Did the 2022 Ford Maverick Get Small Trucks Right? Analyzing the New Maverick - TOTY Breakdown

Hi folks and welcome to the Truck King YouTube channel and welcome back to our search for the best truck of 2022. In today's video we are talking about the brand new Ford Maverick. Now we have had a chance to tow a travel trailer with this truck and we've put our concrete behind it and payload in the bed so we have really worked this thing and we've got a lot of thoughts about it and we want to share them with you right now. This is the latest truck of the year breakdown. Now we are taking all of the competitors for 2022 and trying to find the best truck. How are we doing it? Well we're taking them to our test site, we're towing trailers, we're hauling payload but then we're also coming here to the garage where dad and I get a chance to really expand our thoughts on these trucks how they came to be and how they fit into the marketplace and that's what we're going to do today with the new Ford Maverick and this is maybe even more interesting than the other competitors because unlike a new Tundra or a new Frontier, the Maverick didn't exist before so it's not like we have an old product to really compare it to, maybe an old Ranger. The point is Maverick is brand new so now finally I'm going to throw it over to dad. Dad, did Ford do enough bringing the Maverick to the marketplace? What Ford did is they literally created a new compact segment based on the fact that the F-150 has grown to gigantic proportions and more and more guys were moving into the mid-sized trucks and even the mid-sized trucks have gotten large. You know you got to be of a certain age like me where you can remember back to the original S10s, the original Razors, pardon me Rangers, even the first Dakotas and realize that everything just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and the need for a truck doesn't go away but sometimes you just don't need that size, hence the compact. So Hyundai did it first, arguably though Hyundai kind of had a different perspective on what they were trying to accomplish so yeah you've got, as Steve likes to say, a crossover with a bed and I kind of agree with that, whereas Ford said okay we're actually going to build a small compact truck. So and and this is not even talking about it mechanically or what it's doing, I'm just talking about where it fits into the market. There was a need, there truly was a need for this and I can just see it by the excitement, you know from viewers like you that not only have they sort of scored that home run here but that they're going to ignite this section. I'm just, I can hardly wait to see what GM and Ram have got up their sleeve. Agreed, I mean I think really Ford threw down the gauntlet with the Maverick and I think they knew that the competition would come in behind them so they didn't want this product to be soft in any way and I think they really nailed it and that I think one of the most impressive things, maybe most surprising things, is the base model hybrid. That's not something you really see anywhere else in the industry which is really cool that Ford said not only are we going to offer you a small truck, we're going to offer you an inexpensive truck that is also really good on fuel which what like dad said that's the opposite in the world of trucking right now and half tons it's all about bigger, bigger, bigger, who cares about the fuel bill. Well finally Ford said well we do and here's this small Maverick. So yes, did they do enough? Absolutely, I actually think they could have done less and we would have been okay with it but they weren't okay with it and that's what I appreciate about Ford especially in pickup trucks. They are not scared to take big chances and I think the chance they took on this Maverick is going to pay off. And just to finish that thought, when you come right down to it Ford has really devolved into a truck company. I mean look at anything else that they're offering. They're getting smaller and less. Trucks are what keeps that company alive so if anything they had to do a good job with Maverick and also be totally aggressive on pricing. So that alone means that this thing is going to sell well. The next question I like to ask is how does this product sort of fit into its segment and you know like we just mentioned the Hyundai Santa Cruz is the most direct competitor to the Maverick today. I think we can all agree on that. They're very similar in size, very similar bed sizes, however they're definitely you know different philosophies on how they went about building those trucks. So the Maverick almost sits in a little category of one and that's especially true when you look at pricing and even more so here in Canada. Hyundai wants that Santa Cruz to be more of a premium product whereas Maverick is being pitched as this base model you know dirt cheap truck if you want it. And so I think that's where Ford has positioned it. You can get the cheap one or the expensive one. And then finally you know just how does it actually work? Well that and I loaded it up right to 4,000 pounds. Heck we even put a travel trailer behind it and it did a respectable job. Now with the travel trailer it did feel like it was towing at its limit. You could kind of feel like you wouldn't want to go too much further but still such a small little truck with a big travel trailer behind it. Yeah I was impressed with how it really worked and so once again it's setting the for this segment right out of the gate. I don't know how you felt about it. Well I want to be a little bit more technical in as much with the travel trailer what I was really paying attention to was the all-wheel drive. There's actually a readout in the gauge cluster that shows you what power is going to what wheel as you're going along and it just so happened that it was snowy the day that we were towing that travel trailer. Now anybody who's towed a travel trailer knows that they really get pushed around by the wind so you feel that in the truck and typically the answer has always been well get a bigger truck. However with the all-wheel drive what I kept seeing was power shifting left, shifting right, shifting forward, shifting back. However the truck felt that it needed to push and that was counteracting what was happening on the trailer so that it actually kind of boosted my confidence with that truck and I thought that was a great system. Wow that's cool. So you know what we'll build off this now dad and you might have even answered it there but let's talk about our favorite and our least favorite features on this Maverick straight up. I'll go first with my favorite. It has to be the integrated trailer brake controller. It's super cool that Ford put an integrated trailer brake controller in such a small vehicle. There are still mid-sizers. I mean I think even the Ranger doesn't have an integrated trailer brake controller which is frustrating right. That truck can tow quite a bit of weight so it's great that they put it in here and getting to my least favorite thing. The honest truth is that I don't really have a strong one. I kind of like everything about this Maverick. I'm struggling with things to dislike. The one I came up with is look the Bronco Sport. If you get the Badlands model you get this twin clutch rear drive unit which can split the power even more. It can go all power to one individual rear wheel. Ford decided not to bring that over to the Maverick. No it's not an off-roader but it would have been cool just to get that one extra bit of control especially knowing they already have it on the Bronco Sport but that's not even a really strong knock on this Maverick. Like I said I don't have a lot of things to complain about dad. I really liked it. What do you think? What's your favorite least favorite feature? I like how much they paid attention to work related things. You can see it in the bed. You can see it in the way that the hitch is set up and the safety chain ties and the location of the lighting. You can see it in the special punch outs where they've got 12 volt dead ends that you can build anything you want on your own. Very much a DIY. The guys that I think worked on this really said what would I put in my truck if it was my truck and money was was no object as far as engineering goes. As far as dislike is concerned a little more height even though it's counterintuitive to towing. We had it on some rough roads and some deep potholes. If I'd have had maybe one or two more inches of clearance I think I would have felt better about it but that's about it. I mean other than that props were where they're where they're deserved. They've done a good job. Yeah because if I'm Ford heck even if you're coming to ask me what truck you should buy and you complain about the height I say well go get a Ranger and that's what Ford's really come up with here. Like you mentioned they're a true truck company and now they have a truck to suit every need from this little Maverick right up to massive super duties. So yeah like I think Ford has always been known for offering the most choice and this just expands on that reputation. Yeah you could always go to Ford and build you know sort of your own custom truck based on whatever it is that you did and I'm kind of hoping that Maverick will follow suit and that we'll see more options in the coming model years. Well folks we're coming to the end of this one. Most interesting thing about the Maverick dad has to be is it gonna sell well? I think the answer is yes but of course it remains to be seen and we're gonna track the sales of this truck and you know that we will be reporting on that here on the channel so make sure you come back and as always keep coming back to find out what the best truck of 2022 is and why don't you go below now and leave me a comment let me know your thoughts on the Maverick on all these 2022 trucks and as always while you're down there hit like hit subscribe hit join to become a member and then come right back here to Truck King to see what we're testing next. See ya. Hopefully we'll finish up soon it's getting cold in the garage.