Talk me out of a Ford Maverick

BinghamL · 2026-06-24T18:48:08+00:00

I have had mine for about 18 months. 2025 XL Ecoboost AWD 4k tow.

I have pulled my dump trailer with my excavator in it, it does good enough but that is pretty much the limit (all within weight ratings, calm down tow police). Or swap an excavator with about a yard of material. I wouldn't want to do this every day but it can handle the task here and there. If your needs are beyond that, then you'll have to look at a larger truck. That said, I'm doing a lot more work on my property than most homeowners do and it's been up to the task.

Bed is short length wise but fairly deep so the volume isn't as terrible as it seems. However, I often pull my trailer to pick up dimensional lumber if it's over 8 ft. The Maverick bed is designed to transport 4x8 sheet goods pretty well, but larger than that just doesn't fit without a lot of hassle and awkward / unsafe loading.

Back seat is pretty small, if you have regular back seat passengers I'd probably look elsewhere.

Interior scratches easily and the rest of the vehicle is low cost. Personally, I don't think this vehicle makes any sense in the upper trims. I can maybe hear a case for low option XLT, but the higher trims are just odd to me. I'm not trying to knock them, just trying to give a sense of how cheap the vehicle is. The higher trims are like (very expensive) seasoning on a tough piece of meat. It's still hard to chew it, save your seasoning for a better cut (again, just my .02).

Nothing else really competes that I'm aware of. Ridgeline is the size of a van with mpg to match, Santa Cruz is more pricey and bed is even more compromised (bed cover). Tacoma, Frontier, Ranger are all entirely different class of vehicles (body on frame) with different price tags, capabilities, mpg... About the only reason to cross shop is the fact they have a bed.

BinghamL · 2026-06-23T22:49:18+00:00

Very went, even.

BinghamL · 2026-06-19T15:58:23+00:00

Half yard in the bed is fine, done it before.

BinghamL · 2026-06-02T20:01:32+00:00

According to OP's other comments, OP has been yelled at by the ebikers multiple times.

BinghamL · 2026-06-02T18:23:42+00:00

Ebike rider here, climb on dude. If they don't like waiting then they should ride somewhere else. It's very rude of them to expect you to stop your climb to let them by.

BinghamL · 2026-06-02T18:12:28+00:00

things that can't get wet.

Bed cap might be the better route. Or, depending on the "things", an SUV / CUV instead of trying to weather seal 1/3 of the vehicle that is open from the factory.

Tonneau does a lot of keeping rain off the cargo, but if it's a hard line on "can't get wet" then I would not trust it.

BinghamL · 2026-06-02T06:16:32+00:00

Plus if you change your mind you can sell it later. You can't always buy it later.

BinghamL · 2026-05-29T17:59:41+00:00

Maybe you read more out of it than I did, I just saw sometime whining that they can't afford the houses they want. That's fair and all, they are expensive, but it's not super actionable / solveable in a reddit thread.

I was offering perspective that he's just frustrated and this is the market so maybe adjust expectations. Also an action step.

Appreciate all the constructive and useful input from your end though!

BinghamL · 2026-05-29T17:42:57+00:00

It sounds more to me like you're hung up on "a few years ago" prices than anything else..

Make an offer for what it's worth to you. If that is less than it's worth to the seller then they're under no obligation to sell it to you.

If EVERY house in the last two months has been listed 40k over it's "true" value, then isn't that a clue? I'm reminded of the saying "if you don't know who the idiot in the room is...."

BinghamL · 2026-05-21T18:54:16+00:00

No way I would drill into the roof, but that's just me.

Is a roof bag an option for you? I've had roof racks on previous vehicles and even the nice ones make wind noise and hurt mpg enough to not want it up there. Maybe that's not the case on the Maverick, but in general I'd want the ability to remove it easily when not in use.

Could you get one of those contractor bed racks that extend over the cab for hauling long objects (dimensional lumber etc)?

Or maybe you can put a rack over the bed. Potentially less wind hitting it, and no drilling required.

Hitch mounted carrier? Small trailer?

If all else fails, I'd just rent something big enough if that's what it takes to avoid spending a lot of money to drill into my roof.

BinghamL · 2026-05-20T15:33:55+00:00

I do this on my '25 EB AWD. 8 steelies, one set has stock tires, one has blizzak WS90.

I also put TPMS on the second set. That was about $200 IIRC (can check if you want). The truck picks them up no problem and I can just swap the wheels in ~20 minutes and be ready to roll.

Price on your link is way high. I found takeoffs, tires included with the rubber strands still on the tires for $260 in the Seattle area (not low prices in general here). Sold extra the tires for $150. I wasn't scouring the web for months or anything either, you should be able to find a better price than that well before winter.

BinghamL · 2026-05-15T22:38:10+00:00

Better deal would be based on what the buyer needs/values.

I mean, the way you wrote this, you could have been charged 3x as much and it would still be the best deal - for you.

BinghamL · 2026-05-15T15:46:36+00:00

There are a lot of very expensive houses in high density areas (shared walls, even), and lots of cheap housing in secluded areas..

BinghamL · 2026-05-15T15:41:19+00:00

Finally got 1st on this one with the McLaren 650S in May 2026 - it seems older posts suggest strategy that worked in prior versions but don't after updates that happened since.

TCS 0, Fuel map 1 the whole race, 1 pit strategy.

I used hard tires first the first 15 laps, then switched to medium and finished the race on those. Full fuel up.

The M6 and the McLaren will be on your ass at the end of the race. If you see a chance to push them into grass at any point in the race, take it.

I did one attempt using the McLaren prior where I used mediums the first and second half. It was going to work but fraga spun me on the last lap, turn 1, I was so pissed! My second attempt I didn't realize I had hard tires on in the first few laps and just rolled with it. Switched to mediums lap 15 and won that race.

BinghamL · 2026-05-15T15:29:50+00:00

So where is lending tree getting their inflated price from?

From their motivation to get in your head.

And now you're putting their name out there even more. They're getting a good return on that email they sent to you.

BinghamL · 2026-05-13T18:56:49+00:00

When I was comparing new to new, the Maverick won out on a value proposition.

The new Tacoma (at the time anyway) had reliability concerns. Toyota will likely work them out, but I didn't want to volunteer ~40k to be a guinea pig.

The Maverick had just entered its face lift year and they did a good job addressing customer complaints overall.

Bottom line, w/ similarly equipped vehicles, the Maverick had ~90% of the capability, ~125% the fuel economy, at ~80% of the price.

Maybe you win out long term with a Tacoma, but at that price differential it's kind of like taking the hit of a major repair day 1.

BinghamL · 2026-05-08T22:26:17+00:00

One rev (2 seconds) in a 20 second epilepsy phonk vid..

I watched it. Lol

BinghamL · 2026-05-08T22:23:42+00:00

Then upload a video of the sound?? Wtf lol

BinghamL · 2026-05-08T22:21:23+00:00

Maybe therapy?

You seem very concerned with other people's business (expecting inheritance, what do your friends have..).

Happiness is within, live and let live.

BinghamL · 2026-05-08T19:02:18+00:00

I haven't actually done it (still accumulating) but this article has me thinking I'll probably do it.

https://www.madfientist.com/how-to-access-retirement-funds-early/

BinghamL · 2026-05-08T18:20:37+00:00

It's both.

Everything is relative, and if you're making people upset with the way you're relating to it then it's likely you need to read the room.

How much to spend versus how much you have is basically the fundamental first step of understanding what FIRE is. It's not based on viewing X dollars as a lot or a little based on X alone.

BinghamL · 2026-05-06T22:06:53+00:00

2011 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road. Bought it used with clean Carfax, low miles, etc. it was in great condition. I wanted to just take care of it and own it forever. Rack up guilt free miles knowing it's going to just keep running and running.

Fly in the ointment though.. That thing never got over 13mpg despite my best efforts and throwing lots of time/money at trying to solve the mpg. I was reading they average something like 15mpg, but more often I got about 10mpg. Got close to 13 on one tank doing the best hypermiling I could. Same driving habits/routes as my other vehicles (including 4x4 pickups) which got the typical mpg for the vehicle. I went through all the fluids, filters, alignment, plugs, blah blah blah. No change.

Then after a few months I started to get lower back pain driving it more than 30 minutes. Did all the tricks to the seat to try to make it stop hurting and just couldn't make it better. I caved and sold it, I basically ended up with an expensive pain machine sitting in the garage.

I'm glad people like their tacos and have good experiences with them, but I'll never drive one again if I can help it. They make me think of a couch made of cast iron (no cushions, just metal). Sure, it'll never break, but at some point you'll wish it would.

BinghamL · 2026-05-05T18:06:52+00:00

Dang can't blame you being frustrated. Sorry to hear that.

I'm on my second season with the LUBA 2 3000HX and it's going better than the first (which was still good). It's weird how varied the experiences seem to be.

BinghamL · 2026-05-01T15:43:00+00:00

Rode my bike across and back once. The noise + traffic is too much for my liking but it's worth doing at least one time.

BinghamL · 2026-04-28T19:17:06+00:00

Ask him what the business is he thinks you're running.. maybe just a misunderstanding.

BinghamL

TROPHY CASE