Justifying my 2025 Maverick Order

[Pee Dee]

I'm going through a similar mental exercise now. My 2022 ECO AWD LUX 360 HPR was $30,500 OTD. I priced the same as a 2025 and it's $35,200 OTD. My calculations...

$35,500 purchase price - minimal taxes because of a closely valued trade.

• My personal incentives for buying...
• -1,000 new tires I won't have to buy. (mine are almost toast) checked with Tire Rack
• -1,000 value of the new tech to me personally
• -1,000 value of restarting the 3 year warranty to me personally (based on past Ranger ownership experience - upkeep costs real money once the warranty is gone)
• -2,000 my personal allowance for 27,000 miles (two years) of depreciation
• - 500 military discount if still offered
• - ?? future ford incentives ?? I'm ready to wait for them to appear this winter.

So $5,000 or so is the difference I'm willing to pay for the trade. Less is better. So I'll simply call my dealer, Carvana offer in hand, and (without sharing the info above) see if he can get me in a 2025 Maverick for at or less than $5,000. Any more than that - not worth my trouble. I'll wait for better sales conditions, which I think are coming.

Not saying my approach is right for everyone. It's just right for me. I'm a spreadsheet kind of guy.

BTW, I laugh when the media guys (or MTC members) talk about list prices - while leaving out the $2,000 in delivery and fees Ford charges. What a laugher.

Edit: After checking my Carvana offer, I don't think my numbers add up. Carvana is only offering $25,400 for my pretty mint, pretty loaded Maverick. $10,000 to upgrade to a 2025? No thanks. I'll double check that trade with my dealer and a few other sites, but Maverick resale values seem to be plummeting in my area.

Don't forget to include the $600 doc fee the dealer will add on if you buy in NC.

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[EriktheBikeMan]

Since I now buy half as much gas with a hybrid, I've taken $45 every other week for 2 years and sent it to my investment account. It's now worth about $6,000.

do whatever you want just share your investment strategies with me! Heck, if you can achieve a rate of return like that consistently you don’t need to justify anything

 

[KEMeyer]

Congratulations! That was well thought out. I'm selling or trading my '24 Lariat with only 1200 miles for the new model with much less rationale... SEE-LIKE-BUY!!! The main attractions are front camera and Sync 4, plus a few minor attractions.
Actually, there is a method to my madness, which revolves around inflation and devaluation of our dollars over the past 4 years, so I decided this is a good time to trade up.

UPDATE: I ordered the '25 Lariat 2.0 EB yesterday morning and canceled it today after reading about a Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) added to the 2025 2.0 EcoBoost emission system. I learned that my low miles/low speed urban driving would be problematic. I could have paid $1200 to get the hybrid engine, but I don’t want one, so I chose to keep my 2024 and monitor customer experience.

 

[npaladin2000]

I need AWD. I live in the northeast. That's enough justification for me.

 

[db212144]

If you want it and it doesn't interfere with your essential living expenses or savings goals, then get it! I really like my '23 Escape ST Line, but I'm going to order a 2025 Maverick Lariat. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Bear]

Initially I said no to the 2025. After reading about it more I'm going to visit my sales guy and work the numbers. I really don't care about the AWD but like the 4k towing and some of the nice creator features the Lariat has to offer. The current Caravan offer for my 22 XLT is about 22K which has about 24K miles. Since I'm retired now I won't be putting on that many miles on my Maverick driving to work

 

[ClemsonU88]

do whatever you want just share your investment strategies with me! Heck, if you can achieve a rate of return like that consistently you don’t need to justify anything

I put $45 in every other week for 2 years. 45 * 52 = $2340. Initially I had it in Apple, but about 10 months ago I switched it to NVIDIA. It’s tripled in 10 months. I would have expected $3k after 2 years but got lucky with NVIDIA.

I'm afraid NVIDIA may have topped out for a while though.

 

[ClemsonU88]

Mike, I think you've made a well thought out decision that will most likely work well for you.

Something I've noticed about myself, when it comes to me trying to justify a big purchase. I find something I really want but I cannot justify the cost. Usually an item I want more than need. A new motorcycle, for example.

Since it's expensive and there's no logical reason I need to spend that much when other motorcycles would do everything I want, maybe even better, I end up buying the lower cost bike. And I'm still not happy. So I spend more money on accessories to try and make it more like the bike I wanted. And I'm still not happy.

And eventually I spend the money and get the bike I originally wanted. And then I'm happy. I actually could've saved money just buying the bike I wanted first, because I never recoup what I spent on the other bike and all the accessories.

So, I've learned to just buy what I want the first time, even if I can't justify the cost. My wife has seen this in me and tells me the same thing. "Just buy it because your gonna end up buying it eventually"

The heart wants what the heart wants.

That's just me, though. Other people may be better at making a logical decision and ignoring their unjustifyable desires.

Enjoy your new truck!

We’re all different aren’t we? Thanks for the kind words. I have a friend that sounds a lot like you. He tends to buy the higher end of what he wants, because he figures it’s usually just a “few“ dollars more to get what he REALLY wants, and then he’s not looking for a new truck (or whatever) two years later.

I’m afraid I’ll be looking for another Maverick when they come out with a plug in hybrid.

Enjoy your new truck too…if you’re getting one.

 

[ClemsonU88]

All you people making orders, don't forget the $500 doller Farm Bureau Certificate.

Thanks for the reminder. I got it with my MY22 but let the Farm Bureau membership expire. I’ll renew it when they tell me they’ve scheduled my truck.

 

[ClemsonU88]

Don't forget to include the $600 doc fee the dealer will add on if you buy in NC.

Yeah. I’ll offset it with the Farm Bureau credit.

 

[ychuck46]

We also have a '22 Mav XLT Hybrid with 20K miles on it but we do have the Luxury package (it is pretty nice during the cold weather - we must be turning into wusses). Just placed an order for an equivalent '25 Mav Hybrid yesterday. We never trade in vehicles that quickly. For example, our 2012 F-150 that we bought new is running great. But we felt this was right for different reasons. Just wish we could have gotten silver again but instead settled for the Carbonized Grey. Best of luck with your decision as well.

Good price from Carvana. We'll be trying that route as well. With the lux package, a beautiful tonneau cover I installed that doesn't leak in the hardest rain, and fewer miles, I wonder what they would quote me. Can't do it for awhile until we get closer to a build and ship date, but very interesting.

 

[bckrupps]

I bought mine in 2023. Im almost 50 and it was my first brand new vehicle ever. Most years I didn’t have more than a few thousand saved. I decided a few years ago to focus on saving and investing in small things like CD’s and a high yield savings account. Also cut back on fast food and nonsense purchases and surprisingly I never felt deprived of anything. 3 years later or so I bought my Maverick cash and have 2 retirement accounts going and a year salary in savings. People especially younger ones don’t realize just how much it matters. $20 is nothing but if you skip Starbucks or something that $20 will be more than that if you are willing to look at the bigger picture. Maybe im just older or started too late but I definitely struggled more than I needed and had nothing to show for it. Having a new vehicle with no payment is so rewarding.

 

[TheShark]

I bought mine in 2023. Im almost 50 and it was my first brand new vehicle ever. Most years I didn’t have more than a few thousand saved. I decided a few years ago to focus on saving and investing in small things like CD’s and a high yield savings account. Also cut back on fast food and nonsense purchases and surprisingly I never felt deprived of anything. 3 years later or so I bought my Maverick cash and have 2 retirement accounts going and a year salary in savings. People especially younger ones don’t realize just how much it matters. $20 is nothing but if you skip Starbucks or something that $20 will be more than that if you are willing to look at the bigger picture. Maybe im just older or started too late but I definitely struggled more than I needed and had nothing to show for it. Having a new vehicle with no payment is so rewarding.

Feels nice to own a new vehicle outright. It's amazing how putting money aside even sometimes small amounts can add up over time, as the old saying goes money makes money.

 

[Mabcim]

We also have a '22 Mav XLT Hybrid with 20K miles on it but we do have the Luxury package (it is pretty nice during the cold weather - we must be turning into wusses). Just placed an order for an equivalent '25 Mav Hybrid yesterday. We never trade in vehicles that quickly. For example, our 2012 F-150 that we bought new is running great. But we felt this was right for different reasons. Just wish we could have gotten silver again but instead settled for the Carbonized Grey. Best of luck with your decision as well.

Good price from Carvana. We'll be trying that route as well. With the lux package, a beautiful tonneau cover I installed that doesn't leak in the hardest rain, and fewer miles, I wonder what they would quote me. Can't do it for awhile until we get closer to a build and ship date, but very interesting.

I was just my dealer, to order an ‘25 Lariat Eco, and the trade-in for my ‘22 was much lower than I expected; compared to KBB. So I may have to go the Caravana route as well, when the time comes. Usually the tax savings doesn’t make it worth it, but it might just be this time around.

 

[Timothyd]

Years ago I developed a belief: if you have to justify something (to yourself or others), you probably shouldn't do it. Anytime I say that to someone, the knee jerk response is something like, "I don't think that's true" or "Really? why?", or "That's nonsense." But if you think about it, most times it's true.

I've wrestled with "Should I trade my MY22 school bus yellow/orange XLT Hybrid w/ 35k miles on it for a MY25 XLT Hybrid w/ the luxury package. The '25 will cost about $34k out the door, and Carvana said they'd give me $25,400 for my '22. A $7,600 difference. Now for the justification.

Since I now buy half as much gas with a hybrid, I've taken $45 every other week for 2 years and sent it to my investment account. It's now worth about $6,000. That money was going to be for when I needed repairs after the warranty, but I can use it for the new truck and reset the bumper to bumper warranty. That means I'll finance an additional $1,600 for 3 years (an extra $50/month). But that might be less with interest rates coming down next month.

Plus, I get a larger screen (which I've been wanting for 2 years), Synch4, a heated steering wheel, and a brand new truck with a 3 year warranty. Lastly, the old adage is "Don't buy the 1st year of a new model, because the reliability (both short & long term) are unpredictable. My Maverick has been great through 35k miles, but what about once it's out of warranty? No telling.

I put all this in writing to see if it all made sense on paper...of course it makes sense in my head. It seems wise (or at least acceptable) financially. It seems good emotionally since I've had a problem with the color (felt like I got duped with the Cyber "Orange") and the screen size since day one. AND the heated steering wheel is the most decadent, senseless amenity that I love (my wife has one).

I almost deleted this, because I've made my decision and placed the order. Putting it in writing solidified it makes sense to me logically. But I'm curious what everyone else thinks about either my belief about justifying something or my thoughts on "trading" a MY22 for a MY25. Maybe your thoughts will help someone else struggling with this dilemma.

Well, you're going to enjoy it a lot and it's a good choice and value so I would go for it

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