What to Expect…

[ctmavrick24]

I’m close to pulling trigger on a new car (wife want new one…), it’s down to a Maverick and Subaru Forrester (yah may sound like apple oranges but she has her reasons …and who am I to argue…). The HunDay Santa Claus Cruz..thought about that but not convinced of long term quality. Anyways…

Ive been reading/parsing thru different posts, reading, etc. I’m interested in an XL. The whole order and procurement seems more complex than ordering a mainframe computer. Seriously though, this is what I’ve surmised. Want to let the dear wife know what she’s getting into if wanting the Mav. (and I do like the Mav, it’s perfect for her…). Is below what’s to be expected? We live in Connecticut so unsure of how good the Ford dealers are here since we’ve owned Hondas for 20+ years.

1) There are little, to no Mavs sitting on dealer lots, other than a bunch of Lariats
2)Will require a special order, likely taking 3-5 months for final delivery
3)Seems to be a bigly lag from Bulid to Ship to Arrival (perhaps it may get better in 3-4 months due to that turn signal clusterF)
4)Read some instances of dealer “bait/switch”
5) XL FWD models may be lower priority due to more popular models
6) Dealers here are not selling above MSRP (spoke to two dealers)
7) she’ll love the truck if we order it…

Thanks!

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[ATXTACOS]

You should ask the dealers if they have any remaining allocations. If they do your time guestimate is reasonable.

 

[ndmiller]

I hate to say it but save a bunch of grief and aggravation and get the Forester. They are safe, reliable, unstoppable in every weather, and you can grab one tomorrow from any Subaru dealer in the US.

For what it's worth I'm having a fantastic Maverick experience culminating in picking it up tomorrow after ordering in October. It will be primarily for my youngest to learn how to drive on and use through High School. While the dealer was excellent with great communication, followup, last minute tonneau install today, I wouldn't do it again (not the dealers fault it's Ford). I would have grabbed something available when I wanted it back in October. I honestly think it's my first and last Ford.

While there is a certain lean on this Forum to defend the maverick against other vehicles, there is also a lean describing all the problems and issues between thinking about acquiring a Maverick and Maverick delivery. This isn't Fords first rodeo and the Bronco, Lightning, Mach-E all had the same issues, now happening on the Maverick. If the Maverick was a one of a kind Porsche 911, I could understand the aggravation and headaches, but for an entry level pickup truck from a manufacture that sells the number one vehicle on earth (F150) it's tough to watch others experience it. Just corporate blunder after corporate blunder with a handle having no solutions.

In the end my daughter will love the Maverick, but we were EXTREMELY lucky in our Maverick journey something very few people seem to have experienced. Good luck either way on your purchase.

 

[Darnon]

I had a Subaru Outback rental for a while and wasn't really impressed with the powertrain handling. The CVT they're almost all saddled with gets a bit hesitant and jerky at low speeds, and the auto start/stop was particularly rough. Did get decent gas mileage, though. The lane-centering steering tended to operate in discrete angles that makes it feel "notchy" and somewhat was indecisive about whether it wanted to tend towards hugging the left or right line. Not to mention the EyeSight system constantly dinging and donging because it was more prone to losing line tracking. Minor complaints was by default the cruise wants to increment by 5 mph unless you hold it to get 1 mph, and the infotainment was big but portrait orientation so the touchscreen HVAC controls and top status bar ate up a lot of the usable space. Also it was only ~3 years old and the A/C system on it was barely functional, but possible it could have been damaged at some point.

 

[Decayed]

Clearly she should test drive both. Sometimes you find out you really hate something once you get it on the road.

We were just at the car show looking at a forester for my wife and really liked the driving posture, visibility and cabin layout. Also the second row seats have a ton of legroom and of course it has a lot of enclosed storage space with the rear seats folded.

We are going to get one eventually. If you already have a pickup, or don't really need a pickup, then the forester might be the way to go. But she has to go with what she really wants or she won't be happy. At the end of the day you can always trade it in and so far mavs are holding their value pretty well.

If you are used to hondas you might be happier with the subaru overall. The mav is my first new ford and I can't say the quality has blown me away, especially after 8 trouble free years driving a mazda. I really like my mav but only time will tell if it can be trusted long term.

 

[ctmavrick24]

What a great community you guys have here! Appreciate the insights. I just purchased a new Honda Passport, was so easy walking on the lot..though there weren’t many around in November.

Right now we can wait as the Mav would replace our 2004 Odyssey. At 175K miles it runs incredibly well, hasn’t let us down, and owes us nothing but gettin long-in-tooth, looks like crap, and it needs new lower control arms (would install myself).

On paper the Mav fits in so many ways. At the same time she likes the Forester.. Oh well…. First World Problems…

Thank you.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

Here's an article to read on the Forester: https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a41000748/i-get-why-people-buy-subaru-foresters-now/

I have owned tons of minivans and 4 Subarus. Currently I have a '12 Odyssey, really old Miata, and Maverick since April '23. Since you just got a Pilot I would definitely go with Maverick. NO point in buying two vehicles almost the same purpose!

Maverick is our first truck and I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have the bed.
-Need to haul stuff to trash? easy.
-plywood? easy.
-moving big furniture or appliances? easy.
You don't have to worry in the slightest about messing up the interior of an SUV/ car/ minivan with the bed available.

 

[ctmavrick24]

@AutobahnSHO agree 100%. Wife always hauling junk, garden stuff, leaf bags, sticks from yard, furniture…list is endless. lol…. Reason why our Ody looks like crap is due to all the crap she hauls….

 

[710-oil-614]

Have owned a 2014 Forester and 2015 Outback and loved both of them. My Tremor reminds me a lot of my Subarus in that it feels like a swiss army knife - does a lot of things good but doesn't exceed at any one thing.

However - the Maverick and the Forester are distinctly different so drive both and figure out what your wife wants.

In 2014 - I wanted a Forester.
In 2023 - I wanted a Maverick.

Both are great vehicles. Just depends what you want.

 

[KrisYYC]

My wife currently has a Forester, and I have a Maverick on the way for me

If you're in an area that gets decent amounts of snow in winter then I'd go for an AWD Maverick. My wife's Forester is unstoppable in the snow.

I used to have an old Ford Ranger and really miss having a truck bed but I didn't want a full size or even a "mid" size that are currently offered. Maverick fits the bill nicely.

 

[Scott Asheville]

OP, sounds like you're not in a rush. If you can wait another year, I'd suggest seeing how the 2025 Santa Cruz and Maverick refreshes look.

I lived in the Mystic CT area for 15 years. The Ford dealers in my area were pretty solid.

 

[Gschaef]

We have a Maverick XL (mine) and a Subaru Outback (hers), which is very similar to the Forester. The Subaru Premium is around $6K more than the base Maverick but all Subarus come with AWD. That will set you back another $2K on the Mav so if that is important the difference is now around $4K.

The Subaru also has many standard safety options that are additional costs for the Mav XL so the difference becomes smaller yet. But I don’t think it can be argued that the Outbacks and Foresters have a well established reliability record that the Mav has yet to match. I find the Subaru boring but my wife loves it and you can drive them for 200,000 miles. In this case I would suggest not making a decision until you test drive both as another poster suggested. They are two very different vehicles and I would bet test driving both would make a much easier decision. Good luck.

 

[surfstar]

...or wait for a Forester hybrid!

You can always place an XL hybrid order and not take delivery if you change your mind. Doesn't hurt to place an order now.

 

[Blinky]

I like the idea of the Forester but hate the CVT/eyesight experience of driving one, Darnon described my peeves better than I can.

I had an 07 Forester and I'm so glad they got rid of the EJ engines, what fragile maintenance hogs they were.
I had a head gasket fail and even in a city of a million people, I had a heck of a time finding an independent mechanic to take the project on. I ended up doing it myself and just dropped the engine, everything in the bay is so darn tight with those goofy boxer engines.
Did the timing belt, both head gaskets, all the tensioners and pulleys, a water pump and a bunch of other stuff while I was in there.... Spent a LOT on parts and a couple months later it developed a nasty noise in the bottom end.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Subarus are great - I've had two of them, a Forester and an Impreza.
It sounds like OP keeps vehicles a long time. Long term, Subies can definitely turn into money pits... especially the CV transmission. It is totally unlike the eCVT used in the Maverick Hybrid which has an eCVT very similar to one used in the bullet-proof Toyota Prius.

If you order a Maverick, it's possible to now get one a bit sooner than when first introduced. So expect a wait of roughly whatever time frame the dealer may give you. But plan for a year or more wait.

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