2022 Ford Maverick XL: First Test Drive

Hey my good friends Sam Haymart with Test Driven TV. Today we are taking our very first test drive in the all-new 2022 Ford Maverick pickup. This is an XL all-wheel drive EcoBoost model and so you're going to be riding along with me on my very first drive and you better believe I'm going to tell you what I really think. All right my friends because I'm at a Ford dealership my local dealership actually gave me the opportunity to come down here and shoot a video. I've got customers circling around me like hawks in the sky right now so I need to get this done. This is going to be a very brief first drive review so I'm not going to do the full walk around treatment like I normally do on the vehicles I do. We are going to have a much more detailed test drive a little bit later down the road but let's talk about what we've got here. This is a Maverick EcoBoost XL all-wheel drive. It has 100A package on it. It has a full size spare and it also has the trailer hitch receiver. As tested it's $25,000 and some change. So this truck iconic silver. It has the 17 inch wheels. As you come around to the back you can see the trailer hitch receiver there. Also there's no spray and bed liner on this one. You've got the bare bones metal bed and instead of the openable storage cubbies in the back you can see there's actually blank plates covering those holes here on the XL. The interior we've all seen pictures of this so I'm just going to do a quick run through here visually. This is the navy pier backdrop with the black onyx seat trim and also that color combination goes across the dash and onto the door panels. Same as what I've ordered I have a hybrid XL on order that'll be here a little bit later at the end of the year right around the first of the year and so this is exactly the same interior that I'm going to be seeing when my truck arrives. So without further ado let's just get out for my first test drive and let me give you some quick driving impressions. All right my friends we are leaving the dealership without a salesperson and we're going to take a drive here. So the first thing I noticed getting behind the wheel and starting to drive this is the fact that this has a very truck-like seating position even though it is compact and smaller like a car. I have found these seats to be pretty comfortable so far and they're supportive and firm. These are the cloth seats of the XL so very basic. One of my first takeaways just driving down the street here is that the view over the hood is very truck-like. You can see quite a bit of it out in front of you. It feels like a truck. That really is the bottom line. This 2-liter EcoBoost engine is actually pretty quiet. 8-speed automatic transmission. Now obviously there's no paddle shifters here and there really is no easy way to shift this thing manually as it were. There is a button for L, low, so that you can do some setting on that and get out of it. So if you've ever watched my test drives one thing I always like to ask is how does it go? Once it gets going this transmission works pretty well and 60. Now I didn't get to time that but most of these zero to 60s you see out there I would say are pretty accurate. This engine is actually pretty quiet when you really hammer it hard. It doesn't feel rough. It doesn't feel at all unrefined. When you really put your foot in it and ask for power it kicks down pretty fast. It does have a pretty decent sound. The brakes as I'm coming up on traffic, pretty firm pedal. Now I just crossed some railroad tracks there and that gets us to sort of the handling feel. It's a very firm ride. It's a very truck-like ride yet it doesn't have that roughness and clunkiness that like the Ranger or the F-150 have due to their body on frame construction. You do know that you are in a unibody vehicle here that does have a little bit more of the refinement level that you expect in a car. So I'm listening for road noise and what I'm hearing is that there is a little bit of road noise but I wouldn't call it like completely absent of sound deadening. I have heard that if you get the spray and bed liner that actually cuts down on some of the road noise coming through into the cabin. This is a chassis that seems pretty well buttoned together first blush. So there you go. I wish we had longer with this truck today but they're waiting for it. When I drove away they're literally waiting for me to get back with this thing so some customers could look at it. But I'm glad they gave me the opportunity because this is a truck that I think a lot of people are going to like. It drives like a car. It's small and manageable like a car yet it feels like a truck and that really is my takeaway from this test drive is that it's a little bit smaller and less up in the air than the Ranger. You know you're sitting down a little bit lower but you still have a higher seating position than you do in a car and so there you go. All right my friends there you have it for my very first test drive my quick drive in the 2022 Ford Maverick. Now big shout out to Sanderson Ford my local dealership here in Glendale Arizona. I have to thank them from the bottom of my heart to give me this opportunity to test drive the truck. This is actually my first time to drive it and I have to thank the dealership for that. So if you're looking for one in the Phoenix metro area I highly suggest you give Sanderson Ford in Glendale a call. They're at 51st Avenue between Bethany Home in Glendale. They've been great for me to deal with and I would certainly recommend them. Also we'll have more test drives coming as we get press vehicles to test and when my own hybrid arrives right around the first of the year and until then see all of our Maverick videos right there or better yet subscribe to my YouTube channel right down there. Either way stay tuned.