A new small pickup: the Ford Maverick

[dogmush]

IMO, that is for tiny little cars.  Pickups are a bit different.  I am not saying they will sell huge, but I think they will sell better than the little cars.

I agree that the Maverick looks pretty compelling and should sell well.  The comment of mine you quoted was aimed specifically at Bogie's assertion that a "new" Model T or Bug would sell well.  We have those cars on the market right now, and they sell....OK, at best.

Most local dealers have base trucks like F150s available for commercial / fleet use. I've not looked to see what "base" includes in those trucks these days.

It obviously varies by region but in Tampa you can't touch a new F-150 for less than $35k.  The dealers will keep a couple XL's for fleet sales, and usually some STX's for folks looking for the cheapest truck they can find but still new.

This one below is pretty representative of a "fleet" F-150 around here.
https://www.veteransfordtampa.com/inventory/new-2021-ford-f-150-xl-rwd-extended-cab-pickup-1ftex1cb7mfb52123/

[Ben]

This one below is pretty representative of a "fleet" F-150 around here.
https://www.veteransfordtampa.com/inventory/new-2021-ford-f-150-xl-rwd-extended-cab-pickup-1ftex1cb7mfb52123/

Geez, the 101A equipment group makes that one nearly as equipped as my XLT. A local dealer here will still order standard cab fleet trucks, but they seem to be disappearing. Even extended cabs are decreasing. Everybody wants the quad cabs.

[dogmush]

??

All 101A High gets you is power windows and door locks, cruise control, and back up sensors.

The only other options that thing has is Chrome Apperance package [bleh] and the base tow package.  It's about as stripped as you can get.


Usually an xlt comes with quite a bit more creature options.

[Ben]

??

All 101A High gets you is power windows and door locks, cruise control, and back up sensors.

The only other options that thing has is Chrome Apperance package [bleh] and the base tow package.  It's about as stripped as you can get.


Usually an xlt comes with quite a bit more creature options.

All my XLT has is power windows/doors, power driver's seat, minimal infotainment, and that trailer assist camera thing. Cloth seats. I have the 2.7 ecoboost instead of the 3.3 that the linked one comes with. No backup sensors, but mine is a 2016, and they may not have been "standard" then. I paid just about the same price back then for mine that the linked one is going for now.

[dogmush]

FWIW this just drives home why I won't buy another brand new car. I recently decided my new (to me) truck is nice enough that it will become my daily driver so we can sell one of our cars.

My 2014 FX4 has a TON of options and is great to drive. (Cooled seats in FL for the win) and when I bought it in Jan of this year it was about 55% the price of a new, stripped, XL work truck.

Car depreciation is worse than WWII firearm inflation rates.

[sumpnz]

Cheap, basic cars don't sell well in the US.  Everyone wants all the trimmings all the time.

Mostly because of cheap credit.  If most people had to pay cash for a car rather than making payments for 60+ months this would change a lot.  Or even if the interest rates were more in line with historical norms rather than the sub 3% rates that are commonplace now.  When a decked out car only adds $150/mo to your payment it’s a lot easier to talk yourself into it vs coughing up $10k on the spot, or having your payment go up by $250+/mo.

[Fly320s]

Mostly because of cheap credit.  If most people had to pay cash for a car rather than making payments for 60+ months this would change a lot.  Or even if the interest rates were more in line with historical norms rather than the sub 3% rates that are commonplace now.  When a decked out car only adds $150/mo to your payment it’s a lot easier to talk yourself into it vs coughing up $10k on the spot, or having your payment go up by $250+/mo.

Yeah, that makes sense.  Even more so now that some banks offer 72 month loans.  That is nuts.

[Angel Eyes]

I have the 2.7 ecoboost instead of the 3.3 that the linked one comes with.

Topic drift: how is the 2.7 EcoBoost working out for you?  Are the hp and torque adequate?  How's the reliability?

[Ben]

Topic drift: how is the 2.7 EcoBoost working out for you?  Are the hp and torque adequate?  How's the reliability?

I have to say I was a little skeptical at first, but quickly became VERY impressed with this little motor. Acceleration is phenomenal. The difference between it and my 4Runner is like the difference between a Formula 1 car and a Volkswagon Beetle, and the 4Runner, while not super peppy, is not a slouch either.

I've gotten up to 26MPG average on longer road trips, and around town I'm getting 20 right now, but that's with new AT LT tires I recently installed. With the OEM tires I was getting 22.

I have had the bed with a good 3/4 ton plenty of times, and I still get good acceleration and performance. I have only trailered light loads that have done fine. If you want more, that leads me to...

Cons. The performance cons I would give this engine are 1) If you're gonna trailer really heavy loads frequently, or for long distances, go with the 3.5 Ecoboost. Also, if I were gonna do lots of long distance, high speed driving, I would go with the 3.5 Ecoboost. One thing I noticed with the 2.7 when I was still doing the retirement property road trips is that you could see the engine working on long, even flat, stretches where the speed limit was 80MPH. I wouldn't at all call it struggling, but you could see the MPG dropping slowly, and you could tell by the RPMs that the turbos were working. At under 75MPH, it seems to run much more efficiently.

If you're just doing vacation trips, I think this can be ignored. I'm talking more about people who do hundreds of miles weekly on long, high-speed trips. I might not know what I'm talking about as I'm no expert, but it's just my observation that the 2.7, while still performing well, works harder doing that.

[MechAg94]

Does it give good power/torque at low RPM's?  My Tacoma has good acceleration, but at higher RMP's.  I had a 2011 F150 with the first year 3.5 Ecoboost engine.  It had great acceleration even at higher speeds.  It also had a lot of torque at low speeds which was good and bad.  I would generally only get about 3/4 of the rated tire life as long as I had that truck.  I was looking at new spark plugs and boots every 60,000 miles as well.  I traded it in around 120K, but I could tell it was getting there.  I think they fixed that issue.  When I browsed Ford discussion forums, all the complaints were 2012 to 2014 and none afterward.  I don't plan to go back to Ford right now, but you never know.  I really liked that engine. 

[dogmush]

My '14 3.5 makes a ton of torque down low.  It pulls noticeably harder than my friend's 5.0.

[Bogie]

For what it's worth, I see most of these cars in an urban area... Especially the Souls - they have a lot of room, and while the PT Cruiser and HHRs tried to get into that area, there are a lot of Souls running for businesses. We use Versas in our fleet, along with Rangers (dying off...) and I saw a Nissan Kicks...
 
The Sparks seem popular too. But we also see a lot of Priuses in South City, along with the little Fiats... Not so many "smart" cars.
 
I wonder how much one would run with a bare-bones (bedliner instead of carpet, no "infotainment," etc) interior and exterior - you can have any color you want, as long as it is beige...
 
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g34908888/10-cheapest-new-cars-for-2021/

[MillCreek]

^^^I had a 2010 Kia Soul, and it had an amazing amount of tall cargo space with the rear seats down.