Last year, the Ford Maverick (and the similarly sized Hyundai Santa Cruz) revived the idea of the truly small pickup. From the 1960s to the 1990s, small trucks were popular for their affordable prices and efficient engines, making them perfect for small business owners, outdoor adventurers, and as second vehicles in households with endless “honey-do” lists.
However, those original small trucks steadily grew in size, power, and capability, ushering in the era of midsize pickups. So Ford decided that since people love pickups, perhaps a return to a small, affordable, efficient one with a crew-cab configuration would prove popular.
Ford was right. Ford was so right that demand for the 2022 Maverick far outstripped supply, and people who wanted the new truck had to wait months to get one. The Maverick is Ford’s most affordable, entry-level vehicle, so creating a months-long waitlist for one is a remarkable feat.
Now, for the 2023 model year, Ford has made one significant change and a handful of minor modifications to its trucklet. Below, you’ll find out what’s new for the 2023 Maverick:
The 2023 Ford Maverick has a standard hybrid powertrain rated for up to 37 mpg in combined driving. Alternatively, you can choose a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder good for up to 25 mpg. Unfortunately, the hybrid models come only with front-wheel drive (FWD), so if you want all-wheel drive (AWD), you need the turbo four. The Maverick’s three trim levels include XL, XLT, and Lariat.
Previously, JD Power reviewed the 2022 Ford Maverick XLT Hybrid. This review focuses on the Maverick’s turbocharged engine option, all-wheel-drive system, and the new Tremor Off-Road Package and how they potentially impact the truck’s overall appeal to consumers.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Because the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz are the only small trucks in the U.S. market, JD Power places them in the Midsize Pickup market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2022 Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study, 85 percent of new Ford Maverick buyers are male (vs. 83 percent for the segment), and the median age of a new Maverick buyer is 56 years (vs. 57).
As part of the APEAL Study, owners rated the Maverick in 10 primary categories. Listed below in descending order, you’ll find their preferences, from their favorite thing about the vehicle to their least favorite:
In the 2022 APEAL Study, the Maverick ranks third out of nine Midsize Pickup models.
In the following sections, our independent expert analyzes a 2023 Maverick XLT equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle’s price was $32,990, including the $1,595 destination charge.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Mavericks come with a standard hybrid powertrain, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and FWD. Output measures 191 horsepower, and the Maverick hybrid earns an EPA fuel economy rating of 37 mpg in combined driving.
In my experience driving a 2022 Maverick with the hybrid powertrain, it averaged 38.8 mpg on my evaluation route. Also, the CVT rarely draws attention to itself, and when you drive in Sport mode, it adds simulated gear changes to make it sound and feel more like a traditional automatic transmission.
To get one of the 2023 Maverick’s new Tremor Off-Road option packages, you’ll need to forego the standard hybrid powertrain and get the less efficient turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine. It produces 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque, delivered to the front or all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic. Get AWD (required for the Maverick Tremor) and the 4K Trailer Tow Package and a Maverick turbo can tow 4,000 pounds.
The Maverick’s arch-rival, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, also offers a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It’s a 2.5-liter, good for 281 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque, and can tow up to 5,000 pounds. But, to get a Santa Cruz turbo, you will spend a minimum of $36,060, plus the destination charge. Even with Hyundai’s ownership perks and the Santa Cruz’s overall refinement and technological sophistication, that’s a steep mountain to climb compared to the significantly more affordable Maverick.
To get a 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor, you’ll need to pay thousands more than a standard Maverick hybrid. In addition, because the Tremor’s required turbocharged AWD powertrain is EPA-rated to return no better than 21 mpg in combined driving, you’ll need to give up a whopping 16 miles of travel on every gallon of gas.
Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Well, someone who is planning to go off-road. But, due to the costs involved, both to buy a Maverick Tremor and to own one over time, you’d better actually hit the dirt instead of pretending to.
Fortunately, Ford ensures the Tremor can scramble across terrain a Maverick hybrid cannot. It gets an exclusive dual-clutch all-wheel-drive system with center and rear differential locks, allowing it to distribute power evenly between the axles and to put all the power sent to the rear axle to a single rear wheel. In addition, you can choose Mud/Ruts and Sand driving modes in addition to Normal, Slippery, and Tow/Haul.
The Maverick’s Tremor Off-Road Package also equips the truck with an off-road-tuned suspension with a one-inch lift, skid plates, a hill descent control system, a Trail Control cruise control system for off-road travel at low speeds, upgraded drivetrain components, enhanced cooling systems, front tow hooks, and a full-size spare tire.
Styling changes include a different front bumper with an improved approach angle, unique 17-inch wheels wrapped in all-terrain tires, dark chrome lighting elements, orange accents, and Tremor decals and badges. Choose the Tremor Off-Road Plus Appearance Package, and the truck includes a roof and side mirror caps painted Carbonized Gray plus black exterior graphics.
Inside, the 2023 Maverick Tremor features orange accents, orange seat stitching, and all-season floor mats. With XLT trim, the truck has cloth seats. Get a Lariat, and Ford installs ActiveX artificial leather upholstery. Unfortunately, the changes aren’t significant enough to rid the Maverick of its industrial-grade look and feel. Still, considering the truck’s entry-level status and price, you shouldn’t be surprised by the preponderance of plastic within the cabin.
My test truck came in a Tremor-exclusive Avalanche paint color, which looked terrific. Under normal circumstances, I could see many Maverick buyers choosing a Tremor for its styling updates alone. However, due to the costs involved, people are unlikely to select this version of the Maverick solely for its design details.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The TL;DR is that I preferred driving the Maverick Tremor to a stock Maverick XLT hybrid. It is quicker and more enjoyable to drive and can easily handle moderately challenging off-roading situations. But there are a few irritations associated with this truck’s driving dynamics.
With the Tremor Off-Road Package, the turbo four leverages a sophisticated dual-clutch all-wheel-drive system. The result is far more spirited acceleration than in a Maverick hybrid. However, power delivery can be uneven in urban driving situations, with unwanted delays and unexpected surges, making engine and transmission responses unpredictable.
Also, compared to the Maverick hybrid, the Maverick Tremor displays an unquenchable thirst for fuel. According to the EPA, this version of the truck should get 21 mpg in combined driving. However, that figure is lower than other Maverick turbos because the Tremor has knobby tires, a suspension lift, and a modified front end.
I averaged 21.2 mpg on my evaluation loop. While that aligns with the EPA’s number, it is far from impressive, especially compared to what I’ve averaged in a Maverick hybrid.
In addition, I found the Maverick turbo’s brake pedal hard to modulate due to its immediate response and sticky pedal feel, while the steering felt numb and leaden in my hands. The Maverick Tremor also allows plenty of road noise to infringe upon the cabin, though that’s not entirely unexpected in an affordable truck with all-terrain tires.
Still, the Tremor’s suspension modifications are brilliant. The ride and handling are excellent on the patched and pockmarked pavement of rural roads, the cracked and crumbling streets of cities, and rutted washboard gravel surfaces. In addition, the truck blazed over speed humps like they didn’t exist. And while the tires demonstrated limited grip on the twists and turns of Southern California’s Mulholland Highway, the Maverick Tremor proved surprisingly predictable and fun to drive on winding mountain roads.
Of course, that’s not the Tremor’s natural habitat. Unfortunately, weeks of stormy local weather made it unsafe to travel off-road, so I could not put the Tremor to a proper test. Still, in addition to rocketing down a gravel road like a rally car, the Maverick Tremor effortlessly churned through slick and sloppy mud.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Maverick Tremor. The turbocharged engine has no trouble getting the truck up to speed. And in a world of indifferently maintained infrastructure, the Tremor Package dispatches with potholes, pavement heaves, and other imperfect surfaces with a shrug.
But regarding the purchase price and fuel costs, the Tremor’s goodness comes at a steep price.
If you get a 2023 Maverick Lariat with the Luxury Package, you can now equip the truck with a new Ford Co-Pilot360 Assist Package. It includes adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane-centering assistance, evasive steering assistance, and rear parking sensors.
Since my test truck had XLT trim, it did not include the new safety tech. However, it did have the optional Ford Co-Pilot360 Package, which adds a blind-spot warning system with a rear cross-traffic warning, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assistance, and a driver monitoring system.
This relatively basic package of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) worked well. However, as I’ve observed in other FoMoCo products, the lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist systems can struggle when encountering situations where two lanes narrow down to one (or vice versa). But nothing about the Maverick’s ADAS prompted me to shut things off.
However, Ford should add a surround-view camera to the Tremor Off-Road Package. Instead, you get a reversing camera with guidance lines, which you’ll use more often than expected due to thick rear roof pillars and rear head restraints that block your view. But when off-roading, especially in hairy situations, nothing beats a surround-view camera accompanied by front and rear parking sensors.
As for Ford Maverick safety ratings, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says the truck’s standard forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems perform at the highest level of effectiveness. However, the pedestrian detection system could use some improvement. As of this writing, the IIHS has not conducted crash tests on the Maverick.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the Maverick an overall crash-test rating of four stars, one rung down from the highest possible rating of five stars. Considering how well the truck performs in nearly all assessments, the issue must be related to the four-star front passenger protection rating in a frontal-impact collision. Aside from the Maverick’s four-star rollover resistance rating, this is the only test in which the truck doesn’t get top marks.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
A Ford Maverick XLT with the Tremor Off-Road Package costs over $5,000 more than a standard Maverick XLT. Not only that, but it also gets significantly worse fuel economy. So, comparatively speaking, you shouldn’t get a Tremor unless you’re going to take it off-roading.
However, if you pull back and consider the entire small and midsize pickup truck segment, a Maverick Tremor remains a bargain. We’ve covered the price comparison between it and the Hyundai Santa Cruz. But what about from within Ford’s own family of trucks?
A 2023 Ford Ranger SuperCrew with four-wheel drive starts at a higher price than the Maverick Tremor, and that’s with base XL trim and no options. That story repeats itself when looking at a Chevrolet Colorado, Nissan Frontier, or Toyota Tacoma. And the GMC Canyon, Honda Ridgeline, and Jeep Gladiator will easily run you about ten grand more.
Viewed through that lens, the 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor is a deal whether you’re heading into the hills on dirt or running over to the hardware store for more do-it-yourself home project supplies.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience test-driving vehicles. He began his career at Edmunds and now owns Speedy Daddy Media, Inc., an automotive content creation company serving several automotive publishers. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new and used car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals.
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