One thing I think it would be interesting to discuss is the maintenance schedule and maintenance costs on the Maverick.
I currently have a Ford CMax Hybrid and discovered a few interesting things about maintenance after buying it:
1. Oil changes are only recommended for every 10k miles or so. This may seem like a long-time to some people but, in reality, the gas engine only runs about half the time in many cases. (On my current tank of gas, 90 of 200 miles are all electric.)
2. I have actually owned 2 CMax cars and I have never had to change the tires or brake pads in over 150,000 miles of driving - 80k on one and 70k on the other.
3. There are no alternators, pulleys or belts in the CMax. I have never had any repairs in these areas on these vehicles.
4. The transmission fluid only has to be flushed after 100k miles and 50k miles thereafter.
This is to say that maintenance has been pretty cheap on the CMax hybrid and I am wondering if it will be similarly so on the Maverick.
A few things that might mitigate the savings are getting more frequent oil/transmission fluid changes due to towing, stock tires that might not have as low of a rolling resistance as what I have and brake/tire wear from carrying/towing.
If full synthetic oil, more expensive tires and shorter maintenance schedules are required on this vehicle, that might make it more expensive to operate to. Even then, relative to other trucks, including the Ecoboost model, I wonder if this truck will be a boon for people who need a versatile vehicle with an overall low cost of ownership.
I currently have a Ford CMax Hybrid and discovered a few interesting things about maintenance after buying it:
1. Oil changes are only recommended for every 10k miles or so. This may seem like a long-time to some people but, in reality, the gas engine only runs about half the time in many cases. (On my current tank of gas, 90 of 200 miles are all electric.)
2. I have actually owned 2 CMax cars and I have never had to change the tires or brake pads in over 150,000 miles of driving - 80k on one and 70k on the other.
3. There are no alternators, pulleys or belts in the CMax. I have never had any repairs in these areas on these vehicles.
4. The transmission fluid only has to be flushed after 100k miles and 50k miles thereafter.
This is to say that maintenance has been pretty cheap on the CMax hybrid and I am wondering if it will be similarly so on the Maverick.
A few things that might mitigate the savings are getting more frequent oil/transmission fluid changes due to towing, stock tires that might not have as low of a rolling resistance as what I have and brake/tire wear from carrying/towing.
If full synthetic oil, more expensive tires and shorter maintenance schedules are required on this vehicle, that might make it more expensive to operate to. Even then, relative to other trucks, including the Ecoboost model, I wonder if this truck will be a boon for people who need a versatile vehicle with an overall low cost of ownership.
