Seen above is my brand new truck, a 2022 Ford Maverick. No, this will not be a full review; that will come at about 1000 miles or so and after some big jobs. There is a long list of things that have to happen with this vehicle, I special ordered it and then waited for a very long time for it to show up.

I hadn’t owned it ten minutes when I hauled a load of animal feed home.

This is what we do with trucks. We put them to work. But before that happens, a lot of things have to go right. This time, it didn’t. This wasn’t Ford or the dealer’s fault at all- it was the screwed up reality we have all dealt with during the pandemic.

Here’s what happened. Ordered this truck in the late spring to my specifications. I had heard about the new Ford Maverick trucks, and I heard they were super useful and very fuel efficient.

The rumors were true, but more on that later.

So, I made a small deposit at the dealer (Team Ford in Steubenville, OH) and a short time later I received a welcome email from Ford. So far, so good. I knew there would be a delay in my order because this was the first year of production and hey, 2021. Need I say more?

I won’t go into all that happened, but I will say that between my dealer and Ford I was kept more or less in the loop about the various events and stages my vehicle was caught in.

Commodity shortages. Factory teething issues. The infamous chip shortage. All of these things, directly due to the piece of sh*t pandemic, all played a role in my seven odd month wait on the new vehicle.

The chores kept piling up, undone, during this purgatory.

Finally, I received the long-awaited email from Ford that my truck had shipped from the plant. It rode the rails about a month, and then it was delivered in the precise timeframe that I received from Ford.

My dealer worked feverishly to prep the truck, and then the fine day arrived when I went in for delivery.

Kudos to Team, the process was painless and hassle-free. No up charges, dealer markups, exorbitant fees, or games. I paid what was owed at the agreed upon amount and term. Then they handed me the keys and I drove away, discovering things as I went.

Now, this is not a review of the Maverick. That will come in a couple of weeks after some major chores. One of these chores will be the hay bale challenge, where I see how many square bales will fit in the bed. I bet sixteen, a friend says eighteen. But I digress.

A few quick impressions.

One of the options I ordered was the bed extender. I am very glad I got this; it removes easily and for smaller loads it serves as a sort of cargo organizer that keeps stuff from rolling around in the bed. Also, with the locking tailgate it cannot be removed if the tailgate is locked. This is a neat feature I discovered upon delivery.

Another thing that is cool is that the base trim (which is what I ordered) comes with a WiFi hotspot. Really? WiFi in a work truck? It’s true.

Also got rubber floor mats and a 110 hookup in the cab. The rubber mats got put to the test immediately with all the mud, plus someone spilled cleaning solvent in there first thing. With the mats? Not a problem.

This thing also comes with electric locks and Ford’s app that allows you to remote lock or start the vehicle, as well as track it. These are deluxe features in a twenty odd K truck. Seriously?

There’s more, but that will have to wait on the review.

One last thing. Now, this is not a true number because the engine is still in the break-in phase, but I have been shocked by the fuel economy.

My truck is basically the least efficient Maverick because of the features I ordered. It is AWD, a must in these hills. In snowy conditions you can’t do anything with a 2WD truck around here. Unfortunately, Ford does not make a hybrid AWD Mav, so I was stuck with the turbo 2.0 gas engine. Also, I ordered the 4k tow package that comes with different gearing and a beefed up 8 speed transmission, and I’ve heard that affects the mileage as well.

With a couple of hundred on the clock, mixed rural/city/highway miles and a new engine I’m getting 27.1 mpg. This number will probably go up with time.

This is astounding mileage. The truck I traded in had almost ten mpg less, with a similar tow and cargo capacity.

The hybrid version of the Mav is reported to get 40 odd mpg on average, and I believe it. But 27 odd in a work truck is no joke at all. There are many sedans that can’t match that number, let alone work vehicles. Good job, Ford engineers!

The process to get this wonderful little truck was painful, to be sure. None of that can be blamed on either my dealer or Ford, however. The seven months was a simple function of supply and demand, mixed in with pandemic economics.

Finally, the Mav is sitting in my driveway.

Full review this month.