Maverick vs Ridgeline vs Santa Cruz review after taking delivery

[JASmith]

Pro-tip: Want the hybrid but couldn't wait? Order a hybrid now anyway. By the time you get it, you can still probably sell your Ecoboost Maverick for close to what you paid for it. Various used car calculators are showing many 1 year old cars selling for new MSRP because many people just don't want to, or can't, wait for a ordered vehicle.

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[Decayed]

-yeah, Toronto/Canada. Cdn $, no ADM.
-I'd have no hesitation with the Santa Cruz, if it had fit my needs better. We had an Entourage for 12 years. It was a quality vehicle. OEM parts were absurdly priced, but, that's another matter.
-If I'm ''stepping up into the drivers seat', that means I'm also stepping up into the bed to get materials/tools. Why on earth would I want to do that?
-trust me, the ''celebrity status'' wears thin pretty quickly and you just want to be left alone and blend in. I mean, I got an appliance white XL, with STEEL WHEELS!! I want to be invisible.
-agreed, the original smart truck, ridgeline, will be in trouble. Santa Cruz and Maverick will eat into it's sales and the ''I want to be king of the road'' crowd will never look at it anyways because they gotta have the biggest thing they can afford.

Pretty sure the giant truck sales are driven at least in part by contractors who write off the cost as a business expense. They need a big truck for work and buy the nicest one they can get because the business bears the cost. Then there are the guys with more money than sense (and maybe not that much money- more credit than sense?) who get the shiny eyes when they have to look up to see the door handle. The manufacturers see this driving sales so everything has to get bigger. That end of the market probably won't change much.

Turns out there was pent up demand for a decent cheap truck with smaller proportions. I've been saying for year that if they made my old 1980 toyota pickup with a crew cab and AWD I'd buy on in a heartbeat. Now here we are.

I wouldn't be surprised if the maverick puts a big dent in the mid sized market.

 

[Bn1970]

Pretty sure the giant truck sales are driven at least in part by contractors who write off the cost as a business expense. They need a big truck for work and buy the nicest one they can get because the business bears the cost. Then there are the guys with more money than sense (and maybe not that much money- more credit than sense?) who get the shiny eyes when they have to look up to see the door handle. The manufacturers see this driving sales so everything has to get bigger. That end of the market probably won't change much.

Turns out there was pent up demand for a decent cheap truck with smaller proportions. I've been saying for year that if they made my old 1980 toyota pickup with a crew cab and AWD I'd buy on in a heartbeat. Now here we are.

I wouldn't be surprised if the maverick puts a big dent in the mid sized market.

Yep, I think you're right on all points.

 

[James D]

Pro-tip: Want the hybrid but couldn't wait? Order a hybrid now anyway. By the time you get it, you can still probably sell your Ecoboost Maverick for close to what you paid for it. Various used car calculators are showing many 1 year old cars selling for new MSRP because many people just don't want to, or can't, wait for a ordered vehicle.

No one can order a hybrid until 2023 model next summer. Now that a lot more people know about the Mav, I have a feeling when hybrid orders open up, the site will be overwhelmed and Ford will sell out much quicker. And MSRP likely will go way up with the news of last month's inflation hitting 6.8%.

The ecoboost version can still be ordered today at this year's msrp. If your Mav will be used a lot for road trips, the eco makes more sense because hwy mpg is not much different even with 250 horses.

The AWD was actually a better choice for our ski trips, camping, and some basic offroading. It's more fun to drive in sport mode, safer passing, upgraded suspension, more towing with 4k, safer in bad weather, and best of all - not forced to chain up with AWD in the snow.

 

[Bn1970]

4400 miles/7000 km update.
-lifetime fuel still at 27 MPG / 8.6 L/100 km.
-problems/issues, none.
-vanity broke through common sense and I bought wheels.
-17X7.5, 40 offset. stock tires.
-with MPG like this, I see no need to upgrade to the hybrid down the road. the AWD is absolutely necessary for some of the job sites and the power comes in handy quite often.

 

[Van_Man]

@Bn1970
You are awesome my friend!
From your first post to your most recent update.... All the reasons I pounced at the opportunity at ordering and sometime in the future owning a Ford Maverick.

Keep the updates and feedback coming!

 

[gman62]

Cant really compare the Ridgeline to the Maverick in my opinion. Two totally different vehicles, with Ridgeline more of a luxury truck (maybe compare Ridgeline to a Ranger). Maverick is in a class of its own for now. The Santa Cruz not a truck, more like the old Subaru Baja (I think that was the name).

 

[zBernie]

Glad you love it and happy to hear your story!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Maverick and other trucks.

 

[ITSATRUCK]

I think the Maverick is a Ridgline killer. The Hyundai will not do well against Maverick. Other mid size trucks will also have market share taken by Maverick.

The ridgeline made a mistake trying to compete with other mid size trucks. Size and price point.

Competition for the Maverick needs to compete by looking like a truck, same fuel economy, same price point.

Will see if toyota shows up to the party but I doubt it within next 5 years.

 

[pxpaulx]

I'd say the proof is in the pudding
so far. Maverick sales started 2 months after the Santa Cruz, and despite being delayed with the hybrids and having some delivery stops due to initial production issues, they have already sold as many as the sc at the end of November.

Hyundai wants to sell 60k Santa Cruz, but after 4 months they are nowhere near half that volume.

 

[Bn1970]

8000 km/5000 mile update.
-problems none.
-Oil life shows 50% left.
-lifetime fuel at 8.8L/100km--26MPG. I don't idle, just get in and drive gently right away. Winter weather and winter gas are taking their pound of flesh.
-this thing is stupid fast. Intentionally drove about half a tank in Sport mode. When I was younger and dumber, my licence would not have lasted too long driving it. Anyways, that half a tank in adolescent mode resulted in 22 MPG. Which is still silly good for a genuinely fast AWD truck being driven with a lead foot.
-I'm not the friendly/chatty type. Nor am I a scaredy cat. While picking up the aftermarket wheels, a stereotypical ''big truck bro'' sauntered over from his lifted F250 with a spotless bed/spotless wheels/mega expensive off road shocks/glistening tires, and a wise ass smirk. I'm guessing 5'5, 250 lbs , track pants. Confident in saying his truck makes up the majority of his entire net worth. (both $$ wise, and, in a psychological sense) Basically, exactly who you DON'T want to marry your sister.
btb--wow, is this a truck?
me-- what?
btb-- wow, it's a Ford? V6?
me-- 4 banger
btb--this one of them electric cars?
(at this point I paused, then quickly realized this was to be my morning entertainment.)
me--yup, full electric. doesn't use gas for driving.
btb-- damn, so why the 4 banger in there?
me-- for the heater. otherwise the batteries will get too cold and melt. some sort of nuclear fission reaction I think. it's a safety issue.
btb--ah yeah, I heard about that with these electric cars.

 

[Bn1970]

-11000 km/6800 miles update.
-oil life 35% left.
-lifetime fuel improved a bit to 8.6 L/100km--almost 27.5 mpg. I have no rational explanation for this as it's been significantly colder, and, I've been indulging in full throttle starts whenever reasonable/safe to do so.
-problems, none.
-wear/tear-nice crack going across the windshield. started from drivers base area and I know the name of the rock that did it. It was the 2nd week I had it and the little bastard fell off the back of a float hauling an excavator. chalk it up to ''s##t happens". Crack started propagating last week, morning after the ice storm.
-still a very, very satisfied owner.

 

[Fred27]

Totally agree. The best part of the Maverick is the reduced height (bed and cab) compared to my previous F150.

 

[jesse_ohio]

Love your updates. Makes me think hard about my commitment to the hybrid wait. If an EB without insane dealer markup pops up nearby I might just be swayed...

 

[zeketolliver]

This review makes me feel a bit better about my situation. I ordered a hybrid last July. Now, I am one of the thousands whose build date is getting pushed back big time.

I looked at the Santa Cruz, and almost bit (found one at MSRP), but ultimately decided on getting a Ridgeline RTL instead of waiting for a truck that may not come until this summer. The fact of the matter is a Limited Santa Cruz is not that far off from a tier 2 Ridgeline, and the Ridgeline has an established quality baseline. Also, Ridgelines are ACTUALLY being shipped and built, which puts it higher on my list of options, over the Maverick.

I am pretty pissed that Ford closed-out EcoBoost orders and THEN showed their hand on hybrid delays. It kinda makes sense from a business standpoint, but damn does it suck for customers.

I will probably still buy a Maverick one day. We'll see what happens to the market over the next few years. We'll see what the hybrid Ridgeline looks like as well.

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