Article, Ford loses its last cheap vehicle to tariffs

[Rob911]

The Maverick is an SUV with a bed, so I guess they are half right.

I had my friends with their 15 mpg 1/2 tons say the same thing... and most/nearly all of them use their trucks as nothing more then tall "Crown Vics" lol. I actually tow my pop-up camper and use the bed for truck things, moving junk and furniture etc. I bought to my requirements and keep smiling while getting 50 mpg for 3/4 of the year.

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[f1jim]

What tariffs? Most on cars have not been enacted and most vehicles are being excluded from what I read. Seems people think they are already paying for tariffs on cars.

 

[Dave O]

I just sold my 2014 F-150 Limited with 225,000 miles the Wholesaler never blinked offering me $7,500

 

[Barksdale123]

Hope mine never gets totaled. They dol like to crunch.

 

[Hunters Edge]

Hope mine never gets totaled. They dol like to crunch.

At least many have walked away. You can always buy another vehicle if you live through it. To be honest that is the way it's designed to act like a accordion and to take the blunt of the force and lesson the impact to the occupants.

That's one of the reason I bought the Ford Maverick was the safety rating it offered. I could care less of the vehicle that's why I carry insurance.

 

[Hunters Edge]

I just remember the 90’s when 200k was some special deal if your truck hit that. Heck now 200k trucks are not only alive but lasting well over 300k for the most part. Just do a quick search for high mileage trucks it’s insane

Last 2 F150's bought new and had over 200,000 on both before selling and purchasing a new replacement. High mileage used vehicles seem to be a norm now. Definitely more difficult to find a low mileage used vehicle unless they are turning in a lease.

 

[Bill Quattlebaum]

I would comment, but I wouldn't be politically correct. Probably would be put in time out!

 

[pigsareus]

What tariffs? Most on cars have not been enacted and most vehicles are being excluded from what I read. Seems people think they are already paying for tariffs on cars.

yep - there are and will soon be opportunists who jack up prices and blame it all on tariffs. Some news report about how the price of flowers has 'skyrocketed' for Mother's day due to tariffs - lots of flowers get imported - when the interviewer asked the flower shop owner how much the flowers has increased she said oh about 50 percent - when the interviewer pressed her and said well the tariffs on the import of them is only 10 percent then why are you raising them 50 percent she searched for an answer like oh well you know the wrapping and the pots - it all adds up. Yeah it adds up to taking advantage of the situation and making up fake prices.

 

[zen_]

I can tell you that cars today outlast anything g I’ve owned in the past. Not to long ago people would avoid cars with 100k plus miles on them. Let’s not pretend or rewrite history and believe that old cars lasted longer. It’s almost common now for vehicles to still be perfectly fine after 200k not 100k.
Im more sad about home prices being so high and the fact that that then raises property taxes.
I spend vastly more on taxes that get me nothing in the way of enjoyment or value compared to my maverick.

Broadly speaking I would agree that there were many vehicles circa ~1990 to 2015 (roughly) which were known to go 200-300K+ with adequate maintenance. They were in the sweat spot for having good technology, but not loaded to the gills with technology, and well developed engines. Broad spectrum of vehicles from the usual Japanese ones to Buick 3800 vehicles, Panther platform, Rangers, and many others.

Frankly even a lot of the bad vehicles of that era also served their purpose. I grew up in rural Nebraska, and stuff like the Grand Ams, Escorts, Cavaliers were what almost everyone drove in high school. Yes they were not great cars, but they were cheap to buy new, depreciated like a lead balloon, and were very cheap used. They were also ridiculously easy vehicles to fix with an abundance of new and used parts. They would not go 200K+ miles, but they would do 10-15 years 100-150K.

Your comment about houses is not too far off for cars too because people are just holding on to good cars longer and longer now, and the reliability of new ones has been dropping due to poorer quality parts, too much driver aid tech, and chasing harder to get MPGs with turbos, direct injection, cylinder deactivation, super high compression, looser piston rings, overly elaborate variable cam timing, etc. Really says a lot that Toyota is doing massive Hyundai Kia style engine recalls, and GM can't make a small block V8 that doesn't disintegrate.

 

[commadorebob]

My first car I bought new in 2003 was a Dodge Neon and it cost $13,000. Honestly, the Cash for Clunkers program did more harm to the auto market than any other government action. It took a bunch of still usable vehicles off the road for no reason other than to give a rebate to people who could already afford a new car. With the removal of cheap used competition, manufacturers had no reason to keep their prices low.

I was victimized by the Great Recession and it was almost impossible to find a good, used car at a cheap price. I lucked out in that my wife's grandfather was willing to sell me his Saturn at KBB trade value. It wasn't until my wife's used Escape (that was gifted to us) was damaged in a wreck that we looked at a mid-trim 2020 Escape... that cost more than the V8 quad cab Dodge Dakota I bought in 2005 while serving.

Add then the pandemic happened and the entire industry is still upside down.

Ford's tariff fee barely exceeds their transportation fee. It appears that tariffs will do many things, but killing the affordable car is not one of them. That died years ago.

 

[zen_]

Honestly, the Cash for Clunkers program did more harm to the auto market than any other government action. It took a bunch of still usable vehicles off the road for no reason other than to give a rebate to people who could already afford a new car. With the removal of cheap used competition, manufacturers had no reason to keep their prices low.

This seems to be something that keeps coming up a lot recently as a sort of conspiracy. If you look at the destroyed vehicle manifest, the vast majority of them were vehicles approaching the end of their useful life, they just never got that last owner who drives it until it's junked / abandoned with little or no maintenance done for a few years.

There are so many other forces at play with why vehicles have got so expensive, but the main drivers are actual input cost, manufactures have abandoned money losers that filled a segment or blocked competition (one result of GM and Chrysler going bankrupt in 2008), and mostly abandoned economy vehicles with razor thin margins too. In the used space it seems like private sales are almost a thing of the past, while big companies like Carvana and Carmax that make more money on loans than cars, and pay top dollar for used cars have gained a huge amount of market share (which pushes prices up).

 

[Dukeallen]

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...e-wait-no-politics.1551/page-605#post-1106973

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

My first car I bought new in 2003 was a Dodge Neon and it cost $13,000. Honestly, the Cash for Clunkers program did more harm to the auto market than any other government action. It took a bunch of still usable vehicles off the road for no reason other than to give a rebate to people who could already afford a new car. With the removal of cheap used competition, manufacturers had no reason to keep their prices low.

I was victimized by the Great Recession and it was almost impossible to find a good, used car at a cheap price. I lucked out in that my wife's grandfather was willing to sell me his Saturn at KBB trade value. It wasn't until my wife's used Escape (that was gifted to us) was damaged in a wreck that we looked at a mid-trim 2020 Escape... that cost more than the V8 quad cab Dodge Dakota I bought in 2005 while serving.

Add then the pandemic happened and the entire industry is still upside down.

Ford's tariff fee barely exceeds their transportation fee. It appears that tariffs will do many things, but killing the affordable car is not one of them. That died years ago.

And yet, in the Fall of 2021 (less than 4 years ago) the affordable car was alive and well; Ford offered a Small Basic Pickup Truck for $19,995 + $1, 495 Delivery ($21,490) w/ Automatic Trans, Hybrid Engine, Air Conditioning, Power Windows and Locks, Stereo.

Supply Chain... blah, blah, blah... Covid... blah, blah, blah... Tariffs... blah blah blah... Spring of 2025, Small Basic Pickup Truck w/ Automatic Trans, Hybrid Engine, Air Conditioning, Power Windows and Locks, better Stereo, Cruise for $28,145 + $1, 695 Delivery ($29,840).

40% increase in 3 1/2 years. Affordable Car died rather recently really.

 

[DScruggs]

Fake news or really horrible fact checking. "Ford says it assembled over 300,000 more vehicles in the U.S. than its closest competitor in 2024, including all of its pickup trucks". Then it says that the Maverick pickup truck is built in Mexico.

I agree that the wording is sloppy. I am sure the data should have referred to the F Series.

 

[sprubs]

I assume if tariffs stick around most vehicles will see a price increase. "cheap" is relative.

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