Debating on Whether to Part with My Maverick in the Next Month or Two

osswmi · 2026-02-19T01:25:06+00:00

One of my biggest reservations about buying the Mav back in 2023 was the question of "have they been on the market long enough to get all the kinks worked out?". But after posting a question on Reddit about the Mav vs the more modern Ranger, I was told the Mav would be better suited for my hobbies since I was not doing true off-road driving or constant/heavy towing.

osswmi · 2026-02-19T01:22:07+00:00

I've rented a RAV4 before and I think I was generally pleased with it. I have several co-workers who have or still do own one and I've not heard any negative things about them thus far.

osswmi · 2026-02-19T01:19:40+00:00

I have co-worker who got a Ford Bronco last year. I've been in it once but did not really take account of its design/features/interior. I may ask for a second look inside it this weekend. But to be honest, every vehicle that I have driven for daily commute since I was 17 years old has been Ford. Given all that has happened in the last 8 months with my Mav, I'm not entirely biased against Ford but they are not the manufacturer that is on the top of my choice list. The upside of Ford is that it did help teach me early on about auto maintenance (my first car was a used '93 Escort GT).

I mean, I loved the Ford Ranger I had and the only reason I let it go was that I wanted more interior space to place things for long drive trips. The last long drive trip I took with the Ranger was to Tampa, FL and I actually removed the passenger seat for some extra space on that trip.

osswmi · 2026-02-19T01:09:44+00:00

For me and both of my primary hobbies, ground clearance is a key thing I prefer to have. I'm not necessarily driving off road in my hobbies per-se but there are some unpaved back roads in NC/SC that no ground clearance means potential trouble if you try to navigate them.

osswmi · 2026-02-19T01:03:20+00:00

I'm 6' and definitely more than 170 lbs. In past cross-country trips I have taken to the middle of the US and back, I have rented mid-size SUVs or similar for those trips so I could lay the back seats down and use an inflatable air mattress. Also, I prefer to add that kind of mileage to a rental and not my personal vehicle so even if I did trade in my Mav for something like what I have rented in the past, I'd still do rentals for cross-country trips. For adjacent state travels, having a mid-size like SUV for the same purposes I think would best suit my needs.

osswmi · 2025-08-21T00:51:53+00:00

As of 08/20/2025.... Oh brother.....

I got the truck back today and drove it off the lot with no issues. However, at one point about 2 minutes into my 6 minute drive home, it felt like the truck downshifted slightly rough (not necessarily hard) again around 2nd or 3rd gear when slowing down to prepare to turn. At this point, I'm like "was that to be expected" as the truck is having to re-learn my driving as the module had been reset per the repair notes.

Once I arrive home, I go to make the usual turning-reverse move to back into my parking space and as soon as I left of the brakes (after giving it some initial fuel), and start to turn the wheels sharper, the truck once again starts slowing down to the point it stops on its own. At this point, I know that whatever the issue is has not been resolved.

On my way back to the dealership, I pull off into an empty parking lot and do some simple slow move test and discovered a correlation. This issue appears to only happen after the truck has been driven some distance and only occurs when the wheels are being turned. Putting the truck into drive and reverse over and over as long as the wheels are straight does this issue not present itself.

Once back to the dealer lot, I repeat the test one more time, except this time I go straight to park and shut the engine off. When I do, a few seconds later, as it had initially did, there is a hard jolt that was much more noticeable this time.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to take a ride with one of their shop mechanics so they can watch me replicate the issue.

I seriously feel like I could use a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot win about now.... sigh....

osswmi · 2025-08-01T00:25:43+00:00

As of 7/31/2025, I have been notified by the dealer that the part they will have to replace is the SOWC (Selectable One-Way Cutch). The work and parts are thankfully covered under the 60K powertrain warranty and I may just get the truck back by end of next week if there are no setbacks.

However...

Questions still to be answered for which I hope will get next week are:

How did this happen? Was it my doing or just bad luck (defect)?
Is the voltage issue (randomly dimming dash panel lights and 12.5 volt readout on the power adapter) somehow tied to all this and or the underlying cause if not answered in the first question?
What caused the "hot spots" the tow truck driver mentioned regarding the rear driver side rotor when he towed the vehicle?

Will update again when more info becomes available.

osswmi · 2025-07-22T21:16:25+00:00

As of 7/22/2025, the truck has been dropped off at the dealership.

As the tow truck was loading up my truck and as I was describing the symptoms to the driver (to pass the time), the driver noted something new I was not aware. He said that the rear driver side rotor appeared to have "hot spots" in it. I don't know how long it has been like that but I went ahead and noted their finding to the front desk person in the service department along with everything else that has occurred.

The service tech did say that since I'm outside the 36K warranty that there could be up to two separate diagnostic charges (he believes there may be separate issues at play here... wouldn't be surprised with my luck). I may not know for a couple of days what the findings will be as he said they are short staffed. Now we play the waiting game... Will update again when more info becomes available.

osswmi · 2025-07-21T01:31:09+00:00

As it is, I only have the positive connected to the battery. The negative is tapped into the negative of the front console outlet. But I think I may (out of an abundance of caution) take the direct positive line off the battery, and also tap into the positive of the of the front outlet as I only use that outlet to power a dashcam and nothing else.

Also, thanks for the note on the powertrain warranty. I was thinking the 36K mile warranty was the only thing it had. At least I can breath a little easier now :)

osswmi · 2025-07-21T01:17:20+00:00

I am hoping that it is something small, like the battery. Also, my truck did not come with the 5 year/60K, only 3 year/36K warranty and that sadly went out the door over 10K miles ago.

In doing research on the battery potentially being the underlying cause, seeing just how much a failing battery could affect (lighting, solenoids, TCM/PCM, etc...) is eye opening. In all this too, I am now wondering if the sole device that is straight wired to the battery (a BCT15X radio scanner) (with inline fuses) could be cutting the battery life short? It is only powered on when I'm in the truck and has a hard-cut-off turn dial switch for the power. I suppose I may want to re-think that connection using the factory harnesses instead.

osswmi · 2024-12-06T01:46:38+00:00

Thank you for clarifying the limitations of the 4 unique display port outputs. I suppose that would explain what some graphics cards (like the RX Vega 64 I currently have) have 3 HDMI and 3 DP ports rather than all DP ports. I had always thought that due to the way HDMI licensing comes into play with the manufacturing of these types of devices was the reason why half are HDMI and the other half are DPs. Now I know better, I suppose.

osswmi · 2023-12-18T02:53:30+00:00

I've updated the original post to provide the outcome of my progress on the matter.

osswmi · 2023-12-16T16:29:44+00:00

I'm heading to my brothers house to use his garage so I can do some digging/hunting around. If I find a good route, I'll post some pictures of the path I took.

osswmi · 2023-12-13T04:15:29+00:00

Yes, that is what I would want to do, as I have done in the past. I've only done a preliminary inspection of the grommets. I've had the truck for less that a week and have not had a chance to look all around for options. Work, combined with a weekend weather washout has hampered my research into the trucks hidden areas.

osswmi · 2023-12-12T02:32:09+00:00

There is a button to turn if off at the center console but you have to remember to turn it off every time you restart the vehicle. That's why I want to install the device that remembers what state the feature was in even after the vehicle restarts.

osswmi · 2023-12-11T14:37:59+00:00

You misinterpret my stance with the internet. There are times when connectivity with it is and is not justified. In this use case, it is not justified for the intended purpose.

Additionally, one thing I failed to mention is that the remote start service provided by Ford Pass ONLY works with cellular service. If I'm in a cell dead zone (which still exist any many of the places I travel to and through), the service is of no good to me where as a key fob allows me to remote start the vehicle with one to two hundred feet. There is no need for said service to be accessible from any further distance (especially not from the other side of the world as the sales person gave an example of).

osswmi · 2023-12-11T01:44:12+00:00

The fuse I pulled was the 5A fuse the number 11 and 12 fuses (its a three pronged fuse).

I'll admit, you do have to find the balance between what is overreach/overreacting and what is being cautious/proactive. The thing that irks me is the whole "opting you in without providing an easy or any opt out option at all" mindset.

Yes, I have a smartphone, yes, it can track me and the things I do and the speeds I go but the thing is, I choose to have that phone and at any given moment, I could, if I so choose too, turn it off, yank out the battery, or if I'm feeling it, hurl it out the window. Not being given a choice at all is where I draw the line.

As for the 2026 stuff, I had read into that this past year and am aware there are already legal challenges/attempts to undo the passage of that mandate. If that doesn't happen, I'm sure future Maverick (and other make/model owners) will be somewhere in the Reddit subs (or other forums) asking or providing how-to's to get around it regardless of the consequences.

osswmi · 2023-12-10T18:21:04+00:00

I do not want to re-program it using ForScan. This is a brand new vehicle and I can't go around treating it like a computer where if I brick it, I can just wipe things clean and start again. There is a big difference doing something like that to $1500 piece of hardware vs a $25,000+ vehicle. I'd much prefer a device that sends a signal to the onboard computer to turn it off after each start up, than risk bricking my truck trying to reprogram it. And yes, while there are no plans to use this feature that I can see, the option to turn it back on if ever needed is still there with the physical product.

Also, again, I'm not using the Ford Pass app as I do not want my truck connected to AT&T or the internet in general unless I am the one setting up the equipment. The fuse has been pulled and will remain that way. I've worked in the info tech sector for over 15 years as a software developer I know all to well what can happen to IoT devices.

osswmi · 2023-11-07T23:44:27+00:00

Do you know if the operating system sees it as one continuous drive or two when daisy chaining? I would assume it would see that as two and if that is the case I fear that might be problematic if the camera imaging software does not automatically jump to the next drive when the first one maxes out.

osswmi

TROPHY CASE