Giving time for the competition to catch up

[BeachBum]

Hyundai was first to the trucklet market with the Santa Cruz. Ford countered that with Base hybrid with much better mileage.
But...while it could be 6 months or more for some of us to get our Maverick, Hyundai isn't sleeping. They may very well transplant one of their hybrid engines into a new variant of the Santa Cruz.
Should they announce that in the next few months before you took delivery of your Maverick hybrid, would you cancel your order and consider the SC?
I must confess, I prefer the SC styling. It was the hybrid option and lower price that had me order a Maverick. You?

That's a big NO from me on the SC. I've been wanting to get a truck for awhile, so I want my truck to look like a truck. The increasing size of the existing truck models, and their prices, even the new Ranger, kept me away. The Maverick fits the bill for me.

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[MLowe05]

I have found the opposite. Our German cars have all been nightmares with huge reliability issues. I live near the Alabama Mercedes plant. I know alot of them that work there. I know ZERO that will buy one. They all call them plastic pieces of junk and after 3 I agree. Ford on the other hand has gotten on par with what people think of German cars. Perfect example. My brother has a (these are all '14 models) boxy Mercedes suv. Not the rugged one, but the mall queen one. It is pretty and fast but plagued with issues. My wife's aund has a x3 BMW SUV. Pretty and fast again but currently parked due to NUMEROUS issues. Then there is our escape titanium. It is also pretty but has the small fuel efficient engine and it's only issue has been bad gas and a blown low beam. We looked at replacing that car. The ONLY thing we found that was nicer was the LINCOLN version. Those high end German cars actually had less options than the Escape. I love bringing that up. When they brag about their German car I simply say how much in repairs have you spent or need and your car STILL can't park itself. I am done with German cars and with Nissan card.

If gadgets are what you are after, then lots of cheaper cars have more of that than much more expensive Germans. That sort of misses the point, though, as the experience is what makes the German cars special. The repair-bills-are-scary trope is also completely irrelevant if you never own one outside of warranty. Only one of our German cars (a supercharged Benz) ever stayed past warranty expiration, and we ran it to 150,000 miles without serious issue. That said, I don't recommend aging German vehicles to friends. They can get quite expensive.

I've never owned an Alabama-built Mercedes. Of the 5 Benz cars I've owned, 4 were produced in Sindelfingen and one was produced in East London, South Africa. I could tell no real difference except for interior smell between the ones from Germany and the one from South Africa. Our Porsche was built in Leipzig, Germany. But all of this again is sort of a non-issue. If I cared where a car was produced, seems like I'd be a little concerned over the Mexico-built Maverick. But, our Forte was built in Mexico and fit/finish is as good as can be expected from anything ringing up at $23k.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Hyundai was first to the trucklet market with the Santa Cruz. Ford countered that with Base hybrid with much better mileage.
But...while it could be 6 months or more for some of us to get our Maverick, Hyundai isn't sleeping. They may very well transplant one of their hybrid engines into a new variant of the Santa Cruz.
Should they announce that in the next few months before you took delivery of your Maverick hybrid, would you cancel your order and consider the SC?
I must confess, I prefer the SC styling. It was the hybrid option and lower price that had me order a Maverick. You?

Maybe for $2500+/- Less for comparable build.

 

[fishinmagician]

If the Santa Cruz offered a hybrid and it was comparably priced, I would get that.

Having seen both in person, the Santa Cruz is way higher quality. Although I prefer the styling of the maverick. What really sold me on the maverick is I'm getting a $23000 vehicle with 40 mpg

 

[atomguy245]

The SC will have the higher quality materials in the interior, but the upper trims get those fake buttons which will make it harder to use. Also, the SC has the built in rolling tonneau cover which intrudes into the already small bed space. The only plus I see to the SC is that it would have the dual clutch transmission instead of the Ford's eCVT, which means the SC will drive more like a normal vehicle shifting between the gears.

 

[Down]

That said, I don't recommend aging German vehicles to friends. They can get quite expensive.

100% true, the true test of bravery is buying an out of warranty, 150k mile BMW without a large savings account for maintenance. Just ask a couple people I know!

Although to be fair, that's also been my experience with Ford as of late:
2009 Escape, bought new, transmission was well on its way out by 75k miles
2013 Escape, bought new, transmission was a bit iffy, multiple electrical problems (sensors, Sync, etc) and random check engine lights by 70k miles
2017 Escape, bought new, no mechanical problems yet (I'm only at 46k miles though) but factory paint/prep was TERRIBLE, so I've got about 2,500 worth of paint/body work to address.

If I wasn't OK with swapping out cars every 4 years or so, no way in hell I'd touch a Ford with a 10 foot pole after my experience. As it sets though? I figure I'm well prepared for the pitfalls of buying a first year vehicle AND, if an SVT type version of the Maverick is released in the next 2-3 years, like l hope?
I won't have to feel bad about taking the depreciation hit to unload the current Mav, as it'll prolly be starting to fall apart anyway.


Even with all that said, as for the OP, yuck on that Hyundai. Barring a complete redesign, I have zero interest in that thing.

 

[Darnon]

The only plus I see to the SC is that it would have the dual clutch transmission instead of the Ford's eCVT, which means the SC will drive more like a normal vehicle shifting between the gears.

Hyundai would probably use a regular planetary 6-speed transmission as in their other hybrids, particularly the Tucson Hybrid it shares a platform with.

 

[New2AZ]

If Honda could/would hybrid-ize the Ridgeline, achieve near 40mpg overall, and keep it in the $35k range I'd be sold instantly.

 

[atomguy245]

Hyundai would probably use a regular planetary 6-speed transmission as in their other hybrids, particularly the Tucson Hybrid it shares a platform with.

Even better. I had a 2012 Sonata Hybrid with the 6 speed and it drove like a normal car, and the transition from electric to gas was seamless .

 

[Falcon first]

I’ve owned 17 BMW’s and currently own 2. The keys to BMW ownership is finding an independent repair shop because the dealerships will rip you off. If you don’t drive a lot of miles then maintenance is ok (under 7,500 per year). Sell them at 60,000 and you basically avoid major expenses. Really haven’t had big expenses until my 2014 M235 head unit (radio) died this year at 21,000 miles and it was a $1,900 replacement because my independent doesn’t do that type of work.
Actually buying the Maverick as my daily vehicle to be able to use my coupe just on weekends. Price is maybe the biggest selling point and paying another $7-8000 or more for a Hyundai would totally defeat my reason for buying. I’ve only ever owned one Ford which was my first car a 1960 Ford Falcon station wagon. Just saw one exactly like it on the Andy Griffith Show rerun.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

That's a big NO from me on the SC. I've been wanting to get a truck for awhile, so I want my truck to look like a truck. The increasing size of the existing truck models, and their prices, even the new Ranger, kept me away. The Maverick fits the bill for me.

Me too on Ranger when they first came out I hopped, skipped, jumped to buy one until I saw how big they were (also $5k-$7k too high). After waiting 30 years maverick at bearable price with me being 78 and private vehicle ownership appearing not to be as affordable or even allowed, said "I can make this do for now". My #1 desired "Walla" package would be additional drive mode = "emergency power my house" but that would probably cost more than the $3k I would pay.

 

[Red Ryder]

I don't know who will come to this compact truck market with competition, but it would be very fun to have a six-speed manual in the mix. That is one thing that would sway me.

 

[710-oil-614]

Definitely no on the SC for the reasons stated above. Too expensive and not what I am looking for in a trucklet. The payload in the bed is 650lbs.

I think that the only manufacturer who would have a desire to and an ability to respond appropriately would be Chevy and if I am being honest - I can't ever see myself buying a Chevrolet.

Ford sells more trucks than anyone else. I'll put my faith in Ford to deliver me a good trucklet. Somethings are worth the wait.

 

[JBnorthTX]

I prefer the styling of the Maverick. I would consider a hybrid SC only if it was price competitive (highly doubtful) and if I hadn't ordered my Maverick yet. I don't think Hyundai would be able to roll out a hybrid SC soon enough to beat my Maverick order even though I don't have a build date yet.

 

[2022EOW]

Nope, I bleed blue.

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