Thoughts on the New Ford Maverick and on what your next vehicle will be

[Spadesheart]

Long rambling personal thoughts ahead from someone turning 30 next month, and is melancholic about getting older. I guess the TL;DR is what do you think your next car after the mirage will be and why?




I drive by a Hyundai dealership daily and they had this neat looking vehicle on display called the Santa Cruz which looks like if a F150 shagged a current Elantra. It's a crossover truck I guess. I was curious about the specs so I figured I'd take a look. Unfortunately it checks very few of my boxes. It has a good deal of utility having a truck bed and all, but poor fuel economy, and at least in Canada, it's quite expensive at 39000ish CAD before expenses or about 43000 CAD with everything.

When I was looking up the Santa Cruz, I was seeing it compared to a small Ford truck currently coming to the market called the Maverick. The Maverick seems to be a substantially smarter, if not a slightly more boring machine. It has a larger truck bed, 4 full seats, a fairly efficient hybrid engine that has an economy of 5.9 L/100 km combined, and an entry price of 29000ish CAD including freight and extra fees, 31000ish with tax.

My Mirage is currently very near 200000 km. I bought it with 28000 km for 11000 CAD. I bought it in British Columbia in 2017 and drove it cross country to Ontario with a then long distance girlfriend. That relationship has long since dissolved, but the car is still with me and has served me well for years. It is a machine of supreme utility, and great reliability, which is why I think we all like it so much. It checks most of the boxes of us here, and of course it does; we bought it for a reason when most everyone said it sucked. That being said, the new ones are pretty expensive, and there have been no improvements to warrant the current prices. I just did a build on their site and it said it would be 19000ish CAD for the cheapest automatic.

I'm pretty sure with some care, I should be able to get a few more years out of my Mirage, provided the transmission doesn't grenade. It's simple enough and it's comfortable enough, and after 170000 km, it really feels like home. I've tried faster cars, fancier cars, supposedly more "fun" cars, but I find myself loving this one more when I'm driving it again. Part of that is probably just a healthy respect for something that works as well as it does. I have a habit of naming my machines old lady names. I settled on Mary Jackson for my Mirage. She was an underappreciated mathematician that worked on the Apollo missions. Due to her skin and circumstances, she faced adversity but kept diligently, and efficiently doing the actual work and moving things forward. It was partly a joke on the car being black, but it clearly would fit even if the car wasn't.

I want something as uncomplicated and unfussy as possible like the mirage, for so many reasons; there's less that will break, I don't have to baby it, repairs and maintenance are cheap when even necessary, they are convenient, economical, and in a way, the car is an expression of humility. I grew up in a culture that's more aspirational than I care for. My parents and family drive luxury cars, but they work like sled dogs. My car is a rejection. I live a simpler life, drive a simpler car, have free time to actually care for myself and generally put my extra money to investments as I have no interest in showing off. This has worked well for me in most ways that matter. That being said, in a couple years when it is time to buy a new vehicle, I'm guessing I'll be able to find things like the Maverick for under 20k CAD, and that thing basically has the same mileage that the mirage does with a truck bed, larger interior, and probably undeniably superior safety. Hybrid engines are also a very proven technology at this point and last years upon years with minor repair; it's not rare to see old Prius' with 3,4,500000 km. Say what you will about Ford as well, but their trucks are also known to be reliable.

I guess what I'm saying is, unless they really do something to the mirage, both I and the market appear to be outgrowing it, and I don't even want to outgrow it. Give it a hybrid option or something. Give me like a 3 L/100 km phenom, which probably could be easily done if they're getting 5.9 out a whole ass truck that's 700 kg heavier. At least that would justify the increase in price. Give me another Mary Jackson.

As it stands, I really don't know what I'm getting next, but if the Maverick proves it's reliability over the next couple years, I think it's a contender. What do you guys think? Do you have any interesting thoughts on what your post Mirage life will be? More mirage perhaps? A lot of us have to be getting close, the car came out in 2014.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Basic]

I am actually really close to ordering one. With the way things are going currently, if I got one of the first ones and ended up hating it, I think I could actually make money turning right around and selling it. But I have a feeling I am going to like it... I am really close to pulling the trigger. I have a buddy who works at a Ford Dealer and we have talked about it a couple times. I would really like to sit in one first though...

[klroger]

I'd buy a Maverick in a heart beat if it was X-tra cab with a larger box. 4 doors kill it for me...

[Dodge Aries K]

I really like the concept of the Maverick... So much so I bought a used Subaru Baja to hold me over for a few years to get the early bugs worked out and to be able to get a used one for like half the price of one new or something along those lines.

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm biased as hell after my Mercury Marquis fiasco. I'm never considering an American mfg again unless its a cheap EV. My 1# concern by far is reliability and EVs IMO with much less moving parts are far more reliable than any ICE vehicle. So a new cheap Nissan Leaf EV would suit my family fine after we get a home of our own. Our G4 is still young so that would be our roadtrip car, as it usually is, so no range anxiety there.

[Eggman]

I have a 2020 Ford Escape which uses the same platform (and presumably some drivetrains) as the Maverick. The Escape has the 2.0 Ecoboost turbo which makes impressive power and fuel economy for the all-wheel drive setup.

The Escape is Ford’s best seller after the F-150 pickup truck. Also, Ford has been making and improving the Escape for over two decades now. One concern is the Bronco Sport and the Maverick are built in Hermosillo and the Escape is assembled in Louisville. If the Escape is any indication, the Maverick should hold up fine.

[dspace9]

I'd wait a year, and let Ford work out the kinks on the brand-new Maverick. Price is right, and 5.9 L/100 kms fuel economy is excellent for a truck.

I've owned my Mirage since 2014, and currently have 155,000 km's on my car. Still under warranty even though that doesn't mean that much lol. Still impressive to say I've had my car over 7.5 years, and it's still got powertrain warranty left. You won't be saying that in 2028 with a Maverick

Anyway, cars I've considered lately: 4 cylinder 6 speed manual Camaro for around $29k. I've had a real itch for a sports car lately since I turned 39, and that's the cheapest piece of flash you can get. I like that Camaros are basically a new Caddy underneath.

Well, not sure I like that, but you are getting more bang for your buck with the bow-tie badge than with the Caddy.

2.0 L engine is the same eh.

Other cars I've considered: 2021 Hyundai Elantra base, for around $17k, and the Hyundai Venue manual, runs around the same dollar figure.

I dunno, my Mirage is paid for, drives straight, gets me 45 miles a gallon. The driver's seat has a tear in the bum area, and the e-brake is all faded from the sun. But really, I look at my 2014 Mirage, and it looks almost new still. So I dunno. Maybe see if I can get 300,000+ kms on my car. I'm tired of the small size compared to other cars/trucks on the road. I almost got t-boned this week because an F-150 blew through a 4 way stop. Stuff like that is disheartening. Maybe I should drive a tank intstead of a Mirage!?

[Spadesheart]

I'd wait a year, and let Ford work out the kinks on the brand-new Maverick. Price is right, and 5.9 L/100 kms fuel economy is excellent for a truck.

I've owned my Mirage since 2014, and currently have 155,000 km's on my car. Still under warranty even though that doesn't mean that much lol. Still impressive to say I've had my car over 7.5 years, and it's still got powertrain warranty left. You won't be saying that in 2028 with a Maverick

Anyway, cars I've considered lately: 4 cylinder 6 speed manual Camaro for around $29k. I've had a real itch for a sports car lately since I turned 39, and that's the cheapest piece of flash you can get. I like that Camaros are basically a new Caddy underneath.

Well, not sure I like that, but you are getting more bang for your buck with the bow-tie badge than with the Caddy.

2.0 L engine is the same eh.

Other cars I've considered: 2021 Hyundai Elantra base, for around $17k, and the Hyundai Venue manual, runs around the same dollar figure.

I dunno, my Mirage is paid for, drives straight, gets me 45 miles a gallon. The driver's seat has a tear in the bum area, and the e-brake is all faded from the sun. But really, I look at my 2014 Mirage, and it looks almost new still. So I dunno. Maybe see if I can get 300,000+ kms on my car. I'm tired of the small size compared to other cars/trucks on the road. I almost got t-boned this week because an F-150 blew through a 4 way stop. Stuff like that is disheartening. Maybe I should drive a tank intstead of a Mirage!?

My fun car would probably be a Nissan Figaro, but that would most certainly be a project.

The next 2-300000 km of my life is unclear as function over form often isn't incentivized. I want utility and I want the cost to run it to be low. The maverick has come the closest I think. The more research I do, the neater it seems. It looks like they made the bed for tinkering. There are power connectors and they are encouraging a lot of DIY stuff. They also have these clips inside the car where they've released CAD files for stuff like cupholders so people could 3D print their own, or design their own stuff. It really could be an ultimate camping mobile.

[Spadesheart]

I have a 2020 Ford Escape which uses the same platform (and presumably some drivetrains) as the Maverick. The Escape has the 2.0 Ecoboost turbo which makes impressive power and fuel economy for the all-wheel drive setup.

The Escape is Ford’s best seller after the F-150 pickup truck. Also, Ford has been making and improving the Escape for over two decades now. One concern is the Bronco Sport and the Maverick are built in Hermosillo and the Escape is assembled in Louisville. If the Escape is any indication, the Maverick should hold up fine.

It looks like the higher trim with the AWD option will use this engine, which also almost doubles the towing apparently. The standard is the Hybrid which frankly interests me more. Apparently this is their first fully made in house hybrid, which is part of the reason they were able to insert the price so low.

[7milesout]

I want something as uncomplicated and unfussy as possible like the mirage,

Spadesheart - I am in agreement with that statement. But that's going to be difficult. I won't say the Maverick is overly complicated. It may or may not be. In the grand scheme of things I'd have to guess it is a lot less complicated that many other vehicles out there. But compared to the Mirage, I'm going to guess it will be far more complex.

I've said it in another thread, but I think Ford may sell a brazillion Mavericks. That is if they can get enough friggin chips to crank out a brazillion Mavericks. I do like it.

For myself, for my next car. That's not clear, as I have a variety of cars as it is. The only thing I could possibly see out on the horizon is to sell my Lexus LS 460L and replace it with a Lexus LC 500. But that's not worth discussing, too far out there, not even sure I'd do it as my Lexus is such a cream puff.

I would like to throw this out there ... primarily to Mitsubishi if they were to read this thread. If Mitsubishi wants to compete with Ford in the Maverick segment ... MAKE A MIRAGE PICKUP TRUCK. I don't know if it would be wise to call it a Mirage P/U, or what. But what I mean is make it as SIMPLE as a Mirage, has the same structure from front bumper to the back of the back seats (of the hatch), but cut it off there with a cab rear bulkhead and put a bed on the back. Bed size about the same as the Maverick.

Of course the rear suspension would have to be reworked to carry a load, and tow a small trailer. But as far as I'm concerned, keep the 3-Tapper, make a 6 speed manual version with a short first gear and slightly taller 6th gear than our current 5th gear and ... YOU HAVE A WEINER!

It doesn't have to tow a 40' camper. Just about the same as a Maverick or even a bit less. That would be one USEFUL, simple and inexpensive vehicle.