Avoidable Contact #135: I drove the most important car in years, and it's great, but you can't buy one

[Hagerty]

WARNING: If you failed the marshmallow test, you're going to hate this column. Best to click "back" on the browser and check out the great work being done by the Hagerty digital staff. I don't want you to be miserable over something you can't have. What? You're still here?
https://www.hagerty.com/media/opinion/avoidable-contact/avoidable-contact-ford-maverick-most-importa...

[Johnny5]

Meanwhile, back at the Porsche store, unbridled agreement erupts from this employee who makes his living doling out heaps of hydrocarbon emitting nostalgia. To the young and old alike.

The way in which ICE dies is the unanswerable question. Who could muster the force needed to kill it?

[JEL395]

brilliant, I'm going with you on this one Johnny. Never stop driving

[DAY]

Just get a fancy golf cart and a toy wagon to haul your bicycle and plastic bins around. EV's are nothing more than toys.

[jekirkbride]

Unlike your Porsche which is a sensible people mover.

[ATLpaul]

Well one thing about electrics, or electric promise, has to do with Ford stock price which is now trading at much higher levels than without that promise. That is pretty much how stock market rolls. On promise and future, not now and current. I think that is the reason they can't afford to put all their resources behind Maverick and not focus on building new electric plants. Whether we like it or not, in 20 years, most if not all vehicles sold will be electric and that future is what Ford and stock market are working towards.

[Oldroad1]

Nobody will want to purchase a vehicle that depends on a battery that goes dead and needs a resurrection after X miles. Then one day goes dead forever which then makes the vehicle a min. 2 ton paper weight unless the owner forks over half the purchase price for a battery installed. That will be the nail that seals the crate for these wheeled toasters.

[JohnnyAtomic]

The batteries currently being used by some makers last longer than the cars, up to one million miles. Your dead battery theory is LONG since been prove false.

[Oldroad1]

Tell that to the FInn who detonated his less than 10 year old Tesla after being told he needed a $22K battery installed. As for your million mile battery? I'm not buying and calling you on B$!

[jekirkbride]

The Maverick is not an EV. It is a hybrid; it has both an engine and a motor.

[Oldroad1]

Does it matter? Hybrid batteries will go dead too, won't be much less $damage.

[limoguy]

Prius batteries go for about $4K.

[SteveC]

To be fair, that "Finn" had modified his Tesla, which led to it being damaged, and THAT led to the $22k repair estimate.

[Oldroad1]

Got that news from Tesla, did you?

[Rider79]

I follow automotive battery development to a significant degree; I challenge you to provide documented proof of that (up to) one million miles.

[rjracin240]

When you think of the ingredients in those batteries and the disposal of them..... makes me wonder when there will be a charge to dispose of the cars that is bared by the vehicle owner.

[Oldroad1]

Yard Art.

[limoguy]

Maybe so, if the PTB figure out a reliable, abundant, politically acceptable source of electricity. Right now EVs are niche vehicle. I believe the size of the niche may change in the future, but not the fact.

[58_Plastic_Tub]

Jack,

(Someone coined the phrase “Diet Bronco” for the Bronco Sport, which might be the first genuinely insightful thing the social-media-addicted class of third-rate autowriters has ever said or thought.)

Oh, how I could write about the car-hating, click-bait loving, social-media "content creators" in the NYC Hearst media silo, dismantling the greatest periodicals of my lifetime.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am that good writing, running counter to the "approved party narrative" thrives in at least some small corner of the world, even if it is on the media sideshow of a collector-car insurance company's website.

Talk to your editor, then talk to the big bosses. Somehow, some way, this kind of content needs more exposure in a higher profile in the outside world. It's too important to make me click to this page twice a day, every day to see if there's something new.

[KenRhodes]

Add to all the other good writing attributes of this piece, a bonus we seldom see in automotive journalism--a Shelley reference!

[audiocage]

I don't know mountain bikes, but if the velocipede in question is the one shown in the pictures, I have to question your definition of "fits."

[Jack_Hagerty]

Putting the wheel over the tailgate is standard practice now, especially for downhill bikes, which is why there's a special pad on the tailgate.

Without it... well, all I can say is that my Trek is just as long as my Kawasaki ZX-14R. Scratch that. I think it's an inch or two longer. So you'd need an eight-foot bed to fit it without draping the tailgate.

[bradfa]

How many bikes can fit across the bed, when draping over the tailgate?
Most of the mid-sized truck tailgate pads have space for 5 bikes. Do the mid-sized tailgate pads fit on the Maverick? Can you actually get 5 bikes across given the slightly narrower wheel well width in the Maverick?

[Jack_Hagerty]

No, this is going to be a four-bike truck, unless you're doing twenty-inch BMX bikes, in which case you might get five.

For the record, I've had six bikes on the back of my Silverado, but it wasn't ideal.

[KenRhodes]

I suspect the cab of your Silverado was a mite crowded with those six riders inside. 😉

[Jack_Hagerty]

I know you're teasing me, but on cross-country trips my kid and I used to each bring a DH bike, an enduro, and a BMX bike.

Now we are running long-travel enduros and dirt-jumpers, so just four bikes!

[JGeske]

Ah, I remember being the designated bike hauler for the team in college. My ride was a 98 Plymouth Grand Voyager, and with the seats all out (and the custom sawhorse rack in place) you could fit 5 inside, another 3 on the hitch rack, and 2 more on the Thule racks on the roof. Everyone loved that I could haul the bikes and everyone else could pack into 2-3 other cars and convoy. Sadly, on one trip to Whistler in 08 or 09, someone rear-ended me at a stop and killed the 3 bikes hanging on the hitch, including my Cannondale Jekyll (and if I recall correctly a Trek Fuel 9.5 EX and a Specialized StumpJumper were the other casualties). That guy's insurance company learned a lesson on how much good bikes can cost. *SAD FACE*

[JGeske]

Also, I had my priorities straight in college, my bike cost as much as my POS van, probably more with some of the aftermarket stuff on it. Sadly after the accident the only salvageable parts were the brakes and the pedals, the latter of which are still in use on one of my bikes to this day. Now I have a nice vehicle, and my wife won't let me spend what I truly want to on a bike.

[Jack_Hagerty]

I once had a wife who wouldn't let me spend what I wanted to on a bike. I spent a grand on an Ultegra-equipped Schwinn from Supergo in 2001, a hell of a bike that I put 20,000 miles on, and she never shut up about it. Didn't want me to buy an Intense DH bike when they first came out, either.

Now I have the aforementioned Session 9.9, a loaded GG Megatrail, four Lynskeys including a Pro29 and an R270 roadie, a dozen high-end BMX bikes, and two dirt-jumpers built in Ann Arbor by hand, identically stem-to-stern, so I have one wherever I go. Maybe a hundred grand of bikes. Maybe more, if I'm honest about what I have in all of them.

And I have a *new* wife, who is a decade younger than I am and who has just one request about my riding: that I carry a Garmin InReach in case I get hurt somewhere I won't be found for a very long time. It's very liberating, I don't recommend it to everyone, but I don't NOT recommend it to everyone!

[Jack_Hagerty]

I used a SWB Voyager as a "lift ticket" for a while until it died, some time around 2002!

[Rider79]

I carry our bikes in a SWB Voyager, too, a 1990 - an estate vehicle. I would not consider leaving my bikes out in the weather, vulnerable to easy theft - conditions that a pickup bed would provide.

[bradfa]

For comparison, I can rather easily fit my family's 5 bikes (2 adults, 3 kids) over the tailgate in my Colorado and everyone in the crew cab. It'd certainly be easier in a full sizer, but works without a problem.
For this year I've gotten a big Brute container strapped into the front of the bed to shove all the helmets and other gear into so it's not crowding the cab.

[Tim]

Ah, the classic, "But can it do *this*?" counter-argument. No, not every vehicle can do everything. But I doubt many people want to be the fifth guy in any truck. Oh, great, I get to sit in the middle! Plenty of room in the SuperCrew, but wait, the SuperCrew comes with a 5.5' bed--so I guess those wheels will be draped over the tailgate after all.

If 5 buddies wanna go mountain biking, they could take *two* Mavericks and still get better gas mileage than one full-size truck.

[bradfa]

My use case is I have 3 kids. They easily fit 3-across in the back of my Colorado crew cab and I suspect for local trips they'd even fit 3-across in the back of a Maverick. So when we go biking as a family all 5 of us fit in the cab and all 5 bikes fit in the bed draped over the tailgate.
The Maverick isn't that much narrower on paper than the existing mid-sizers and I've not seen a Maverick yet in person.

[fueledbymetal]

“Putting the wheel over the tailgate is standard practice now, especially for downhill bikes, which is why there's a special pad on the tailgate.”

Ditto that. Beats both roof racks & trailer hitch racks for convenience. 🍺

[TonyT]

Or maybe some two-wheeler rider could buy a thing called a "trailer" to haul bikes or snowmobiles or the wife's latest yard art.

[Zephyr]

I am more concerned with how well IKEA furniture kits fit into the bed, and how many yards of gravel it will haul, since those would seem to be more typical uses for the average homeowner.

[bradfa]

A yard of gravel is likely to easily fit in any truck bed, including a Maverick. The hard part is having enough payload to haul a yard of gravel. A yard of gravel is easily over 1 ton.

[Rider79]

IKEA furniture is usually junk, from what I hear, and gravel can be easily (and somewhat cheaply) delivered.

[hyperv6]

Most important Vehicle is a bit premature speculation.

To carry a bike means not to hang it over a thin skinned tailgate and in the bed properly.
Carry a 8 foot 2x4 better have a saw. Options you can have them but by the time you pay for them you are in Ranger and Colorado zone. Yes you can buy a 4x4 Colorado for about the same price.

You basically have a cheap CUV that has a butch Truck like body but it is still not a truck. You want towing you need 4x4 and more money. Yes you get a little more MPG but you need the more basic Hybrid to get much.
The back seat is a compromise as much as the bed.
Everyone sang the praised of the Ridgeline when it arrived and yet today it is hard to imagine why Honda is still building it with 30K sales per year as that is not good.

Anyone with a automotive mentality will find that the larger Bronco will be the hit of Ford and he Maverick fuss will die down like he Ridgeline did.
One should not measure success by Aluminum bodies as that did not work as Ford had planned. First the cost of Aluminum went up. Then the price competition with GM and Ram has limited profits due to higher cost metals. One may want to note the Ranger, Maverick and Bronco are all Steel and not sharing in the aluminum fiasco. I just saw a video the other day still trying to explain the added time and cost of repair of the panels.

Lets face it there are those who do in the automotive field and then there is the media.

I have a good marketing idea for Ford. 

Maverick it's not a real slow truck and not a real fast truck.  But it is a Half Fast truck. 

By the way good thing they are not hauling 10 speeds. 

Folks remember when it comes to small trucks like this it is not the Ranger or S10 of old. It will have a very compromised interior and bed due to space limitations. The whole object here is to make a truck that is more profitable based on a CUV. Mid size trucks are not cheap to design and build as they share little with other models like an S10 did. Also today most people want a back seat that you can put more than a child or a double amputee in. 

Ford had done better to bring back the Sport Trac. 

[Jack_Hagerty]

"To carry a bike means not to hang it over a thin skinned tailgate and in the bed properly."

No. Nobody puts modern mountain bikes IN the truck bed. Go visit any of the lift-served mountain-bike parks in this country, and see for yourself.

"Anyone with a automotive mentality will find that the larger Bronco will be the hit of Ford and he Maverick fuss will die down like he Ridgeline did."

Most people would look at the transaction prices here, which for the Bronco are close to DOUBLE for the Maverick, and disagree.

"One should not measure success by Aluminum bodies as that did not work as Ford had planned."

Arguable. This old article explains the aluminum payoffs:

https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/09/24/why-ford-chose-aluminum-for-the-new-2017-super-dut...

"Ford had done better to bring back the Sport Trac."

Now THAT is funny.

[hyperv6]

I live near a bike path, people do all sorts of crazy things with bike. Not all are riding Lotus designed carbon bikes. 

The Maverick is out of the gate fast but like those before it the market is small. The transaction prices are not lower as they limited production. Truck guys don’t buy FWD based trucks. Non truck people really don’t buy trucks. 

As for prices before the chip shortage you could get extra cab Colorados in San Diego for under $20k and 4x4 V6 models under $30k. 

This is just one of a number stories of Ford material cost were hurting profits. Ford also was seeing $7 to $9 stock prices after the into and only went up with the EV models. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/business/ford-f150-aluminum-trucks.html

The Aluminum did not reduce that much weight and it is not hard to poke holes in it. If aluminum was the be all they are not rushing it to any other model. 

As for Aluminum there is a lot of propaganda out there but they leave out cost and down play the real repair cost. 

You may laugh at the Sport Trac but the have not made them for years and they are still all over the mid west. It was one Ford that was popular and did not Rust like the other trucks. It is not my favorite but they sold a ton of them. 

The new Bronco will be the new Mustang for Ford. My regret is GM has nothing to compete. Todays young buyers like these life style vehicles that are easy to customize. Even with the Wrangler nearly half are owned by women. That is a big Demo. 

[MustangJim]

The point of this vehicle is that not everyone needs or wants a full size truck. You mention the Colorado, well thats a big truck also if you live in an urban area. I know that marketing is toward the mountain bike, active crowd and Jack does a good job of explaining how good this little truck is in that environment. Don't forget that many people live in urban areas and need a little truck around the house. You can drive it daily, park it anyplace and bring it to home depot on the weekends. Fill the bed with yard debris, anything you want. This is a great little truck. Yes it is car based, so what? Not everyone is towing anything or carrying heavy loads. But if you need to pick up that snow blower for your driveway this is perfect and gets you back and forth to work economically and its easy to park. You criticze this little truck but are unhappy that GM has nothing to compete with it. Please remember "Ford has a better idea" Just remember this little truck is not pretending to be an F-150, not even a Ranger.. its just a little inexpensive truck. Its a shame that this supply shortage is causing such limitations on production. I've seen it said that Ford is mistakenly concentrating to much on bev...well thank the govt. and cafe standards for that.. they need to get the corporate fuel economy #'s where they need to be so that they can still continue to sell bigger SUV's and V8 Mustangs, etc...I think Ford has done a great job with this Maverick.. And.I have fond memories of Mavericks.. drop in a nice 302, top loader 4 speed..etc...Now I am starting to rant so will post and go.

[hyperv6]

The Colorado and Ranger are not that much larger in size. 10" different per Ford. And where they are it matters in cargo and passenger comfort. Don't try to play that card as I own a Canyon. 

The reality is that Ford will need more than Mountain Bikers to  buy this. Most are just putting a roof rack on a Subaru anyways. 

Many who live in Urban areas are not buying new cars. 

My trucks does all that you list and does it better. I have hauled everything from a Top Fuel Short block to a Masters Soap Box Derby race car with no issue and nothing sticking out the back. 

I lamented that GM did not have an answer to the Bronco not the Maverick. Big difference. 

Fords better ideas in the past do not always speak well. the old King pins that would always freeze up The old F100 that would bend in the middle. The Pinto?  

Sorry I have not fallen for the marketing. It is not cheap unless you like nothing in the truck. I can get an LT V6 Colorado for about the same as this Maverick and have as much in options. 

Ford is late in the game on the BEV. They pass off a converted F150 when GM is already building a truck on a dedicated platform that Ford is 2-3 years away from. It is a matter they have to have it to survive the future and they are late to the party. 

I am glad you like it and I expect it will do well for a year or two but then will the market grow or will it fail as it has for every FWD based pick up sold in America. 

I recall the old Mavericks. I cut one up in Auto Shop in High School as it was so rotted we could hardly move it. Got to love removing the gas tank to find that the tank also was the floor and structure to the car. They were lucky there were few law suits. 

1970 Torino that was a much better memory.

[TacoSueno]

any one who uses a lift to ride down a hill isnt cycling they are coasting- I could fit four bikes of any kind road CX MTB etc in the rear of my 94 Trooper . The maverick is a cute ute nothing more- I expect a bike to fit in the bed with wheel off

[Jack_Hagerty]

"any one who uses a lift to ride down a hill isnt cycling they are coasting"

This reminds me of the late great Sheldon Brown, who wrote,

" It is effectively just a variant form of motorcycle racing, since most of the power is provided by the machinery that carries the rider and bike to the top of the run. Bicycling should be a human-powered activity, or it is not bicycling to me."

One disagrees with Brown at one's peril, but he is full of bunk here. I might as well say that road cycling is "not bicycling" because it requires very little athleticism or talent, amounting really to nothing but marathon running with pedals.

Since 1985 I've done it all: BMX, freestyle, skatepark, crit racing, road racing, long-distance touring, cross-country MTB, downhill MTB. Everything but cyclocross and gravel biking, really. While I never stop being amused at the narcissism of small differences among cyclists, and have participated in it myself endless times, I think it's counter-productive.

My son won't pedal up a two-percent grade without complaining but at the age of twelve he can clear a 40-foot gap at 12,000 feet of elevation in Colorado without so much as raising a puff of dust when he lands. To suggest that this is "coasting" while people puffing along at 8mph on loaded touring bikes are "cycling", to me, smacks of resentment from people who don't have the talent to do the former so they are stuck plugging through the latter. As for me, after about 100 broken bones, including a broken thumb from a skatepark crash suffered four weeks ago, I'm just grateful to still be on two wheels and on the move.

[Rider79]

Well, the Sport Trak WAS better-looking...

[MarveH]

Most folks won't be cross shopping the maverick with the F-150, Silverado, or Fiat Ram but rather the Golf, Elantra, or Corolla.
This is (mostly) for people who would never consider a truck. People who look at the $19k price and 40MPG and think, maybe it would be nice to bring that new fridge home myself instead of paying a delivery fee. Or, it might be nice to put the we camping gear in a bed I can hose out. This is not for people who need to pull a lo-boy with a bulldozer on it.
I'd like one to replace my 50 MPG fiesta, I have a truck to haul and tow with.
My only objection is the lack of a manual transmission.

[JGeske]

This guy gets it. There are plenty out there that want a small hauling space they can get dirty, and the biggest thing they tow is a 10-14 ft aluminum boat or a single ATV/UTV, well within the limit of towing the hybrid offers. Heck, it seems many forget that the old S10 crew cabs only towed between 3500-5200lbs depending on engine and had a 4 ft bed, and the old Rangers didn't even offer a crew cab, although it could be had with a 6 foot bed, and had a towing capacity of just 1600-3200 lbs.

I know of 6 people offhand who drive old S10s and Rangers because there are no affordable small trucks to properly replace those, which meet their needs fine for the reasons listed above, and all 6 like the Maverick. In fact, one is my neighbor, and he has one of each, an S10 crew and one Ranger SuperCab, both of which are nearly rusted to oblivion here in road-salt Wisconsin. He will be sad to hear that he cannot get a Maverick yet.

[Tim]

I agree with your assessment of the Maverick's market. But isn't it funny how the full-size truck elite come out of the woodwork to denigrate the Maverick? As though it doesn't merit to be in the same showroom as a "real" truck. Judge the Maverick by how well it does what it is supposed to do, not what some other vehicle is supposed to do, and it scores very well.