2025 Ford Maverick First Drive Review: The Truck You Didn’t Know You Needed

It appears Ford has a hit on its hands with the mid-size Maverick truck. Ford says it’s the truck Americans never knew they needed, and there’s some truth to that as, for the vast majority of truck owners, an F-150 is costly overkill. The Ford Maverick arrived in 2021, but for 2025, it gets a big refresh as Ford has been listening to customers and creeping on forums and social media to harvest feedback. On top of the upgrades, there’s a new sporty street-truck trim called Lobo, meaning “Wolf” in Spanish, which sits lower to the ground with tuned suspension and steering, torque-vectoring technology, and 250 horsepower from its 2.0-liter engine.

We spent a full day with the refreshed Maverick, with half in the Lobo version, including some autocross action to see what it could do off the street. The day included street, freeway, and highway driving out in San Diego, California, which feels like one of the natural homes of the Maverick. Its smaller size suits the city, its truck bed suits getting out into San Diego county for work or leisure activity, and its upgrades make getting around and getting things done easier and more fun.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

What’s Changed For This Model Year?

The upgrade highlights start with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android as standard on a larger 13.2-inch touchscreen accessing the new 360-degree camera system. Hybrid customers can now opt for all-wheel-drive (AWD), which is perhaps the biggest deal for the Maverick in 2025, and there’s a new towing package that doubles the Maverick’s towing capacity to 4,000 pounds. The street-truck Lobo trim arrives with chassis tuning and its internal combustion engine making 250 hp, and the off-road Tremor badge becomes its own trim series.

Exterior Looks: Fresher And Darker

As you would expect from a refresh, the 2025 Maverick comes with redesigned bumpers but now the dark appearance LED headlamps are standard across the trims. Higher trims get LED projector lighting with a LED signature accents to show you spent more money on your truck. The new grilles now have varying designs based on trim level and a new Black Package gets its own grille along with black badges, a black roof, and 19-inch gloss wheels.

The Lobo has a different stance due to being lowered half an inch at the front and 1.12 inches at the rear but, more overtly, gets a unique body-colored front end, and body-colored rocker moldings and rear bumper, and a black roof. The 19-inch black disc wheels are also included, and hide a set of duel-piston brake calipers pulled from the European Fiesta ST.

Interior: New Trim Colors

Not much has physically changed inside the Maverick. There’s more space inside than you expect given the exterior dimensions and the seats are much more comfortable to spend hours at a time in than they look. Everything is laid out logically, as you would expect from a Ford truck, but there is a lot of plastic, and it feels cost effective. The XLT trim we drove had a useful little blue plastic organization block in front of the shifter, but the plastic is low quality and already looked battered on a brand-new truck.

There are no suprises when it comes to just getting in and driving off, which is pleasing when so many automakers are trying to reinvent the drive shifter and shove controls that should be on hand into the infotainment screen. There are new trim colors and materials available, including the light and airy Aspen Gray/Navy Pier theme with new Grabber Blue accents on the XLT trim. The Lariat gets an interestingly named Smoke Truffle theme with bronze accents.

The Lobo gets the real fun colors with Grabber Blue and Electric Lime accent stitching and graffiti-inspired overprinting on the seats, leaning into the designer’s travel experiences, stint designing athletic shoes, and current trends for mismatching colors yet keeping things harmonious.

Infotainment: Leveling Up

Ford has been quietly doing a great job with its infotainment, and gets that most people want to climb in their truck and seamlessly hook up and mirror their phones. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard along with a 13.2-inch screen which is perfectly sized to be easy to glance at for navigation but not overwhelming the interior. The infotainment runs on Ford’s latest Sync 4 software and the new screen accommodates the 360-degree camera nicely.

It’s worth noting that the 2025 Maverick has one of the clearest backup cameras we’ve come across, likely due to the new (available) Pro Trailer Hitch Assist which uses the camera and radar to autonomously place the tow ball under a trailer hitch.

Powertrain & Driving: Hybrid 4×4 Now Available

The base models still come with a hybrid-assisted 2.5-liter gas engine making 191 hp and 155 pound-feet of torque. The headline for the front-wheel-drive versions is fuel economy, with 42 mpg in the city, 35 mpg on the highway, and a combined 38 mpg quoted by the EPA. Amazingly, the now-available all-wheel-drive version doesn’t drop much in the way of fuel economy with 37 mpg combined. The hybrid uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT), while the combustion-only 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine uses an eight-speed automatic or, on the Lobo trim, a seven-speed auto with paddle shifters.

We spent our time with the popular XLT and the new Lobo model, and the hybrid version does not feel like a penalty out on the road as it’s not particularly heavy, even in AWD spec.

On The Road: Well-Mannered Or Boisterous, You Choose

Getting out on the road, the XLT with its hybrid system is remarkably well-mannered and, as before, feels mostly like driving a crossover. In that respect, there’s not much to say as it’s a perfectly pleasant to drive. The steering is light and direct and ride quality is nice and consistent across all the road surfaces San Diego could throw at it. The only downside is road noise out on the freeway – depending on the road surface, it can become intrusive. That’s not something we particularly noticed with the Lobo version, so we’re thinking that tire choice has an effect.

The Lobo is a firmer ride, but at no point did it feel like ride quality was compromised. It certainly hasn’t been over-tuned in the suspension department. That might change with a full load in the truck bed, but it’s unlikely that owners will be carting bricks around on a regular basis. It’s a lot more fun on a back road than the XLT, and that’s all about the extra grip and braking. You can legitimately chuck the Lobo into a corner in Sport mode and chuckle as you pop out the other side, with the rear giving a little drift if you choose, and the steering allows a surprising amount of precision.

The 2.0-liter engine and more aggressive transmission is fun, and we would describe it as a quick little truck, not a fast little truck. The power is best described as being correct for purpose – enough to have fun, but not enough to ensure you get in trouble with that light rear end. We’ll get more into that in a follow-up feature. Out on the back roads in San Diego county, we had a lot of fun, but we were on the way to an autocross track.

According to Ford, it expects enough Lobo owners to track their trucks to the point that it wants to show the Lobo’s ability off. We’re not sure about that, but for those that do, they’re going to have a great time. They won’t be setting any lap records, but the Lobo is genuinely a hoot push hard and surprisingly forgiving when pushed too hard. It doesn’t take long to gain confidence and keep your foot in the throttle through a corner and let the back come out, trusting the truck not to leave you facing the wrong way. It doesn’t require delicacy and driving technique to get it going fast through corners without sending cones flying.

Much of that has to do with Lobo mode, which is for closed courses, and sets the torque vectoring system to help you look like a cornering or drifting hero and not end up sitting red-faced and knowing your buddies are going to have fun at your expense over beers later. It does a lot for agility, as a truck shouldn’t be as agile on a speed run as the Lobo. It’s more than happy to tuck in and maintain grip through a corner, then lay its power down on exit. Musing over chicken wraps after having so much fun, the general conclusion was that the Lobo could take a dose of extra power from the EcoBoost engine and still be brilliantly manageable.

We also used the Lobo for a towing demonstration, and the ability, with the towing package added, to let the truck reverse itself and steer the tow ball under the trailer hitch so you can just lower the trailer and hook up is something we can’t cheer for more. It’s genuinely brilliant and a huge hassle saver, doing away with the need for a spotter. The system for backing a trailer into a space is one we’re not sure everyone will love. The cameras are genuinely excellent, and if you’ve experience backing trailers into spots, then they’re worth the extra cash. However, using a dial on the dashboard to steer means having to unlearn technique. For people new to towing, it makes sense to turn the dial where you want to go and letting the truck figure out which way to turn the wheel and when; it will take a lot of stress out of backing up. If you leave the control wheel alone and just back up, the the truck will straighten the trailer, which is, perhaps, the hardest part of learning to back up a trailer.

Verdict & Pricing: Yes, The Maverick Is The Truck Most People Didn’t Know They Needed

Looking back, it’s odd that it wasn’t until 2021 that the Maverick existed. A starting price of $26,995 and a useful truck bed without the gas-guzzling cost of a mid- or full-size truck is a no-brainer. Ford has managed to deliver the perfect truck for most Americans who feel like they need a truck, and now it can tow up to 4,000 pounds with the tow package added. For the price and its sheer utility value, the Maverick is hard to fault in any trim level. It is, despite its size and price, a Ford truck in every sense.

The Lobo version is an interesting choice, and Ford being able to have some fun with the Maverick is testament to its popularity and versatility. Do we need a street truck in 2025? No. Is the Lobo a fun truck that people that want a fun truck should buy? Absolutely. And starting at $35,255, it doesn’t feel overpriced. As the Maverick is made in Mexico and as the tariffs kick in – and while Ford is offering employee pricing – it’s a truck that those thinking of pulling the trigger should be thinking harder about right now.