Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Yes time flies. The Maverick is approaching 5000 miles in 6 months.
The powertrain is the reason you would buy it. The MPG's keep improving without driving like a ninny. The hybrid engine much appreciates 91 octane fuel. It runs smoother and gets better MPG (+4) using 91 octane E0. The powertrain has had 0 issues. The transition from Electric to ICE is seamless, you only hear the engine coming alive. In Sport Mode with its fake engine sounds and fake shifts is entertaining and makes the Maverick scoot right along. In Sport mode, stomp the throttle and yes there is a bit of tire chirp and a very small amount of torque steer.
The suspension is what it is. Simple and basic. One area that surprised me is the driving dynamics on long duration fast sweepers. Holds the line in these curves with very minimal corrections unless the radius of the curve changes or you give it some throttle, which increases understeer. Noticed the ride quality decreased some when the fuel tank gets empty. Four 24 packs of bottled water in the bed (approx. 100 lb), smoothes out the ride a lot. Also seemed to settle down the rear end in those higher speed sweepers. These work great, cost about the same and cleaner than sand tubes and easier to move around or remove when needed. The Ford OEM hard tonneau cover protects the plastic bottles and wrapper from the sun.
Moving on to the interior. First the seats are above average. Have yet to have any pains after longer rides. The power adjustment made it easy to find the sweet spot. The fabric of the seats is a bit industrial feeling. Not scratchy but far from plush. The best $35 I will spend on the Maverick is the dash pad I purchased. Got rid of ALL the glare from the shiny dash material. The stereo was indeed a pleasant surprize. When you switch to the "Driver Focused" mode, you would swear that someone dropped in some Magnaplanar's for speakers when you weren't looking. So open and transparent compared to the standard setting. Instruments are precisely located and sound natural. I have been blown away by the utility of the interior. First off the seating area is wide enough even for my large shoulder dimensions. No rubbing shoulders with your passenger. The area in front of the dial shifter (it's OK) is a nice storage area designed for phones. Two generously sized cupholders (52 oz cups fit) and two storage nooks behind it in front of the armrest are always used. The armrest storage is above average. I have the factory OEM rubber floor mats. They vacuum easy with my new "Old School" Dustbuster which sucks good. Protect-All cleans and brings back the black after vacuuming. My back seat is still a virgin. No one has sat back there, although it is where leftovers from eating out go all the time. The fold down armrest in the back seat area is used to hold extra drinks and frozen bottles of water on day trips. All of the heated stuff has worked great. My lady friend now has a warm bottom side in the morning when we travel.
On to the bed. I keep a portable organizer for larger grocery runs in the bed. Will hold 5-6 sacks of groceries. It slides around nice on the OEM bed mat, easy to slide onto the tailgate when you get home. The bed will be used more soon as a trip to the Branson area is planned. Its not large but the motorcycle will fit back there, rear tire on tailgate. The factory spray-in liner looks fine and protects the sides of the inside bed against mishaps.
Exterior styling is subjective. It looks like a truck and fits my needs. My only complaint is the wind noise around the smallish mirrors. A strong 10-11 o'clock headwind has you turning up the radio.
Now for the elephants in the room. Notice I used plural. Three recalls and 2 TSB's are awaiting parts. Nothing is malfunctioning on my truck although it is concerning. There will probably be a 4th when they can get in wiring harnesses. They will get my truck for the recall issues when they can fix them all at once, or at least most of them.
Conclusion after 6 months and the previous 10 months waiting, the Maverick has meet my needs 100% , where the 2021 Venza was lacking in interior function. The Maverick is superior in function, if not form. I don't let the recalls and tsb's worry me. I have rental on my Extended service plan. Best part it is still worth about $5K more than I paid as of 10 minutes ago.
The powertrain is the reason you would buy it. The MPG's keep improving without driving like a ninny. The hybrid engine much appreciates 91 octane fuel. It runs smoother and gets better MPG (+4) using 91 octane E0. The powertrain has had 0 issues. The transition from Electric to ICE is seamless, you only hear the engine coming alive. In Sport Mode with its fake engine sounds and fake shifts is entertaining and makes the Maverick scoot right along. In Sport mode, stomp the throttle and yes there is a bit of tire chirp and a very small amount of torque steer.
The suspension is what it is. Simple and basic. One area that surprised me is the driving dynamics on long duration fast sweepers. Holds the line in these curves with very minimal corrections unless the radius of the curve changes or you give it some throttle, which increases understeer. Noticed the ride quality decreased some when the fuel tank gets empty. Four 24 packs of bottled water in the bed (approx. 100 lb), smoothes out the ride a lot. Also seemed to settle down the rear end in those higher speed sweepers. These work great, cost about the same and cleaner than sand tubes and easier to move around or remove when needed. The Ford OEM hard tonneau cover protects the plastic bottles and wrapper from the sun.
Moving on to the interior. First the seats are above average. Have yet to have any pains after longer rides. The power adjustment made it easy to find the sweet spot. The fabric of the seats is a bit industrial feeling. Not scratchy but far from plush. The best $35 I will spend on the Maverick is the dash pad I purchased. Got rid of ALL the glare from the shiny dash material. The stereo was indeed a pleasant surprize. When you switch to the "Driver Focused" mode, you would swear that someone dropped in some Magnaplanar's for speakers when you weren't looking. So open and transparent compared to the standard setting. Instruments are precisely located and sound natural. I have been blown away by the utility of the interior. First off the seating area is wide enough even for my large shoulder dimensions. No rubbing shoulders with your passenger. The area in front of the dial shifter (it's OK) is a nice storage area designed for phones. Two generously sized cupholders (52 oz cups fit) and two storage nooks behind it in front of the armrest are always used. The armrest storage is above average. I have the factory OEM rubber floor mats. They vacuum easy with my new "Old School" Dustbuster which sucks good. Protect-All cleans and brings back the black after vacuuming. My back seat is still a virgin. No one has sat back there, although it is where leftovers from eating out go all the time. The fold down armrest in the back seat area is used to hold extra drinks and frozen bottles of water on day trips. All of the heated stuff has worked great. My lady friend now has a warm bottom side in the morning when we travel.
On to the bed. I keep a portable organizer for larger grocery runs in the bed. Will hold 5-6 sacks of groceries. It slides around nice on the OEM bed mat, easy to slide onto the tailgate when you get home. The bed will be used more soon as a trip to the Branson area is planned. Its not large but the motorcycle will fit back there, rear tire on tailgate. The factory spray-in liner looks fine and protects the sides of the inside bed against mishaps.
Exterior styling is subjective. It looks like a truck and fits my needs. My only complaint is the wind noise around the smallish mirrors. A strong 10-11 o'clock headwind has you turning up the radio.
Now for the elephants in the room. Notice I used plural. Three recalls and 2 TSB's are awaiting parts. Nothing is malfunctioning on my truck although it is concerning. There will probably be a 4th when they can get in wiring harnesses. They will get my truck for the recall issues when they can fix them all at once, or at least most of them.
Conclusion after 6 months and the previous 10 months waiting, the Maverick has meet my needs 100% , where the 2021 Venza was lacking in interior function. The Maverick is superior in function, if not form. I don't let the recalls and tsb's worry me. I have rental on my Extended service plan. Best part it is still worth about $5K more than I paid as of 10 minutes ago.
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