Beware the delicate Maverick hybrid

[Cherokee]

Scotty is one I watched his video, but he was not the ones that made my mind up about the hybrids. I'm sure if you went online and ask the public about them, you will find plenty of mechanics and general people that don't want a hybrid. I've never had a gas tank blow up or catch fire, but I've read where a lot of Batteries have exploded.

I know it’s rare and gasoline only cars burn up more often. But the numbers of electric cars are still so low.
If they were equal in production to gas cars I wonder what the ratio would be.

If that happened in your garage in the middle of the night I’d hope everyone could get out of the house in time.

It reminds me of a magnesium fire with fighter aircraft.
Super hot, super short time to full burn or explosion.

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[heady]

What you're looking for is the rate of occurrence of vehicle fires, which eliminates the total number of vehicles as a consideration and just gives you the chances of a fire occurring for a specific vehicle type. Internal combustion vehicles have a rate of catching fire that is ~60 times times higher than electric vehicles , and hybrids have a rate about double the internal combustion engine only rate, according to the single study I found referenced on it. Very few people buy EVs for their massively lower risk of fires, and I doubt many people shy away from hybrids due to the increased risk of fires, the rates are far too low for that to be a real factor in rational decision making processes. https://insideevs.com/news/561549/study-evs-smallest-fire-risk/

As far as the frailty and cost of damage to radiators and grilles and such, welcome to all modern vehicles. Buy insurance and use it when needed, or fix it yourself for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Jonny44]

Don't take your truck to the dealer first of all

Yep. Skip the dealer and take it to a hack shop that will epoxy everything together and keep the insurance $ for the work not completed.

 

[colinl]

Full disclosure: As one reply noted, I did indeed take the truck to a detailer - right after receiving estimates of $1,900 and $2,900 from two body shops. The detailer buffed out the odd yellow staining (left by the black plastic SUV bumper), and I covered the scratches with touch-up paint. Perhaps the body shops would have identified the internal damage after removing the bumper.

But my main points in posting my message were 1) that it took a month for the radiator damage to become apparent, and 2), the visible damage was indeed minor - as shown in the attached photo.

I'm pretty surprised the detailer touched that up for only $80 assuming they used the correct paint code. Nah - not surprised. In disbelief, really.

Did you take a full front shot? I suspect the grille shutter damage could be visible. Your Ford dealership is overcharging for the repair, for sure.

 

[cyberdog]

I'm willing to bet the bumper was actually push in farther then you think, and simply popped back out to it's original shape as opposed to cracking with the summer temps. The same hit in cold weather would have likely left it either pushed in , or more obvious due having cracked. - Just what plastic does in warm weather, it will bounce back, although the pain isn't as forgiving, and flakes/chips.

Sadly, like most vehicles today, the bumper's impact bracing doesn't typically extend into the corners as they previously would have years ago. While less aerodynamic, and aesthetically pleasing, there were some benefits of those big heavy chrome plated bumpers of old. - I backed into a short post that was invisible through the rear window many years ago, and all it did was leave a slight rub mark on the bumper of my '79 Impala wagon. Of course that tank weighed in at something like 4200 lbs empty, and managed 13-14 mpg on a good day.

 

[ShadowBlack XL440]

Yep. Skip the dealer and take it to a hack shop that will epoxy everything together and keep the insurance $ for the work not completed.

Don't think for a minute that some Ford dealers don't do the same thing. My son has a Lincoln MKZ that was repaired at the dealership after hitting a racoon. It was over 2500 in damage. Insurance was billed for new led lights that got the tabs epoxied back on along with many missing fasteners. Shady work from a dealer happens too.

 

[notfast]

if I had known the hybrid was so fragile, I would have opted for the Eco-boost.

I think you'd need an F-250 over a Maverick Ecoboost if you wanted to drive away from a minor collision with just cosmetic damage or less. Seriously, with how tightly-packaged smaller late-model vehicles are and with all of the extra safety and fuel economy equipment (like active grille shutters and plastic underbody shields), it's not surprising that even a minor bump can be a couple thousand dollars to repair.

Don't think for a minute that some Ford dealers don't do the same thing. My son has a Lincoln MKZ that was repaired at the dealership after hitting a racoon. It was over 2500 in damage. Insurance was billed for new led lights that got the tabs epoxied back on along with many missing fasteners. Shady work from a dealer happens too.

I think the moral of the story is to find a reputable shop, whether that is a dealer or an independent. The body shop I took a past car to left a box of extra new-in-bag parts (emblems, clips, reflectors, dealer-installed accessories) in the trunk when I picked up the car. They were approved by the insurance company to purchase the parts, but the body shop techs were able to reinstall the old ones, so they just boxed them up and told me to keep them.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Please post some pictures of modern cars with radiator 'protection'

Ford has the "smart/active grill shutter" but it has the risk of being very expensive to repair. My old F-150 had a stainless mesh zip tied behind the grill when I bought it... and I'm about to do the exact same thing. It might not look the best, but it's better protection than most for basic debris.

That being said, I was looking at a Honda yesterday and the Civic hybrid has a giant curved aluminum beam running in front of the radiator/bumper. While it's the same approach as most, it was a MUCH beefier beam/geometry compared to what I saw from other OEMs.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Don't think for a minute that some Ford dealers don't do the same thing. My son has a Lincoln MKZ that was repaired at the dealership after hitting a racoon. It was over 2500 in damage. Insurance was billed for new led lights that got the tabs epoxied back on along with many missing fasteners. Shady work from a dealer happens too.

OEM tabs are ultrasonically welded or insert-molded... basically impossible to recreate without fixtures or manufacturing equipment. Epoxy is about the only thing they can do, but it's strong enough if done properly.

 

[ShadowBlack XL440]

OEM tabs are ultrasonically welded or insert-molded... basically impossible to recreate without fixtures or manufacturing equipment. Epoxy is about the only thing they can do, but it's strong enough if done properly.

Might be an acceptable fix but not acceptable to bill for a new part and only repair the broken part.

 

[colinl]

Ford has the "smart/active grill shutter" but it has the risk of being very expensive to repair. My old F-150 had a stainless mesh zip tied behind the grill when I bought it... and I'm about to do the exact same thing. It might not look the best, but it's better protection than most for basic debris.

That being said, I was looking at a Honda yesterday and the Civic hybrid has a giant curved aluminum beam running in front of the radiator/bumper. While it's the same approach as most, it was a MUCH beefier beam/geometry compared to what I saw from other OEMs.

under warranty, who cares. someone else at fault on an insurance claim.. who cares.

however, if you are paying out of your own pocket, the shutters are not critical and I would just remove them. they are a minor enhancement for highway mpg and cold start. (they stay shut at cold start, but the thermostat isn't flowing, anyway, so very minimal difference.)

if your remove shutters you always want to disconnect the actuators and zip tie or otherwise secure them in place, plugged in so that you don't throw any codes.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Might be an acceptable fix but not acceptable to bill for a new part and only repair the broken part.

By and large, that kind of behavior is the definition of fraud.

 

[BkK]

My insurance agent said that i could buy a new Corvette and it would Not increase my insurance, and my EV and old 95 truck were the same price. He said it is the Medical that sets the main price not the vehicle

 

[basicUse]

high voltage radiator (it cools the high voltage battery

High voltage traction battery cooler, electric motor radiator, high voltage battery radiator are all real parts in the diagram. My comments below were wrong and missed the second parts diagram apparently it has 2 separate cooling system thus I has to separate diagrams. I am not use to working on hybrids at all. thank god. I will admit this is a lot of complexity! the hyrbid does not cost much more than an eco boost yet has alot of special parts for cooling systems I never would have expected.

weird name for a radiator. The coolant system is all together even the engine and hybrid stuff shares coolant reservoirs . I don't think buying the eco boost would have prevented this according to what that dealer said. Their is no special radiator for the battery.Their is a main radiator and a heater core, then maybe a Aux radiator, and a AC condensor.

 

[basicUse]

ALL VEHICLE REPAIRS ARE EXPENSIVE NOW.

So is food, rent, insurance……….

If your airbags go off for any reason whatsoever your insurance will total your Maverick.

The days of inexpensive car repairs are long gone and never coming back.

Get used to it.

airbags on any car are (almost) impossible to replace, the ecu keeps a record and a crash event data.

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