Requesting opinions on what I should do.

[Ozarkbeard]

Hi everyone, first I'd like to say I'm kind of in a unique situation here. Currently I own a '22 Tesla model 3 performance. I really do love ev's but I've always wanted a truck. To my misfortune the cheapest EV truck, the ford lightning, in the USA is 54k starting which isn't in the picture. I came across the maverick series and I love it, and I definitely want the hybrid option. However here is my situation, my current vehicle after financing fees, taxes, and all that was around 69k. Despite putting a super large deposit of 20k down when I bought it I still have around 7-8k negative equity when comparing it to trade in offers. My current payment is 761/M at 4.27% APR with 4 years left, and insurance is 330/M. I have decided that I want out of this mess and want to get either an XL hybrid or XLT hybrid. After negative equity is rolled, my trade would be worth around 19-20k. My payment if I decided to get a '24 xlt hybrid would be around 309/m at 36 months with my 19k trade in and insurance would be 160/M. There is a huge savings I get by switching to this truck as for starters ICE vehicles don't depreciate as much, especially trucks. Originally I was planning on just picking up a '24 XLT hybrid they had in stock at the lot, however the salesman told me That the new '25 mavericks are getting a huge update including things such as sync 4, larger screen, wireless carplay, and more. He told me it would be a 6 month wait from ordering to receive it. I think personally especially with the price difference of only 1k that it would be worth it to wait for the 25 xlt hybrid instead. However my Tesla is continuing to plummet in value and by the time my '25 order gets here my car will have lost even more value, while the 25 price will stay the same, this increases the amount of money I'd have to finance after rolling the negative equity. If anyone is willing, I'd like to get some opinions on what I should do. Should I get a '24 now off the lot and trade in what I have now, then trade in the '24 for the '25 when my order is ready? Or should I just sell my car now and purchase something else in the meantime and wait until my '25 gets here. There is also the option of just keeping my current car and waiting for the 25 but i don't feel that would be the smartest decision considering how fast my value has plummeted. Whatever option that would save the most amount of money would be optimal. I hope you all enjoyed my little rant and hopefully I can get this all worked out.

No paragraph breaks and length made this TL;DR.

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[Suzukiridr14]

My most important decision making factor is just getting out of this insanely high payment before it depreciates even further. I want something cheap, good on gas, that's also capable of carrying the occasional heavy item every now and then, I don't ever see myself using this for towing.

Did you consider a F-150 hybrid ?

 

[Scott Asheville]

OP, first I feel your pain. You're not alone. A lot of folks who bought cars in the pandemic era are underwater because prices plummeted. Teslas, which are awesome cars, are even worse because Tesla's been dropping prices to gain market share (they just announced a great quarter).

So you kind of got hit by a timing double-whammy that was no fault of your own. That said, I think you might be unnecessarily panicking about your plummeting trade value. Likely the worst is past. Depreciation never stops (heck, sometimes it goes in reverse), but it does slow. Now that assumes Elon doesn't wake up one morning to instruct his minions: "Chop the prices by another $10,000". As you know, he does stuff like that.

All the answers above are pretty good. I'm gonna present you with another option that everyone on MTC will immediately piss on - consider and at least test drive a 2025 Santa Cruz. Here's why I suggest you consider that. First, Sync 4 sucks. It's ten years behind your Tesla. The Hyundai software is only 5 years behind. If you buy a Maverick without test driving the software, you're gonna be horrified (especially coming from a Tesla). Second, the Maverick interior sucks compared to the Santa Cruz. Third, you can find great deals on Santa Cruz. Fourth, they have a warranty that might outlive you.

Hey I have a Maverick in my driveway. I like it. That's because the Santa Cruz has a CVT that I passed on. Also the styling wasn't my cup of tea (they improved it for 2025). And it doesn't yet come in a hybrid (maybe soon, maybe BEV soon - Hyundai has both technologies). I'm just saying you should maybe go down and test drive one. It's another data point in your decision-making process.

Really, if it were me, I'd stick with the Tesla another six months. See if anyone announces something this winter. All the big auto shows are coming up. I have not data to support this, but my instinct tells me that BEV small trucks are arriving soon. I bet from Ford or Hyundai.

PS: Another thought. Be sure to get an insurance quote on the vehicle you're buying, so that you can quantify the savings.

PS: A new or used Rivian? Those things absolutely rock! Yea, they're expensive. But they've kept their value well. They're exclusive and the owners (mostly) love them. Rivian just did a major redesign for 2025 that makes the truck lighter and better in every way.

 

[Nittany]

Hi everyone, first I'd like to say I'm kind of in a unique situation here. Currently I own a '22 Tesla model 3 performance. I really do love ev's but I've always wanted a truck. To my misfortune the cheapest EV truck, the ford lightning, in the USA is 54k starting which isn't in the picture. I came across the maverick series and I love it, and I definitely want the hybrid option. However here is my situation, my current vehicle after financing fees, taxes, and all that was around 69k. Despite putting a super large deposit of 20k down when I bought it I still have around 7-8k negative equity when comparing it to trade in offers. My current payment is 761/M at 4.27% APR with 4 years left, and insurance is 330/M. I have decided that I want out of this mess and want to get either an XL hybrid or XLT hybrid. After negative equity is rolled, my trade would be worth around 19-20k. My payment if I decided to get a '24 xlt hybrid would be around 309/m at 36 months with my 19k trade in and insurance would be 160/M. There is a huge savings I get by switching to this truck as for starters ICE vehicles don't depreciate as much, especially trucks. Originally I was planning on just picking up a '24 XLT hybrid they had in stock at the lot, however the salesman told me That the new '25 mavericks are getting a huge update including things such as sync 4, larger screen, wireless carplay, and more. He told me it would be a 6 month wait from ordering to receive it. I think personally especially with the price difference of only 1k that it would be worth it to wait for the 25 xlt hybrid instead. However my Tesla is continuing to plummet in value and by the time my '25 order gets here my car will have lost even more value, while the 25 price will stay the same, this increases the amount of money I'd have to finance after rolling the negative equity. If anyone is willing, I'd like to get some opinions on what I should do. Should I get a '24 now off the lot and trade in what I have now, then trade in the '24 for the '25 when my order is ready? Or should I just sell my car now and purchase something else in the meantime and wait until my '25 gets here. There is also the option of just keeping my current car and waiting for the 25 but i don't feel that would be the smartest decision considering how fast my value has plummeted. Whatever option that would save the most amount of money would be optimal. I hope you all enjoyed my little rant and hopefully I can get this all worked out.

Can't say which way you should really go, but factor in the actual wait time for ordering a new Maverick vs. buying one that is on the lot today. You mentioned that your dealer said there would be a 6 month wait time if you order a new one. I think he/she is being very optimistic. I know I waited 16 months when I ordered my 2023 MY Maverick. And my brother just now received his 2024 MY Maverick that he ordered 12 months ago. Maybe they are cranking out the 2025 MY Mavericks at a quicker pace, I really don't know. But factor in a possible longer wait time.

Now, I live in N. Carolina. My daughter & her husband from Illinois visited us this past July. When here, they really fell in love with my Maverick. And when they were driving back to Illinois (a 15 hour drive) they were reading online about Mavericks. They got a pop up ad about one sitting on lot along the way. They pulled over in the never before visited town, checked out the truck, and traded in on the spot and drove the rest of the way home with their brand new 2024 Maverick. The dealer had marked up the truck a few thousand over MSRP, but my daughter (who is a Chrysler/Jeep car salesperson) convinced them to sell it to her at MSRP. Point of this story is that if you order a new one you will probably get it at MSRP. But if you buy a new one that the dealer has on the lot, odds are that they will have jacked up the price significantly. Not always the case, but check it out.

 

[Bill Quattlebaum]

I would go for the 2024 Maverick if you find one you like. In my opinion, the 2025 is not worth the higher price. I would also keep the Maverick until it is paid for. Negative trade equity is never a good thing.

 

[slashsnake]

So... I've got a 2020 Model 3 myself as our primary car and we got a Maverick as our secondary. Basically the car that gets driven less... We had a Kia Soul for that and if there had been a Maverick in 2020 we would have gone with that instead for the added utility. For me, most of my past cars have been pretty light on the creature comfort features. I had a 2010 Camaro years ago in the 2SS which was as loaded as they came but other than that I've mostly gone bigger motor and less features when I can.

Anyways, I knew what I was walking into with an XL and added enough for what I wanted (ie my wife wanted the ford 360 and I knew that had the electronic mirror adjustment, so ok).

But it doesn't have the bells and whistles or anything close to the tech of my Tesla. Even at the dealer when the sales guy is showing off the Ford app, yes, it is AWESOME I get remote start from anywhere on the cheapest trim of the cheapest Ford in the US, but yeah, I kind of played excited even when... well you have the Tesla App, you know how much you can do remotely there.

My thought is you can get a decent wireless carplay attachment for 40 bucks on Amazon if that is a dealbreaker (for me I charge my phone most of the time when driving so plugged in is fine, but my wife likes it), and the slightly bigger screen is still really small and basically a big phone compared to what you have in your Tesla. I don't think I'd want to do two transactions for those things myself and the costs and loss there.

For me the added bits of tech and bigger screen weren't worth the newer pricing of a 25. If I wanted the hybrid with the AWD and/or Tow package though that would be a different story (I live in the country, most driving is highway so mpg gain is lessened vs. a city driver).

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

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