Ford Maverick vs Hyundai Santa Cruz - Which New Compact Pickup is a Better Buy?

Hey folks and welcome to the Truck King YouTube channel. This is an exciting video because it marks the beginning of an era, the resurgence of compact pickup trucks, and we have the latest two right here. That's the 2022 Ford Maverick. That's the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz. And although Hyundai says this isn't a truck, it's got a bed back there, right? We all know what it is. So in this video, we're going to compare them. We'll talk about all the differences you need to know. Right off the bat, a big thank you goes out to both Bourgeois Ford and Bourgeois Hyundai. They provided us the vehicles for this review. Let's kick this one off talking about the powertrains and both of these brands took a similar strategy. So over here in the Ford Maverick, we have a two liter turbocharged inline four cylinder engine that is making 250 horsepower and 277 pound feet of torque sent through an eight speed automatic. Now over here at Hyundai, we also have a little turbo. This is a two and a half liter turbocharged engine, but it makes more power. It's making 281 horsepower and 311 pound feet of torque. Now that is also sent through eight speeds, but the Hyundai uses a dual clutch transmission, which definitely makes it a little bit different. Now we have to talk about fuel economy right after we mentioned power. So over here in the Maverick, you are getting 22 MPG in the city, 29 on the highway for a combined 25 miles per gallon. Well, how does the more powerful Hyundai do? It gets only 19 in the city, 27 on the highway for 22 MPG combined. So yes, if you want more power out of this Hyundai, you will pay for it at the pump. The more we dig into these two trucks, the more I see a bit of a, maybe call it a philosophical sort of split. The way Hyundai went about making the Santa Cruz was not the same way Ford went about designing this Maverick, and you can really see it with just the way they look. The Maverick here, classic three box design. It looks like a little truck, a little kind of stout strong truck. Hyundai didn't go for that look. It's much more raked. Everything is sleeker here. The bed kind of blends in with the body, with that buttress back there. So yes, Hyundai definitely feels like they went for that more luxurious look. I mean, hello, 20 inch wheels, whereas the Ford Maverick here went for that more tough little truck look. Now, of course, I have to put this back to you guys. Which one do you think looks better? Please let me know in the comments below. You've been looking at these trucks for a bit now, and you might be asking which one's bigger. Well, the answer is the Maverick, but just by a hair. With the Ford over here, you're talking about a 121 inch wheelbase versus 118 inches over here in the Hyundai. Now, length and height, the Maverick here is about two inches longer and taller, but it's also about two inches skinnier than the Hyundai is. And all of that is to say they are very similar when it comes to size. Now we have to look at the business ends of both of these pickup trucks, and the first thing I have to tell you about is the size. Now, when you're talking about width, and that is between the wheel wells and above the wheel wells, they're basically the exact same, 42 inches between the wells and 53 above the wells. The biggest difference you need to know about, the Maverick here has about two extra inches of floor length as compared to the Hyundai, not a huge difference in size though. So, you know, size is the same. Well, then what are the features in the beds? Let me show you the Hyundai first. So first of all, you do have a damped tailgate. Now we have to talk about the tonneau. Let me mention here in Canada, this is standard on every single Santa Cruz. I think that was a smart choice. I really like this tonneau cover. I should show you before I even open it up, it is lockable. So you can actually make that not work. Once your tailgate's locked, your stuff is locked in there. Great feature. Open it up, and it slides back like that. This is actually smart, something the dealership did, just putting this pull handle on a little carabiner over here, so you can always get to it. Now, like I mentioned though, let's talk features. So most important feature in the Hyundai, the in-bed trunk. Not a very deep trunk to be fair, not nearly as deep as what's in the Honda Ridgeline. Still though, that is a waterproof, safe place within your truck bed, and that's pretty cool. Now next up, we do have sliding tie-downs in this truck. You are getting two hard points per corner and LED lighting back here as well. Now we have two storage bins here in the Hyundai. That's not the right one. Let me also crack the one here on the passenger side. And if you look at that one, there's also a plug in there providing 400 watts of power. So Hyundai really has thought of everything in this Santa Cruz. But now let's go over and look at the Maverick here and see how it compares. So first of all, not damped. That's an interesting thing. I'm surprised Ford wouldn't do that, but hey, like obviously they don't think it's important. So I mentioned the size already, let's talk about the features. We also have slidable tie-downs here, same as the Hyundai. Two hard points, same as the Hyundai in each corner. And you have LED lights and a plug with 400 watts, same as the Hyundai. So there's a lot of similar features here. One thing I love on the Ford, this is from F-150, these are tie-downs on the tailgate. So if things go longer than your gate, you can actually tie them down there. And one other feature I'll show you over here, the Maverick has one little storage cubby, the Hyundai has two. Crack open this guy and that's a 20 pound maximum in there, but hey, it's still nice to have a little spot to stash your stuff. So, you know what, looking at these two beds, once again, they're really similar, but Ford does two things I think are especially smart. Right here, Ford has actually brought power back. If you open this little cap up, you can actually take a look at it, if I can get it open, right there. So power's right there, you can disconnect that and then hook it up to whatever you want. Lights, I don't know what else you might want to run power to, but that's a super cool feature that I've never seen in any other pickup truck. One other thing Ford did, it's further up here, there are actually threaded holes in the floor of this bed. So if you want to build something that will then thread directly into your bed, you can do that. Ford has taken a lot of time to make sure that the DIY guy can actually build things for this Maverick bed and that's unique. I've never seen anyone do that. Heck, they even go so far as to put a QR code on the truck. If you scan this, they'll actually give you some ideas of what you can build. An overall point I want to make quickly is just that these trucks are really the right height. The lift in height here is so low and you know what, this Ford Maverick doesn't even have a step, but honestly, I can basically step up here without one. Now, of course, that was a bit of a struggle, but you get the point. There's no chance I could do that in a midsize or a half ton pickup. Now over here at Hyundai, they actually went a step further, borrowed an idea from General Motors, and they put these awesome bumper steps in here. So you get like that, step right up and you're up here, no problem. So again, Hyundai, I prefer this solution, but just overall, both of these trucks, the beds are so low, it makes them so much more usable and easy to access. What about towing and payload? Well, first let's look at the hitch here on the Hyundai and well, there is no hitch here on the Hyundai. So this specific Santa Cruz wasn't ordered with one. Of course you can get one, but this actually kind of illustrates my point. The Hyundai Santa Cruz here, if you get the hitch, it is actually in the accessories catalog. There is no tow package that you can choose from the factory. So you have to go in there and get the hitch and also no integrated trailer brake controller in this truck. So they obviously just didn't spend as much time making towing a priority. That being said, with all wheel drive here, you do have a 5,000 pound tow rating. So they spent time making sure that rating was big. They just didn't kind of build out and flesh out a full towing package. Now on the flip side, we have the Ford Maverick here. Now the Maverick comes with what's called the 4K towing package. You can see the hitch there, this truck has it. And what that means, 4,000 pounds. So with the EcoBoost, you max out at 4,000 pounds. But if you check that towing package box, you get additional cooling. You get a beefier rear end axle ratio. You even get different tires here. So, and, and a big one, integrated trailer brake controller, which I love on such a small vehicle. So it makes sense, right? Ford, they're experts at towing. They know trucks. So they built a towing package into the Maverick that brings all of those things. Hyundai didn't do that with the Santa Cruz, even though it can tow 1,000 pounds more. Now let's look at payload. And it's one of the things I like about compact trucks. Payload has everything to do with weight and these trucks don't weigh very much. So generally they have good payload ratings, but let's check the stickers on the driver's side door jamb. So here in the Maverick, 1,328 pounds of payload. And I will remind you, this is a Lariat first edition. So it is fully loaded. That generally takes away from your payload, but I'll also tell you this Hyundai, it's also the top of the line trim and it's fully loaded. So now let's check what's on its sticker. Well, this one, we're talking about 1,411 pounds. So I did give Hyundai a hard time for not having that tow package. But if you're talking about towing and payload, the Santa Cruz can do more of both. Now let's talk about interiors. And this is sort of a general takeaway. I do feel like the Maverick here is just a little bit more fun. It has a bit more of an adventure spirit. The Hyundai is going for that more kind of upscale luxury feel. And you'll see what I mean when I get over there. Now, the other thing I got to tell you right off the bat, I fit really good in this truck. I was worried it would be too small. It is not. I stand at six two, but this seat goes nice and low. So I do have just enough headroom and yeah, I'm comfortable in here, which is an important thing for a compact truck. I'm in the Santa Cruz now, and you can see it from these interior shots. Everything in here is nicely curved, very much a black and chrome kind of theme. So this is, yeah, it's very swoopy. This is more of that kind of edgy design, whereas the Maverick, the dash is straight up and down. Everything is kind of boxy in there. So you can just tell that these two companies have a very different philosophy when they were approaching these vehicles. And that is not to say, you know, it's not a negative against Hyundai. This is a really nice interior. And I think this interior punches above its weight when it comes to luxury. You know, this truck, as it sits about $45,000 here in Canada, but this interior, it feels like it. And I'm not saying the Ford doesn't either, but I am saying if luxury, if you want to feel like that vehicle is just really nice inside, the Hyundai definitely takes it over the Ford. Although I have a massive complaint, I got to put this one out there. Why'd you get rid of the volume knob, Hyundai? What were you thinking? The Maverick has a nice mix of touchscreen and real physical buttons. Hyundai got rid of all the real buttons. And for the most part, I don't mind, but the volume knob, that's a big one in my books. So I've had a chance to drive both of these vehicles. And I asked Steve to do this part, but quite honestly, he got really confused when he tried to break it down into something simple. So I'm going to boil it down for you. Hyundai drives like a car. Ford drives like a truck. That's all you really need to know. They're both good. They're both good in this segment, and we're looking forward to more of them. So that's it for this one right now, folks. But this is only the beginning. My goodness, there's so many more things that we want to do with both of these vehicles. So come back soon, see what we're doing at Truck King. But before you go, please go below, hit like, hit subscribe, become part of our channel and hit the join button. We'll see you real soon.