The 2022 Ford Maverick is on the way to make your little, cheap truck dreams come true. And before it gets here, you can spend some time configuring it to exactly your specifications. You can even reserve it if you like what you’ve got.
Naturally, we at the Autoblog office had to play around, and as such, we’ve got a variety of combinations for your consideration and criticism.
News Editor Joel Stocksdale: The Maverick is one of those rare new cars that I might actually be able to afford, so I didn’t just put together some fantasy build. This is actually what I would probably order. While the turbocharged 2.0-liter engine is highly tempting, I already have sporty cars, so I’d go with the standard hybrid and its excellent fuel economy. Props to Ford for offering every powertrain on every trim, though. Speaking of which, I’d go with the base XL trim, too, and painted in Cactus Gray. The options are simple. I added Ford Co-Pilot360 for blind-spot monitoring, a sliding rear window, spray-in bedliner and a sunroof. All in, it comes to a very reasonable $23,475. I was tempted by the XLT and its more fun interior, but I wanted to keep the price down, and the XL lets me get the features I want for low cost.
Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: I would keep my Maverick simple. I ended up with an XL Super Crew stickering for $22,545. It would look pretty basic, wearing the Area 51 paint with 17-inch steel wheels, which is exactly what I want in a truck or off-roader. I’ve never really understood the notion of flashy wheels on work vehicles — give me the basics on the Maverick, Bronco, 4Runner, Wrangler, etc. I digress. In keeping with this theme, the Black Onyx interior with cloth buckets is perfect. You can be thrifty when the truck already has things like LED lights and an eight-inch touchscreen. It comes with stuff and looks distinctive. I would spend some money on the bed to fit my lifestyle, grabbing the soft tonneau cover ($560) and spray-in bedliner ($495). The CVT isn’t my flavor of brandy, but so it goes, and the hybrid is exactly what the world wants. This is a truck that is of the times.
Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I’m sensing a theme here. For my purposes, the base, hybrid Maverick XL seems fine. This’ll just be something to throw crap in and move it around (we’re always moving pieces of furniture to our cottage Up North, or helping haul Craigslist finds for family members and the like), and errands around town. Plus, I love the look of steelies on pretty much anything. I’ll add the receiver hitch ($100) for the rare instances I’ll need to pull a utility trailer. A drop-in bed liner ($375) is enough to absorb blows and help with longevity. The only real indulgences I’m adding are Ford Co-Pilot360 ($540) for blind-spot and lane-keeping aids — safety (or, rather, stress relief) features I’ve come to appreciate — and a console vault ($390) because one can never have too many gun safes.
Breaking down the price, that’s $19,995 for the base truck, $1,495 in destination fees and $1,405 in options for a total sticker price of $22,895. This seems doable, folks.
Managing Editor Greg Rasa: Keeping with the cheap theme here: Cheap to buy, cheap to operate, pure utility with no frills, in the spirit of compact pickups from yesteryear. (I paid less than $9,000 for a new Chevy S-10 in 1990, or about $18 grand in today’s dollars.) And keep in mind this is Ford’s idea of an entry-level vehicle.
So that means the XL trim and hybrid powertrain.
As you can see from the other guys’ trucks, most XL paint choices are boring, but Velocity Blue is an actual color, at least. I went with the $140 bed mat, the cheapest bed protection available. With a bed this short, the bed extender’s a good idea, but $370 stopped me — maybe I can build something that’d work. On the other hand, even though the hybrid XL can’t tow much, the receiver hitch and wiring for $100 is a bargain. Otherwise, I’m not even buying floor mats — I’ll get those for 30 bucks at Costco or through one of our Autoblog product deals.
So, that’s $19,995 for the truck, $1,495 destination fee, a mere $240 in options — $21,730 all in.
Associate Editor Byron Hurd: This was kind of a tough call for me. I decided to step up the XLT and Luxury package, but stuck with the hybrid and front-wheel drive. In a perfect world, this would be an all-wheel drive hybrid, but Ford isn’t offering that. Yet. For now, though, this would suit my needs. The XLT Luxury package adds the 8-way power seat, the 400W power invert with bed outlet, extra rear-console USB ports, heated outside mirrors and wiper, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Plus, it bakes in the basic trailer tow prep. I don’t need 4,000 lbs of towing, but the ability to throw a small utility trailer on the back is a plus.
At $26,615, this is frankly a bargain, and it’s already making me rethink my on-again/off-again plan to replace my JK Jeep Wrangler with a mid-trim Gladiator. And Cyber Orange, right? Love it.
West Coast Editor James Riswick: I came to this little Maverick build party a few hours late (Pacific time zone and all), so I was surprised to open up this page to discover that most of my colleagues had gone with the base model Maverick XL on steelies. While there is absolutely truth to the idea that many vehicles, especially those with a more rugged vibe (Wrangler, Defender, etc.) are more compelling when cheaper, I have a suspicion that when in person and in less flattering lighting, those gray steel wheels and all that flat black trim pieces are going to look awfully cheap. Not having power mirrors or cruise control would get awfully old, too.
And here’s the thing, the XLT I built above is still a really good value. I was genuinely surprised to find my hybrid-equipped Maverick was only $28,735 despite going Porsche-wild in the configurator. I liberally selected from the options/accessories catalogue (the $1,160 hard tri-fold tonneau cover, the $370 bed extender, the $150 110V power outlet and manual-sliding window ($155), added all available packages (Luxury and CoPilot360) and painted the thing Hot Pepper Red paint for $390. Considering how expensive you can make compact SUVs, including the Bronco Sport, the Maverick really does seem like a good value — even with well-equipped mid-level trim.
Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: I’m firmly in the XLT camp, too. Instead of pricing out a stripper model, I’d happily pull a few extra grand out of the long-term wallet of installment payments to get basic necessities like cruise control and extra bed tie down points, plus the aluminum wheels and prettier interior will make me happy and improve resale value. My final build cha-chinged at $26,040 including destination, which is still an excellent value.
I kept the base hybrid powertrain even though I would really like to have all-wheel drive for potential muddy and sandy excursions, but I guess there’s plenty of room to stash some off-road recovery bits. I added all the trucky options that would make this Velocity Blue Maverick as useful as possible, including a spray-in bedliner and the interior and exterior outlets. The sliding rear window and sunroof would help me keep the air conditioning off during the shoulder seasons, so I checked those boxes and called it good.
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