The New Maverick Mentality

[Sluggo48313]

The average transaction price of a new vehicle is over $41k. I paid $37,500 for my new '24 Lariat, 4k, FX4. A Ranger with the same options was $13k more. An F150 closer to $20k more.
Point is, the price on EVERY vehicle is way up and the average new buyer is expecting more and more to be standard. I still think the Maverick is a great value....I do wish it had ventilated seats and an auto dimming rear view mirror at this price point but the adaptive cruise and lane change works better on this than the Mazda CX5 I traded in so there is that.

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[colinl]

the adaptive cruise and lane change works better on this than the Mazda CX5 I traded in so there is that.

as an aside, I had a CX-9 and Ford's awd is soooo much better than what Mazda is doing right now.

 

[Godzilla86ReMix]

I feel like the Maverick has kind of covered two slightly different demographics during it's life.

1. People who want a cheap, no frills truck.
2. People who want a small truck no matter what.

I think that first group made up a very vocal part of the initial Maverick buyers but as the trucklet has spent a few year on the market, the focus is shifting towards the second group, likely for a few various reasons and for better or worse.

Not to say that there isn't overlap between the two groups, there definitely is but I think it's fair grouping. I myself fall more into the second group as even if I had F-150 money, I wouldn't buy it because it's just too large for my preferences and I would rather buy a nicer fully-loaded Mav.

So I'm mostly in the second camp, but I'm also in the first camp not necessarily because of price but because it was engineered to that price.

It was actually designed to show off exactly where they shaved costs in thoughtful ways.

Durable plastic finishes, exposed fasteners, elimination of glamour panels behind the rear seat, removal of engine cover, sinking the door cards way in since there was no excess NVH insulation

All those things contribute to a durable, functional, easier to maintain vehicle.

Now back to the 2nd camp no one else offers anything with a bed and an ECVT, and wanting AWD meant paying this year's price hike. Toyota might eventually offer a competitor,but not yet, and it will likely be more than the Ford anyway.

The way I tend to drive sometimes eats through transmissions. Once I learned how these Prius style transmissions work, I never wanted a regular one again.

There are no clutch packs, belts, or cones to wear out. The throttle response is immediate(especially noticeable with the high altitude power loss in CO), I get exactly how much power I want for as long as I need it, no going in and out of the power band between gears, and the improvement in mileage from the hybrid system is laudable.

It's also worth noting the savings on brake jobs. My ex is running a Prius at 160k with the original pads, granted they drive... conservatively. On my CMax I'm at 60k on my originals and probably won't need a replacement for at least another 20k. Usually I'm replacing brake pads every 20k miles.

All vehicles are more expensive than they probably should be, but IMHO there is intrinsic value in this vehicle, particularly when configured as a hybrid. Without it, size is it's main selling point. Meaning if size wasn't your primary driver, you'd probably find better value in a used Colorado, Ranger, Tacoma, etc.

 

[ClemsonU88]

To me you can't just compare trims. You can't say this vehicle XLT is only at this much more than this vehicle XLT, or XL. The reason I say that is because I bought an XLT, and I added the all-wheel drive, the luxury package, the lane assist or 360 whatever it's called, I also added mud flaps, all weather formats, and the trifold tonneau cover. So without any of those things yeah my car would have been $26,000 but it was 34,000. However the 34 was with tax, I also got rust proofing or rust inhibit or whatever that is, paint sealant fabric sealant, window protection, and that included a 10-year hundred thousand mile warranty. So the actual vehicle was less than that as the cost went up due to added goodies. So how can you compare when you don't know what's on what, or what you're getting.

Edited I had a trade and incorrectly added that into the cost. I had put the vehicle cost 39k which is not right, so I removed that as to not cause much confusion. The vehicle was $33,535 then they took off the trade for a total of $28,535... Then I added the tax, the extended warranty, the rust package and such and sales tax. So total was $33,950. Not $39,000

I see what you're saying. But in my example, I showed the out the door price for my XLT with floor mats, drop in bed liner, keyless entry keypad (which was standard on the '22), and hood deflector. I got those 4 things on my '22 and my '25. However, I also got a 13.2" screen (instead of 8"), Sync4 (instead of Sync3), and wireless CarPlay (instead of wired CarPlay). Those 3 things aren't worth 27%, but they are worth something. Maybe 5%.

I also got the $1890 Luxury package on my '25, so I reduced my out the door price of $35k by $1890 down to $33,100. That's pretty much apples to apples, and in my case the '25 Maverick was 27% more than the '22. That seems excessive.

But when overall inflation for everything else is between 20%-30% over the last 3 or so years, 27% more for a new Maverick is hurtful but not excessive...at least not excessive compared to overall inflation. Right?

 

[Packer Bill]

I also got the $1890 Luxury package on my '25, so I reduced my out the door price of $35k by $1890 down to $33,100. That's pretty much apples to apples, and in my case the '25 Maverick was 27% more than the '22. That seems excessive.

This does not seem correct to me. Could provide the list of options on your 22 Maverick and the price you paid? The price difference between MY22 Lariat EB AWD and MY25 Lariat EB AWD with the same options (except for the upgrades with the MY25) is only $2400...only 7% increase!

 

[BlueOval1954]

Was there a reason you didn't go back to Granger when you bought your replacement Mav ?

 

[colinl]

The price difference between MY22 Lariat EB AWD and MY25 Lariat EB AWD with the same options (except for the upgrades with the MY25) is only $2400...only 7% increase!

Lariat lux ecoboost awd definitely saw the lowest % increase of any Maverick trim level. I think there's 2 reasons for that:
- it was the most expensive way to buy a '22
- it is the one trim that directly competes with the Santa Cruz 2.5T, which was always in the low 40s, but last year Hyundai added a quick order option in 2 colors that was a smidge under 40k.

XL hybrid saw the most increase. Technically XL ecoboost also increased a lot by virtue of the FWD going away and now all ecoboosts have the price of AWD built-in, which happened to lariat hybrids also (mandatory awd).

There are tons of packaging changes between each year that make it impossible to compare against an earlier year where the package wasn't there, didn't have other mandatory packages, and so on. Two easy examples are that lariat non-lux is gone, and MY24 black appearance package on XLT required XLT lux and now it requires AWD.

'23 hybrid XLT BAP without lux is much cheaper than what you could get in 24 and also 25.

 

[1929]

The perception has moved from seeing it as just a cool, affordable truck to recognizing it as a well-engineered vehicle that justifies its higher price.

Same truck, higher price.

 

[colinl]

Same truck, higher price.

not sure if you're trolling or actively choosing to ignore facts.

'ford connected audio' in 22-24 non B&O Mavericks is nearly unusable. and I'm not talking about the backup camera issue, it was junk from the first deliveries in 3Q '21. MY25 has Sync4 which by itself is massively better, but it also has a larger screen which is great for navigation, and it has wireless carplay and android auto.

xlt now has push-to-start.

lariat and up have 360 cameras and forward parking sensors.

lariat and up have protrailer backup assist.

all models have better headlights. yes - Ford screwed up the cosmetics of the upper bumper cover, but the headlamps themselves have improved light projection.

hybrids can have awd and 4k towing.

...doesn't really matter what trim / option we're referencing, yes prices are higher, yes features are better and no, obviously not the same truck.

 

[CarbonGrayFX4]

"latest and greatest" syndrome.

 

[710-oil-614]

I was drawn to my '23XL ecoboost with a fullsize spare as only option with $23K price tag (no dealer markup) and its size but alas after quality issues surrounding the Mexico build and ability to make more than $3k I sold it off to buy a '23 Ranger made in the USA with full frame and real towing capacity for only a few $K more - family members have fully kitted Lariat models and the options never seemed worth the $15K price add-on

Hermosillo is an excellent plant, one of Ford’s best.

 

[papaacer]

My AWD EB XLT with a BAP came in at 35K OTD, then put down 5k, which had my loan at 30k. I still feel as though I paid just a bit much too. Considering what it is, and what is offered, I am a bit jealous of those that got the same options at a few thousand less than what I got mine at. Not to say that I'm unhappy. I enjoy it very much! Just would have been nice to have a lower payment to have more fun with it

 

[ClemsonU88]

This does not seem correct to me. Could provide the list of options on your 22 Maverick and the price you paid? The price difference between MY22 Lariat EB AWD and MY25 Lariat EB AWD with the same options (except for the upgrades with the MY25) is only $2400...only 7% increase!

I couldn't find my 2022 order sheet, so I got the Invoice & MSRP sheet from the web for 2022. I left off the Cyber Orange charge ($495) from my 2022 and the luxury package ($1890) from my 2025 to make the comparison apples to apples. So with the bed liner, keyless key pad, & hood deflector, here's the price:

My 2025 XLT Hybrid + Options: 28,795 + 375 + 195 + 140 = 29,505
My 2022 XLT Hybrid + Options: 22,280 + 375 + 110 = 22,900 (key pad was free on the '22)

Based on just this, the difference is 28.8%.

Mine was 26,000 & 35,000 out the door because of tax, tags, title, doc fee, destination fee, protection package, and (for the '25) the luxury package. How are you getting only a 7% difference in yours?

 

[Packer Bill]

I couldn't find my 2022 order sheet, so I got the Invoice & MSRP sheet from the web for 2022. I left off the Cyber Orange charge ($495) from my 2022 and the luxury package ($1890) from my 2025 to make the comparison apples to apples. So with the bed liner, keyless key pad, & hood deflector, here's the price:

My 2025 XLT Hybrid + Options: 28,795 + 375 + 195 + 140 = 29,505
My 2022 XLT Hybrid + Options: 22,280 + 375 + 110 = 22,900 (key pad was free on the '22)

Based on just this, the difference is 28.8%.

Mine was 26,000 & 35,000 out the door because of tax, tags, title, doc fee, destination fee, protection package, and (for the '25) the luxury package. How are you getting only a 7% difference in yours?

Thank you for taking the time to post this information.

So far, I see 3 items that need to be added to price of the 22 Maverick (these items are now are now included in the base price: 2K trailer hitch...$100, Ford CoPilot...$540, and 17 inch painted wheels...$795. Thus I would add $1435 to the price of the 22 Maverick for a fair comparison. I get $24,335 for the 22 Maverick. Based on this info, I calculated about 21.3%. This is still a lot!!

In my situation, I am comparing Lariat EcoBoost fairly loaded between the MYs of 22 and 25. I do think Ford did significantly raised the prices on hybrids but not near as much for the EcoBoosts. I don't have my paperwork to upload right now to show my numbers. I will try in the next day or two.

 

[ClemsonU88]

Thank you for taking the time to post this information.

So far, I see 3 items that need to be added to price of the 22 Maverick (these items are now are now included in the base price: 2K trailer hitch...$100, Ford CoPilot...$540, and 17 inch painted wheels...$795. Thus I would add $1435 to the price of the 22 Maverick for a fair comparison. I get $24,335 for the 22 Maverick. Based on this info, I calculated about 21.3%. This is still a lot!!

In my situation, I am comparing Lariat EcoBoost fairly loaded between the MYs of 22 and 25. I do think Ford did significantly raised the prices on hybrids but not near as much for the EcoBoosts. I don't have my paperwork to upload right now to show my numbers. I will try in the next day or two.

I haven't kept up with all they added/subtracted. I only knew about the key pad, because I didn't care about it in '22 but wanted it in '25.

What is CoPilot? Lane keeping assistance? I didn't ask for that but have it. Is there more to CoPilot than that?

My point from the beginning was that inflation at around 20% makes up for most of the Maverick's increase. Those other things you pointed out along with the bigger screen & Sync4 are definitely upping the base price, but only by about 10%.

If inflation had been 2% a year for 3 years (6.12% over 3 years) instead of 8%, 4%, & 6% (20% over 3 years), we're looking at an inflationary increase of $22,280 to $23,643 instead of $22,280 to $26,736. That's a $3k difference between 6% & 20% inflation.

At 20% inflation the '25 Maverick would have been $26,736 if they had added nothing to it. But (as you pointed out) they added CoPilot, 2k Trailer hitch, painted wheels, a bigger screen, & Sync4 and only added an additional $2,000 to get it to $28,795. $2k for all that seems reasonable. BUT as to the OP, is that getting away from the inexpensive "trucklet" many of us fell in love with in 2021 when we ordered our first Maverick?

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