The Autopian Review - Every Argument I Made To Trade Our Crossover For A Ford Maverick

[Old Hickory Trojan]

Couldn't have said it any better. I'm in a similar situation since my mom has a Subaru of her own that is also not as good as the Maverick. She has a Crosstrek that is a decent car overall but there are many things that she doesn't like about it. For one, the lack of advanced safety features that my Maverick has such as rear-cross traffic alert, parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, and a bigger infotainment system. Also, there's a lack of creature comforts such as a simple fold-down armrest in the back seat and no rear a/c vents. Lastly, she's not too fond of the way it drives. It idles rough in the morning, the auto stop-start is atrocious, there's a lot of wind/tire noise, the CVT is laggy, and there's rattles throughout the interior which is a surprise given that it's a Japanese built car and I would expect better build quality.

Once I brought home the Maverick, she fell in love with it. The way it looks, the way it drives, and the abundance of features. If she had known about it sooner, she would've put in an order of her own. However, with the severity of the chip shortage and lack of inventory, that's just not in the cards right now. However, to amend her frustration with the Subaru, my dad and I ordered her an equivalent Bronco Sport Outer Banks that we can surprise her with once it comes in. I don't expect to see it anytime soon but I'm hoping it'll at least be within the next half year. This is another vehicle that she fell in love with once she saw it and won't stop talking about it. The added benefit is that it's based off the same platform as the Maverick and Escape so it'll drive just like it and have just as many, if not more, features than my Maverick to keep her happy.

How old is that Crosstrek? I have a 2021 Crosstrek Sport and it has every safety feature the Maverick has and has the same kind of material in the seats as the Lariet. The Blind Spot monitoring system is better. In fact I wuld go so far as to say the safety feature in total are better. It's quiet even with my roof top carrier box and off road tires. No rattles and I'm averaging 30MPG with the carrier box. Mostly drive in cities and rural/country roads. My Subaru is a better built vehicle IMHO. I have yet to find any unpainted parts on it. No rust either. My paint isn't flaking or chipping off. I didn't add any options and I didn't have to buy their top of the line model to get the features I have. Don't get me wrong I still like the Maverick but there is no way in hell that the Maverick is a better built vehicle then my Crosstrek and it is standard all wheel drive. I could tell you the PR on Subaru's that fly in the face of your reliability comments but just say most of them are still on the road after 10 years more then any other brand sold.

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[sprubs]

How old is that Crosstrek? I have a 2021 Crosstrek Sport and it has every safety feature the Maverick has and has the same kind of material in the seats as the Lariet. The Blind Spot monitoring system is better. In fact I wuld go so far as to say the safety feature in total are better. It's quiet even with my roof top carrier box and off road tires. No rattles and I'm averaging 30MPG with the carrier box. Mostly drive in cities and rural/country roads. My Subaru is a better built vehicle IMHO. I have yet to find any unpainted parts on it. No rust either. My paint isn't flaking or chipping off. I didn't add any options and I didn't have to buy their top of the line model to get the features I have. Don't get me wrong I still like the Maverick but there is no way in hell that the Maverick is a better built vehicle then my Crosstrek and it is standard all wheel drive. I could tell you the PR on Subaru's that fly in the face of your reliability comments but just say most of them are still on the road after 10 years more then any other brand sold.

I have a 2013 impreza sport (so doesn't have all of the safety features) and it mostly mirrors what you are saying here. I do have a slight rattle in the dash somewhere but otherwise it's been a very reliable vehicle so far. The MPGs when the car is cold are pretty bad but once warmed up in the non-winter months getting over 30mpg is not too hard.

 

[MightyMaverick]

How old is that Crosstrek? I have a 2021 Crosstrek Sport and it has every safety feature the Maverick has and has the same kind of material in the seats as the Lariet. The Blind Spot monitoring system is better. In fact I wuld go so far as to say the safety feature in total are better. It's quiet even with my roof top carrier box and off road tires. No rattles and I'm averaging 30MPG with the carrier box. Mostly drive in cities and rural/country roads. My Subaru is a better built vehicle IMHO. I have yet to find any unpainted parts on it. No rust either. My paint isn't flaking or chipping off. I didn't add any options and I didn't have to buy their top of the line model to get the features I have. Don't get me wrong I still like the Maverick but there is no way in hell that the Maverick is a better built vehicle then my Crosstrek and it is standard all wheel drive. I could tell you the PR on Subaru's that fly in the face of your reliability comments but just say most of them are still on the road after 10 years more then any other brand sold.

We also have a '21 Crosstrek Sport but it's without the Premium package that adds rear-cross traffic alert with parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, a sunroof, and an 8-inch infotainment screen. That's where the Maverick outshines the Crosstrek with safety. I still say it's not that quiet. The carpets are very thin and the front wheel wells are plastic lined instead of carpeted. That would help deaden sound. The rattling comes from a couple of sources. One is from the dash somewhere, one is on the passenger sun visor, and the other is in the center console. The latter one, it's not something in the console, it's the console itself rattling.

Don't get me wrong, the car itself will be very reliable long-term. Given it's a Japanese built naturally aspirated vehicle, it will definitely outlive the Maverick given it's a Mexican built turbocharged vehicle. The evidence is on the road. You can still find many first-gen Crosstreks still going strong along with other models such as the Forester, Outback, Impreza, and Legacy. I just think the Maverick/Bronco Sport are much more appealing and have slightly better materials than the Subaru. A few examples include the thicker carpets, thicker rubber stripping in the doors, carpeted wheel wells, quieter tires, and more tactile feeling touch points. I'm sure this is bound to disagreement from others but this is just my opinion. I'm sure someone will say, "Well if you're complaining about the Crosstrek then why did you buy one?" Well, we live and let learn. We'll just move on to something that makes us happier. That's all.

 

[Rojo]

So, other Subaru owners here, do you have really bad road noise or is it just the forester that is like that?

 

[JimParker256]

Don't tell anyone in the Colorado mountain areas that Subaru's are unreliable. There are probably 40-50 of them that have well over 300,000 miles on them and are still going strong. And my buddy's WRX is a pocket Porsche, and a TON of fun to drive. (Just don't ask him about the mpg thing...)

That said, I'm definitely on Team Maverick for all the "truck-ey" reasons... Besides, I find the Subaru CVT very annoying, and the fuel mileage is unimpressive.

 

[Phileaux]

So I have an interesting perspective on this, the wife has a 2020 Forester and I have an AWD Ecoboost Mav.

1. I wouldn't say its that much more efficient for the EB anyways, maybe 15%. Hell, in city driving my mav averages about 25.5 mpg and 31 highway where as her Sub gets 24 city and I've gotten up to 33mpg on road trips, it evens out.

2. I could be cheaper, all in on the forester fully specked out and it was 32K and some change. I got the XLT AWD Ecoboost with the Lux Package which totaled out to 30k and some change. After the dumb dealer fee's that I couldn't negotiate out of I ended up paying 34K where as with Subaru the all in price was the all in price.

3. The Maverick is for useful for hauling, that is a fact but the Sub is no slouch, we have made at least two Ikea trips in it and brought back plenty of stuff, it rained one of those trips and we didn't need to worry about anything getting wet. As far as people goes, the rear seat leg room of the maverick is a lot less than the forester, sure the authors daughter fits fine back there now but in five years it will be a tighter squeeze.

4. My maverick does have more features than the forester but I had to get the lux package for some of the things that came standard on the forester, like body color heated mirrors, power adjustable seats (the maverick only offers this to the driver), and all wheel drive just to name a few.

5. Because its been nearly a drought here in Louisiana all summer I've only driven the Mav in the rain once and it handled well. The subaru also handles well in the rain but because its an SUV and fairly light the wind blows it around on the road some which I don't think the maverick will have as much of an issue with.

6. The Maverick is hands down cooler than the Forester. This is the first car I've purchased where I made enough money to get what I wanted, my last car was a Nissan Versa which I got because I wanted a hatchback and power windows and doors, it was the one I could afford and was missing a lot of features I would have liked to have (like horsepower for example). I still feel like I got a good value for the Maverick even after the dealer tacked on fee's that raised the price nearly 3K, they tinted the windows, put a stupid looking ford pinstripe, and nitro in the tires for that price. The muted green color the article author mentioned is the color we have, it looks really nice in our opinion, especially when the sun hits it just right. It also makes it very hard to see when the car is dirty, which is nice. Alto blue on the Mav shows every speck of dust.

My personal takes:
1. The road noise in the Subaru is really bad, its like they put no sound proofing in it at all. Driving 75 down the interstate and you have to raise your voice a bit to talk over the noise. The maverick doesn't have that problem.
2. Both cars are peppy when you get on the accelerator and you have no issues passing or getting up to speed but the Maverick is just more fun to drive in every way. It has more acceleration, you can hear the turbo roar, and the handling seems tighter (with the exception of body roll on the mav).
3. While not bad, the interior of the maverick doesn't compare to the subaru. The Forester is hands down more comfortable to sit in and drive around in, unless we have a need for a truck I don't see any road trips happening in the maverick over the forester. While we are inside, lets talk quality, the subaru interior feels well put together and like it will last, the maverick is plastic everything that is all clipped together, it feels very cheap and I fully expect everything to have a rattle in 5 years or just be falling off altogether.
4. Small nitpickey thing, ford put the oil filter under a skidpad under the truck, so to change the oil it has to be removed and you reach up to change the filter. The Forester you pop the hood and it is right there in the front right on a little pedestal where you can change it out, great engineering IMO.

I'm sure there is more but that is all I can think of at the moment.

Well said and well written.
Our early Miata's oil filter was placed where only a three fingered teenager could change. I installed a remote locator (firewall),much easier and held 1/2quart more oil.

 

[RyanS93]

Between myself and my parents we have owned several Subaru’s and I was always a die hard Subaru fan. I’m trading in my 2017 WRX for a Maverick as I am looking for something more practical and comfortable. My parents’ Subarus have been rock solid and they love them (Forester and Crosstrek). My wife’s 2020 Forester has also been perfect. Out of the 3 Subarus I have owned, all of them required major engine repairs, with 2 of them leaving me stranded (including the WRX). All that despite meticulous maintenance. My 2012 Fiesta (only Ford I have owned prior to the Maverick) had lots of small minor issues but the big stuff was reliable (mine was a manual so no Powershift automatic issues). So, it seems to be a crapshoot.

I was going to buy an Outback to replace the WRX originally, but felt it was time to try another brand and I just couldn’t do the CVT. The Maverick having a traditional automatic was huge for me (EcoBoost at least). I have always wanted a truck and prefer Ford trucks but could never justify one (price, size, fuel economy) until the Maverick. For a daily driver with occasional home projects and the like it feels like the perfect vehicle compared to an SUV.

I will not pretend that Ford has a better reliability track record than Japanese brands and clearly I am just unlucky with Subaru, but at this point it seems like it doesn’t matter and I just want to buy what I want and roll the dice. I hope the Maverick proves to be reliable, but we will see.

 

[Cattleman 7760]

Yes. Those are the optional wheels for EcoBoost AWD with either 4k Tow or Fx4. XLT or Lariat trim in the US, XL in Canada also gets to spec them too. Same pattern is used on the Tremor, just painted differently.

 

[Cattleman 7760]

T

Yes. Those are the optional wheels for EcoBoost AWD with either 4k Tow or Fx4. XLT or Lariat trim in the US, XL in Canada also gets to spec them too. Same pattern is used on the Tremor, just painted differently.

Thank you.

 

[Rojo]

Don't tell anyone in the Colorado mountain areas that Subaru's are unreliable. There are probably 40-50 of them that have well over 300,000 miles on them and are still going strong. And my buddy's WRX is a pocket Porsche, and a TON of fun to drive. (Just don't ask him about the mpg thing...)

That said, I'm definitely on Team Maverick for all the "truck-ey" reasons... Besides, I find the Subaru CVT very annoying, and the fuel mileage is unimpressive.

Side story, my dad had a 95 nissan hardbody pickup that he put 150k miles on before he gave it to my brother when he turned 16. My brother but another 100k miles on it and then gave it to one of our cousins who then put another 150k miles on it. As far as I know its still driving around out there somewhere. The only repair it ever needed was a replaced clutch that my brother burned up when he first started driving. So it got probably over 350k miles on it.

I was actually trying to find one of those when I heard about the maverick and decided to get that instead of a nearly 30 year old truck.

 

[Old Hickory Trojan]

We also have a '21 Crosstrek Sport but it's without the Premium package that adds rear-cross traffic alert with parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, a sunroof, and an 8-inch infotainment screen. That's where the Maverick outshines the Crosstrek with safety. I still say it's not that quiet. The carpets are very thin and the front wheel wells are plastic lined instead of carpeted. That would help deaden sound. The rattling comes from a couple of sources. One is from the dash somewhere, one is on the passenger sun visor, and the other is in the center console. The latter one, it's not something in the console, it's the console itself rattling.

Don't get me wrong, the car itself will be very reliable long-term. Given it's a Japanese built naturally aspirated vehicle, it will definitely outlive the Maverick given it's a Mexican built turbocharged vehicle. The evidence is on the road. You can still find many first-gen Crosstreks still going strong along with other models such as the Forester, Outback, Impreza, and Legacy. I just think the Maverick/Bronco Sport are much more appealing and have slightly better materials than the Subaru. A few examples include the thicker carpets, thicker rubber stripping in the doors, carpeted wheel wells, quieter tires, and more tactile feeling touch points. I'm sure this is bound to disagreement from others but this is just my opinion. I'm sure someone will say, "Well if you're complaining about the Crosstrek then why did you buy one?" Well, we live and let learn. We'll just move on to something that makes us happier. That's all.

Outshine? How many options did you have to add to the Maverick to get those safety features? I know they don't have all those on an XL. As far as the materials, my Crosstrek has soft materials in the doors, on the dash etc instead of plastic that scratches in the Maverick. As far as the wheel wells, I'd take plastic lining for wear and tear over the felt they put in the Maverick wheel wells. I've already seen posts on this web site of that stuff tearing. My model has the same kind of material used i the seats as the lariet version as standard equipment and it has stiched in Crosstrek on them. It came standard with AWD and was not an option as it is on the Maverick. Quieter tires? The Maverick standard tires suck and the Crosstreks are no worse but like most folks I replaced them as soon as I got the the vehicle like most Maverick owners have done with 3 Season Offroad tires and they are quiet. Very quiet. Only reason I want a Maverick is for the truck bed for small chores around the home and possible towing behind my Motorhome.

 

[Espeer]

Subarus generally have good reliability, until 100k miles and then a lot have expensive engine repair issues. We tend to keep our vehicles until they die so didn't want to buy a Subaru knowing we would end up selling it at 80k miles to get out before the engine issues.

Are they still bad with the headgaskets or did that eventually get fixed?

 

[AngloSoup]

Are they still bad with the headgaskets or did that eventually get fixed?

It's possible they've been fixed, but the problem existed for a long time and I've never heard that the issue ever got resolved. It's the main reason Subaru wasn't even on my radar last time buying car for Mrs. Or this time around for myself looking.

Besides the engine issues they're very practical cars... And they still make manuals.

 

[stoptothink]

Between myself and my parents we have owned several Subaru’s and I was always a die hard Subaru fan. I’m trading in my 2017 WRX for a Maverick as I am looking for something more practical and comfortable. My parents’ Subarus have been rock solid and they love them (Forester and Crosstrek). My wife’s 2020 Forester has also been perfect. Out of the 3 Subarus I have owned, all of them required major engine repairs, with 2 of them leaving me stranded (including the WRX). All that despite meticulous maintenance. My 2012 Fiesta (only Ford I have owned prior to the Maverick) had lots of small minor issues but the big stuff was reliable (mine was a manual so no Powershift automatic issues). So, it seems to be a crapshoot.

I was going to buy an Outback to replace the WRX originally, but felt it was time to try another brand and I just couldn’t do the CVT. The Maverick having a traditional automatic was huge for me (EcoBoost at least). I have always wanted a truck and prefer Ford trucks but could never justify one (price, size, fuel economy) until the Maverick. For a daily driver with occasional home projects and the like it feels like the perfect vehicle compared to an SUV.

I will not pretend that Ford has a better reliability track record than Japanese brands and clearly I am just unlucky with Subaru, but at this point it seems like it doesn’t matter and I just want to buy what I want and roll the dice. I hope the Maverick proves to be reliable, but we will see.

We're in the Utah mountains, everybody in my extended family drives Subarus and all have had major engine issues (also, bad electrical/infotainment issues with newer outbacks). My wife owned a WRX when we met, was a total headache. I've never owned one personally, but I wasn't any more worried about reliability with a Ford (this is our first Ford) than I would have been with a Subaru.

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