Transcription
When Ford brought back the Maverick nameplate to America about 3 years ago, the company took a little bit of a gamble because it was not brought back as a two-door muscle car like in the 1970s, but instead as a fuel-efficient, affordable, compact pickup truck that is about the same price as vehicles like a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.
Now, it didn't take long for the Maverick to become an instant success, with Ford selling well over a 100,000 units in America last year. And for 2025, Ford is looking to increase the popularity of the Maverick by introducing a big round of updates. As you can see, they're pretty extensive. On the outside, we have freshened exterior styling. On the inside, we have an improvement in technology with all trims getting a 13.2-inch display as standard, and underneath the hood, the Maverick Hybrid returns. However, this time, Ford is now offering the hybrid with all-wheel drive for the first time. So, as you can see, this week, we are testing out a mid-trim of the Maverick called the XLT. And the big question I want answered, with all the changes that Ford has made this year, has the company managed to make the perfect compact pickup truck for many Americans? Stay tuned to find out.
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Now, before we start talking about the updated styling for this 2025 Maverick, let me go ahead and pop the hood and remind you guys what's powering this thing. Now, here in the compact unibody pickup truck class, which is really only comprised of two vehicles, the Maverick is the only option that offers an electrified hybrid, and Ford actually makes the hybrid powertrain standard equipment. Now, as you can see underneath this hood, it's not a really pretty engine bay. But what you're going to find here is a combination of a gasoline naturally aspirated 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine hooked up with two electric motors. There's a primary traction motor, of course, and then there's also a secondary motor which functions as a generator. Uh, they draw the electric motors draw their power from a 1.1 kWh battery pack. This is a full parallel series hybrid, but it's not a plug-in hybrid, and it uses an electronic CVT transmission.
Now, previously, Ford only offered the Maverick with front-wheel drive. However, like I said, there is now the option of all-wheel drive, which my test car has for an extra $2,200. Now, the power output figures are unchanged. You have a maximum of 191 horsepower combined. Around 162 horsepower comes from the gas engine alone. Uh, and torque. Ford doesn't quote the combined torque figure, but the gas engine delivers 155 lb-ft of torque. The electric motor delivers like around 173 pound-feet of torque on its own. Now, like I said earlier, electronic CVT transmission, and this vehicle has an actual physical connection between the engine and the rear drive shaft. There's no separate rear electric motor providing an e-axle, which is like something that Toyota uses. So, it's a very conventional all-wheel drive system, of course.
Fuel economy, that's the big story with the Maverick. The regular front-wheel drive hybrid version can get up to 38 MPG combined, around 42 in the city, 35 on the highway. The all-wheel drive drops it by about 1 MPG to 40 in the city, 34 on the highway, about 37 combined. The fuel tank also shrinks to around 13.8 gallons. On the hybrid versions, you have a 16 1/2 gallon fuel tank. If you guys go for the 2.0-liter EcoBoost Turbo 4, which comes standard with all-wheel drive, the company doesn't quote a 0 to 60 time. We got 7.25 seconds when we last 0 to 60 tested this vehicle out, I believe, in San Diego a few months ago. Top speed should be around 110 mph. Uh, the vehicle's payload capacity for this model here is around 1,400 lb. While its towing capacity has now improved to up to 4,000 lb, that's if you guys go for the 4K tow package. My test car doesn't have that, so it tops out at around 2,000 lb.
As the Maverick sits with all-wheel drive and the hybrid powertrain, this is the heaviest combo. Weighing in at just under 3,900 lb, it's around a couple hundred lbs heavier than the front-wheel drive hybrid variant. But closing up the hood, let's go ahead and talk about the updated exterior styling.
Now, first of all, I want to apologize how dirty the truck is. It's been raining pretty much the last 4 days that I've had this vehicle, so didn't get a chance to wash it. But this exterior color is called Ruby Red Metallic. Uh, it's an extra $390. It certainly looks good along the lines of the updated styling of the Maverick. You can see this vehicle is built on a unibody C2 architecture that it shares with the Bronco Sport and the Ford Edge. You can see the grille has been updated with the new Ford logo with the white outline. It almost looks like it's an illuminated logo, but it's not. The XLTs and XLs come with LED headlights. They are reflector style for the LED low and high beams. The turn signal is an incandescent, however, and there's no fog lights for the vehicle. You have unpainted gray plastic along with active grille shutters, no fog lights for this vehicle like I said, and also no front camera, no parking sensors. You have to step it up to the Lariat trim to get those features. Uh, and if you also step it up to the Lariat trim and up, you also get the projector LEDs with an LED daytime running light and LED turn signals. This model here, as you can see, looks a little bit cheaper, actually a lot cheaper. I'm not a fan of the reflector style headlight housings. Uh, but overall the Maverick, remember, is a more affordable vehicle and a lot of people really appreciate this truck in the more base XL and XLT trims.
Now, moving around the side profile, this is where Ford only continues to offer the Maverick in one cab configuration, a crew cab, four-door with a 4 1/2 ft bed, which means you have a wheelbase of 121.1 with an overall length just over 199 inches. The Lariat and the Tremor actually is about an inch longer thanks to different front and rear bumpers. Uh, but this vehicle is around 5 inches longer than its main rival, the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Compared to a Ranger, the Maverick is around a foot shorter overall. So, keep that in mind. This is again a compact pickup truck as opposed to a midsize truck. I like how the fender flares here are body-colored. Um, they kind of have like an integrated, you know, muscular look to them. The wheels look really plain Jane on the XLT. These are the 17-inch like silver or graphite gray wheels on a 225/65 R17. Keep in mind, you can go all the way up to a 19-inch wheel on the Maverick. Ground clearance is just over eight inches for this trim. You have an independent front suspension. The hybrids with front-wheel drive have a semi-independent twist beam, but if you add all-wheel drive, you'll have an independent rear suspension, which is a new option, of course, this year. Uh, there is not a single badge on this truck to show you that it's all-wheel drive, which is kind of surprising. You just have this little unpainted plastic fake fender vent with the XLT badging. Here you have a black painted mirror, of course, no integrated turn signals. They don't power fold. The door handles are unpainted. There's no chrome, of course, along the side. And then my test car is missing a sunroof. For an extra $995, I would have liked to have a sunroof. And then you can really see that this is definitely a unibody truck because there's no clear separation between the cab and the bed, but it certainly is a decent size bed. And I also love how the Maverick is a relatively easy truck to drive, which we'll talk about that later on.
Now, looking at the rear, the rear of the truck hasn't really changed. The XL and XLT trims will have an all-incandescent taillight design, which as you can see, the brake lights, the turn signals, reverse lights, all incandescent. The upper trims will have an LED taillight design. You can see it's got the new Ford logo here with the raised white outline with the Maverick stamped into the actual tailgate. Uh, my test car already has a tow hitch there, but it's missing the 4K tow package. And then showing that this is definitely a more affordable truck. When you open up the bed, it just kind of cheaply falls. It's not a damped tailgate, which would have been nice. Uh, and the bed back here, as you can see, my test car has the extra $500 for the spray-in bed liner. Highly recommend that. And also, for an extra $200, has the tie-down rails. There's also some LED lighting and a power outlet in here, uh, which is a nice touch, although it's not like the same Pro Power Onboard like you'd find in an F-150 PowerBoost hybrid. There's also a little bit of storage in here, which is a nice touch. And the bed, like I said earlier, will carry up to 1,400 lb of payload. If you guys step it up to the Lariat or the Tremor trim, however, that payload capacity drops to just over a thousand pound feet or a thousand pounds, I'm sorry. So, kind of keep that in mind.
Now, moving on to the interior for the updated 2025 Ford Maverick. Before we get inside, however, let me show you guys the key fob. As you can see, this is Ford's latest Intelligent Access key. It is a very large key fob. I don't love the size of it, but of course, it has your usual buttons here for unlock, lock, remote start, and also a panic function. No remote operation from the tailgate. Uh, the remote start is included with the luxury package. And then Ford does not offer sadly their phone as a key functionality like you'll find in some of their bigger vehicles, bigger, more expensive vehicles. But as you can see, the door handle, it's an unpainted gray plastic. There's a little ridge area here at the top portion. If you touch that, that will lock the doors for you. This vehicle sadly does not offer an auto walk-away lock or unlock feature. If you want to unlock the door, just touch the back of the driver's door handle only, I believe, and that will unlock the door for you.
Now, my particular test car has a really interesting color combination, and it Ford calls this interior color Navy Pier. You can also get it with a black interior. If you get the black appearance package, it only comes with a black interior, but this Navy Pier kind of has this combination of like a gray with this kind of blue with the blue contrast stitch. The XLTs only come with a cloth seat. If you guys want their ActiveX, which is their leatherette material, you have to step it up to the Lariat and up trim. So, kind of keep that in mind. These seats look a little bit nicer than the XL seats, but with the luxury package, you can see my test car includes an eight-way power driver seat with two-way lumbar, no memory seat functionality, and the passenger seat is just a six-way manual, but it certainly makes it a little bit more comfortable in finding a better driving position.
Now, this is a cheap car or cheap truck, so you have cheap materials, but I would argue that they're kind of utilitarian. You can see the upper door panel here is a hard-touch plastic material. It feels a little bit cheap. Same thing with the door handles. They are a black plastic material. It is slightly padded here with the ActiveX where you'd rest your elbows. This, of course, is just a scratchy cheap plastic. Same thing with this area here. Although it has this really interesting geometric texture there that adds some depth. Of course, you can see the stereo system. This is the six-speaker Ford stereo system. The Lariat trims will include an eight-speaker Bang & Olufsen, which I highly recommend. Hard plastic down here. There's also these exposed screw heads here with this really weird-looking door handle. I like the blue trim as well, but certainly spices up this interior a little bit with color because it doesn't really have a luxury feel to it, which you don't expect it to, given the price point of the Maverick. But stepping inside with its 8 inches of ground clearance, it has a nice easy step-in height. As I shut the door, the door has a relatively solid sounding thunk. Remember, this is built on the same architecture as the Bronco Sport.
Now, starting the vehicle up, the start-stop button is still down here. Push the button and as you can see, because this is a full hybrid, it just says "Ready" in the instrument panel. It doesn't have any engine starter noise. It has the typical Ford chime, of course. Um, but it basically just reminds you that this is a hybrid vehicle. You have an 8-inch productivity screen here in the instrument panel with two analog dials for the engine temperature and your fuel gauge to the left and the right. And then of course over here, all Mavericks now come standard with their bigger 13.2-inch Sync 4A infotainment system. So, of course, this is a massive improvement over the 8-inch display that the pre-refresh Maverick had with that little separate area here that had some storage. This looks a lot more usable. It looks a lot more modern. It includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, of course. Uh, the climate functionality is also in the screen, which is kind of always sitting there at the lower portion. You can also bring up a big climate screen if you'd like. Uh, and then, of course, you can go into your settings, all your different features, adjust a few things if you'd like. The screen itself, I have to say, I almost wish that it was kind of leaning back a little bit. It's too upright, at least for my personal viewing angle. Um, I found it to be a little bit just too upright. I want it to lean back a bit more. But regardless, this is a much better-looking screen, which also includes a backup camera. As you can see, a full 360 camera, however, is not included on this trim, and I don't believe it's available on any version of the Maverick, if I remember correctly. Although, you can get parking sensors for the vehicle. My test car is missing the front parking sensors. Um, no heads-up display obviously, but you have all hard-touch plastic, additional storage over here, more exposed screw heads, and more of that, you know, interesting textured plastic on this portion here, which again adds some color to the interior, which is nice. Uh, material quality is cheap. Build quality seems pretty average. The steering wheel, you can see, almost looks like it was taken out of a Ford Focus. No paddles. You can get that on the Lariat trim. Uh, the wheel itself offers a manual tilt telescoping adjustment, although it's not much for adjustability and range, but try the seats out. Make sure you can find a comfortable driving position. The horn, oo, it's actually pretty loud. I wasn't expecting the horn to be as meaty sounding considering this is a small truck. But as you can see, the vents are traditional with the same blue line accents here from the passenger side over to the driver or to the center vents. You can see you have a volume knob here, an array of buttons where you can skip. Um, you can also go to a calm mode. You can turn on and off the auto brake hold along with your hazards. What's interesting is when you push this, the entire panel moves. It's technically not separate buttons. Um, and then down here you can see the XLT trim is not available with a wireless phone charging pad. It's standard on the Lariat trims and up, available on the Lariat. So instead you just have a little place here for your phone, but it's not a charger. More storage over here. Of course, your drive selector or I'm sorry, your transmission selector is here. Basically, you have your P, R, N, L. Of course, electronic parking brake. Uh, stability control off switch here. And there's also like a credit card slot holder right there, which is nice. I love how Ford kept from using piano black plastic trim. And you have a nice padded center console here, which offers a deep amount of storage, which is nice. That's also good for resting your elbows. Your drive mode selector is actually on the steering wheel. If I push that, you can see it'll cycle between a normal, a sport, a tow mode, of course. And then if you go back, it goes into an eco mode, and then a slippery mode, which we'll try out the different drive modes later on when we get the vehicle out on the road. And then, uh, the seats, like I said earlier, they are okay in terms of comfort. Um, for me, I found the seats to be a little bit annoying because I couldn't really find a comfortable position. I found myself squirming a lot. They don't have much in terms of bolstering. The Lariat has a slightly different seat. So, I'm hoping to see if that'll be any better. Glove compartment. You can see it just kind of cheaply falls. It's a bin style. It's not damped or lined with felt, but it offers additional hidden storage, which is nice. There's no auto-dimming rearview mirror, just a traditional manual mirror in this trim. You do have sunglass holders, which is nice, along with some LED map lighting. No ambient lighting in this trim. I think the Lariat trim has that. Without the sunroof, it offers a ton of headroom space, which is a good feature or good thing for sure for taller drivers. But overall, you can see the interior. Aside from the upgraded infotainment system, it's pretty much the same interior from the previous pre-refresh Maverick. You can hear the engine just turned on, which is to say, not luxurious, but very functional, very spacious, good visibility, and decent build quality, which complements or which helps to fight the kind of cheap materials that you find in the Maverick. But let's go ahead and hop into the back seat area and show you guys what that space is like.
Now, as you can see with the crew cab doors, you have four full-size doors. Ford says you have around 35.9 inches of legroom back here, which is about an inch less versus the 2.0-liter EcoBoost. I suspect because the battery pack takes up a little bit of space. You can see you have a bench back here with the same cloth materials with the contrast blue stitching. Same hard-touch plastic materials here and here. Um, the padded area is right here. The windows only the driver window is one-touch down. Everything else is not one-touch. That's not the case on the Lariat trims where you have one-touch for all four. So Ford again cheaps out a little bit on the XL and XLT trims. If you pull on this little strap, this seat will actually pop up or flip up as you can see. Um, that's access, I believe, to your 12-volt battery. And there's some nice under-seat storage area. You can see this rear window doesn't slide open or roll down at all. And there's also no rear defroster on the windows. But once you get back here, you can see this is basically my driving position. As I shut the door, ignore that rattle. That's stuff in the door pockets. There's actually a pretty decent amount of space. This is more than what you're going to find in like a Toyota Tacoma. Pretty comparable to the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Uh, around 35.9 inches of legroom. You do have two USB-C charging ports, an actual power outlet, a little bit like of additional hooks and whatnot. Uh, and then you have a little storage cubby there and just the driver or the passenger seat. If I fold this down, there is an armrest with two cup holders, which is nice. And then in terms of the headroom space, you can see a ton of headroom, like an extra four or five inches of headroom. Uh, and that's because the sunroof isn't taking up the additional space. So, overall, the Maverick still excels as a family vehicle. Uh, just keep in mind again, this has less space than every half-ton pickup truck. But if you're looking at midsize body-on-frame trucks, this actually has the same space, if not more, versus most of those rivals.
So, here we are back behind the wheel of the Ford Maverick. As you guys know, when this vehicle first came out, it was a little bit of a controversy because Ford brought back a nameplate from the '60s and '70s. However, it was not, it's no longer a two-door coupe. It is now a more affordable unibody pickup truck. But the last laugh, of course, belongs to Ford because this model has become one of the brand's best sellers. Uh, this vehicle actually outsells the Ranger nearly 3:1, and they had their best sales year ever last year. So, it's no surprise to me that the Maverick is getting a pretty significant overhaul for 2025. This is still one of the best, you know, sub or compact trucks that you can buy out there because it's just so well-rounded. It was a really affordable vehicle when it first came out, still relatively affordable, but still, it's gotten a lot more expensive. But the model that we're driving today is the XLT hybrid with the new addition of all-wheel drive.
So, as you can see, it's a little bit of a gloomy, wet day here in South Central PA, which, you know, I would usually be worried about trying to accelerate around in a vehicle like this because it is, you know, primarily a front-wheel drive-based vehicle. Um, but of course with its new all-wheel drive option, this vehicle now has an actual or an actual physical connection between the engine and the rear drive shaft. So, this doesn't have a separate electric motor like in some hybrid vehicles, but the powertrain still delivers the same 191 horsepower combined, which is certainly not a lot of power. Uh, but, um, it is should be sufficed for most people. And you also have to consider the fact that this powertrain gets up to like 40, 42 MPG if you guys go for a front-wheel drive version of the vehicle. If you guys go for all-wheel drive, it drops it by about 1 MPG. So either 38 or 37 combined miles to the gallon, which is pretty good. And the other great thing about the hybrid powertrain is it's a really seamless powertrain. The transition between gas and electric is very smooth. It really much reminds me of Toyota's hybrid system, and Ford does a really good job. But it's also really good at being efficient, which we'll talk about that later on. But the Maverick drives a lot better than any other truck that you might be trading out of because this is a unibody. It's got an all-independent suspension. The hybrid with all-wheel drive now finally gets that independent rear versus the front-wheel drive version of the hybrid has a torsion beam semi-independent. The all-wheel drive 2.0-liter already had the independent rear suspension. So, kind of keep that in mind. This vehicle also doesn't feel as big as, you know, a typical truck would because it has a really nice unibody construction where it just doesn't feel quite as cumbersome. It feels really car-like and smooth in its handling dynamics. And I just love how this vehicle rides as well. I think it has a pretty good ride quality. And I think most people are going to kind of get into this car and find the Maverick to be pretty easy to drive.
But let's go ahead and test out the 0 to 60. Um, we're going to try it on this route and then we're going to try it up ahead where it's a little bit more flat. But we're just going to floor it and see what we can get. I have the vehicle in sport mode. We'll brake torque it, which does allow you to do so. No wheel slip because again, it's all-wheel drive now, which is nice. It just kind of holds the revs there. But we got 7.28 seconds there. That's with it more going slightly uphill. I'll try it up ahead again on a more level flat surface. My usual road, as you guys saw, was kind of dealing with construction, so couldn't do a 0 to 60 there, but it still has plenty of power. Now, the noise that it makes is definitely not pleasant. Um, it is rather buzzy, rather noisy. If you guys are looking for a more traditional driving experience, Ford will happily sell you the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, which is technically the cheaper option if you guys want all-wheel drive because the hybrid, while it is the standard powertrain, adding all-wheel drive for the 2.0-liter, which includes all-wheel drive, is only $125 more. Adding all-wheel drive to the hybrid costs you around $2,200 more. So, it's a pretty sizable jump to add all-wheel drive to the hybrid powertrain. But when you drive the vehicle just normally, the CVT, the electronic CVT, it's not quite a traditional CVT, does a great job at just pushing the engine right into the meat of its power band. There's also that electric motor torque where this vehicle can drive around on pure electricity alone at very low speeds at light throttle applications. Remember, it has a really small 1.1 kilowatt-hour battery pack. So, this is not a plug-in hybrid, per se. But 191 horsepower, you know, 0 to 60 in around 7.28 seconds is certainly not bad considering this vehicle can now tow up to 4,000 lb when you guys get the tow package, the 4K tow package. It'll haul around 1,400 lb of payload on the bed. The handling dynamics of this truck, it's certainly not sporty. Ford has the Lariat version, which I'm hoping to get a Lariat at some point for a full week that has upgraded suspension, upgraded steering, upgraded brakes. This model feels more like, you know, it feels like you're basically driving around a big Ford Escape. That's because it's riding on the same architecture or the same architecture as the Bronco Sport. But it will mimic shifts when you guys are driving it normally. And that's where the Maverick Hybrid does feel a lot like a conventional vehicle when you do start driving it normally. I really appreciate how smooth it is, how easy it is to drive. Visibility is also really good. You can see out of the front, the side, and the rear quite nicely, and I think that's important when you're driving around a vehicle like this, especially if it's your only vehicle. The visibility from from every corner of this car is really nice. The one thing I don't really love in this vehicle are the seats. I think the seats are a little bit for me, I find them to be a little flat. They could be a little bit more supportive. Uh, I think the bolstering obviously is not there, but I just find the padding to be a little bit short. Um, but kind of once you get used to the seats, you know, they aren't horrible. I just think that maybe the ActiveX, the leatherette material as opposed to this cloth would probably be my preference. If you want the leatherette material, you have to go for the Lariat or the Lariat trim level. But, I mean, overall, the brakes also, I think Ford's done a great job at just blending the friction braking with the regen braking. I think the earlier renditions of the hybrid weren't quite as good. This model just feels a lot more natural. It's just easy to kind of get in this car and drive it. Um, and aside from the noisiness of the engine, it's a relatively refined truck that has a good ride quality. It's not jittery or bouncy like most trucks are. The turning radius, while it is, you know, two almost 200 inches long, it's still really easy to drive this car. And when you don't push it too much, the engine actually stays pretty quiet. So, pretty impressed with that. I really, you know, think that the Maverick Hybrid was the one to get when it first came out. And now that Ford offers it with all-wheel drive, it makes a bigger difference because it allows people in those snow belt states who want the traction to finally get the hybrid powertrain with all-wheel drive. And I think that's important. That's something that Ford was missing. And it's great that they listen to their customers. The Maverick definitely doesn't have very much grip as you start going around corners. I actually can feel the front tires losing grip pretty fast and the vehicle will start to plow if you start pushing it a little too hard, which people who buy a Maverick aren't really going to do that anyways. There are different drive modes if you cycle them between the steering wheel buttons here. There's a sport drive mode, a normal, eco mode, then there's a slippery, and then a tow mode. Most of you are probably going to drive it in normal mode. In sport mode, I just noticed the CVT will quickly adjust ratios to get you into the meat of its power band of the engine a little bit sooner. But, you know, in the normal drive mode, it's perfectly efficient to and perfectly happy to just putter around town while also driving on electric power alone. That's a fantastic thing.
Now, this vehicle has in my weeks of testing has been averaging around 34 MPG in mixed driving, which I think is a perfectly decent efficient, you know, number. I would say the 2.0-liter is probably going to get around 10 MPG less than this vehicle. On the highway, that's where I was getting primarily 34 MPG. In the city, I was getting around 38 MPG. So, a little bit better MPG in the city. That's typically how hybrids work, and that's precisely why so many people like hybrids if you drive mostly in city driving. Let's try one more 0 to 60 around. This time, it's a little more on flat ground. And see if we can get a slightly better time here. Still in sport mode again. No drama because of the all-wheel drive. Well, well, well. 0 to 60 in 6.8989 seconds there. So, 6.9 seconds. Just under 7 seconds is pretty impressive. And again, in most around-town driving, you're probably going to do in the low 7-second range. So plenty of power. It just doesn't have the greatest sounds. I imagine the 2.0-liter turbo whenever I get one of those is probably in the low 6-second range, but still, 6.9 seconds is not bad at all. So Ford should be pretty proud. And it feels a lot more powerful than its 191 horsepower combined rating would suggest.
So, I think that the new hybrid all-wheel drive Maverick is definitely a game-changer. I mean, if you guys are considering a pickup truck or even considering like a Honda Civic or a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry, that's what makes the Maverick so appealing. And that's precisely why Ford did well over 130,000 units in the US in 2024. So, with just over 131,000 units sold in America last year, the Maverick had essentially its best sales year ever. In fact, every year since this car has come out, Ford has basically almost doubled their sales. And it really shows the popularity because Ford is really having the last laugh here. A lot of people were kind of upset that Ford brought back the Maverick name as a compact unibody pickup truck, but the company essentially hit a gold mine because they are delivering a vehicle like this at the same price as cars like a Honda Civic or a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord. And that's what precisely makes the Maverick so appealing. It also is the fact that it's an electrified hybrid now offering, of course, all-wheel drive. As you guys saw, 0 to 60 happens in just around 7 seconds, just under seven if you brake torque it, which is actually a pretty quick time for something like this. Uh, the interior, while it's definitely not the most luxurious, it's very utilitarian. Uh, but at the same time, it's very functional, it's very spacious, it has that new Sync 4 system with the 13.2-inch display, which is standard across the board, even on the base XL. It's a big upgrade versus the 8-inch display that you had in the pre-refresh version of the Maverick. The back seat is also pretty usable. It's got a bigger back seat, honestly, I believe, than Ford's own Ranger. And while the bed isn't precisely very long, you can get it with a bed extender. You can get it with a tonneau cover. Uh, and it also will carry up to 1,500 lb of payload depending, of course, on the trims. The ride quality is also good. This is not a sporty truck, but I'm looking forward to getting a hold of the Lariat for a week because that's designed to be the sport-oriented version of the truck with its 2.0-liter EcoBoost and its unique transmission and unique suspension tuning. But, uh, overall, the Maverick for me is still one of my favorite compact pickup trucks, and it's also going to be still a relatively affordable experience.
Now, of course, I say relatively because when the Maverick first came out in 2022, this truck was under $20,000, and that's what made it so damn appealing. However, over the years, Ford has increased the price. They gave it a significant price increase. However, this year when they introduced the refresh version because when I first had a chance to test this vehicle out, the starting price was just under $27,000 for a base XL with two-wheel drive. Of course, the hybrid comes standard. If you guys want all-wheel drive and the hybrid, it's around $2,200 extra. If you want all-wheel drive and the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, which comes standard with all-wheel drive, it only costs around $125 extra. So, it's actually a kind of a cheap upgrade to get all-wheel drive if you want to stick, of course, with the gas-only version.
Now, of course, since the tariffs have been announced, Ford has actually increased the pricing of the Maverick in the last few weeks, which is a little bit disappointing to see. Of course, we're not entirely sure if that price increase is going to stick around because remember, these Maverick hybrid models specifically are built in Mexico, which is of course hit with that tariff. Um, right now if you are looking to buy a base XL version of the Maverick, the base price is now $28,000, just over $28,000 bucks, which is an increase of around $1,200 compared to when the updated 2025 Maverick was first announced. Now, if you guys want an XLT trim, most of you are probably going to want the XLT for its keyless push-button start, of course, with the upgrades you can get on the XLT with the stereo system, the upgraded wheels. Uh, the XLT starts at around $30,600. So, around $1,500 extra to go to the XLT seems like a no-brainer. Again, if you guys want all-wheel drive on the hybrid, it'll cost you another $2,200, which pushes the hybrid all-wheel drive XLT to around $33 grand. Now, of course, my test car also has a luxury package that rolls in the power driver's seat, the heated steering wheel, the heated seats, of course, that's around $1,900 extra. The color upcharge is $400 bucks. The spray-in bed liner is $500. The bed tie-down areas and the rails are around $200 bucks with destination. The sticker price of my particular vehicle here is around $36,900, which seems reasonable. However, if you build out the same version of this truck on Ford's current configurator as of June of 2025, this truck is now around $39,000. So again, that's an increase from the tariffs that Ford is kind of dealing with because this truck is built in Mexico. Fully expecting out a loaded Lariat hybrid all-wheel drive Maverick can now cost you around $44,000. A Tremor is around $44,000 as well. So, kind of keep that in mind. The Maverick is no longer as cheap as it used to be because a fully loaded Maverick when this first came out was around $35,000 for a Lariat. So now you have, you basically get an XLT trim and it's about the same price as a fully loaded Lariat from a few years ago, which is pretty disappointing to see, but I don't expect it to basically stall out sales for the Maverick because its main competitor, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, also starts at around $29,000, goes up to around $44,000 for the top version. What is interesting, however, is a Ranger. Ford's own Ranger is basically available for an extra $5,000, which offers way more capability, more off-road capability, way more power, but of course, a lot less fuel efficiency because the Maverick is still available with the hybrid. You can't get that for on a Ranger at any price. So, it's really going to come down to your specific needs. I personally think for the sweet spot is probably still the XLT trim, which you can find if you skip the luxury package for the mid-$30,000 range. However, if you're going to go for an XLT with the luxury package, you may as well step it up to the Lariat for an extra $2,000. You can basically get into a Lariat for around $41,000 bucks, which I know is expensive, but kind of keep in mind, while it is around $5,000 more expensive than like a compact car like a Honda Civic Hybrid or a Toyota Prius, the Maverick is a pickup truck that gets well around the mid-30s to even 40 MPG. It has the ability to tow and haul, you know, heavy heavy-ish loads, and it also has a lot more practicality and way more technology. So, there's still a lot to like about the Maverick, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Ford settle in around 150,000 units annually, even though this vehicle again has gotten more expensive over the years. We'll have to wait and see with the tariffs and whatnot, if Ford is able to drop the price at some point, hopefully later this year.
But with all that said, hope you guys have enjoyed my full overview on the brand new 2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid with all-wheel drive. If you're also looking to see the latest cars I'm testing, be sure to follow me on Instagram at redline_reviews. Like us on Facebook and as always guys, please keep subscribing to the Redline Reviews YouTube channel for all the latest reviews. Thank you so much for watching. I'll catch you all in the next video.
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