vehicle. We're currently driving a '21 4Runner but that's supposed to be our adventure-mobile as I make some updates.

At the time I was learning more about the Maverick and starting to really like it, it was just three of us; me, wife, 6 y/o. A few days ago we got some unexpected but good news of another baby on the way. Anyone who's had kids knows rear facing car seats take up more room than a forward facing or booster. While we thought the Maverick would be perfect for three of us, I'm starting to second guess whether it would work as a daily/family car now.

If anyone has feedback on their experiences using the Maverick I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

It's a 4 door with about as much room as a small SUV. It's a little smaller inside than my Bronco Sport was but sill plenty big enough for a small family. I simply love my Mav.

 

[Ricketts]

Absolutely! My Maverick is replacing my widebody Charger. Charger sold already, I sure do need that Maverick to get here, lol.

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