Mavericks, Broncos, Batteries and Museums....oh my!

2025 Ford Maverick Overview

SPEAKER_00 0:04

All right, well, let since I've got it pulled up right here, why don't we do the review? Okay. This would be the 2025 Ford Maverick.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Pickup truck. All right. Final assembly location, Hermosillo Mexico. Available trim levels, the XL, the XLT, the Lobo, I like that, the Lariat, and the trimmer. I reviewed the Lobo, which is kind of the middle of the road version that has popular elements when it comes to trim. What

Design, Trims, And Interior Notes

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size class? This is considered a small pickup truck. It's smaller than the F-150 and smaller than the Ranger. I'll tell you what it's based on here in just a minute. Five seats, including the driver. All new for 22. This year, new dash with a larger screen. That's for 2025. Sharp-looking front fascia, modern and very Ford attractive. Concentric wheel openings and great wheel options, too, I might add. Color choices are excellent. And the trimmer package rocks with great accents on it. So be sure and check that out too. Excellent rear lighting, tailgate, and bumper design, all integrated back there in the back end. What I liked, the integration of the overall look really worked for me. What could use improvement? I just put a question mark because I don't really know. Interior highlights, plain, simple layout. Let's not forget, this is a pickup truck, and it really can be a working man's pickup truck. And I throw back to the Rangers, the original Rangers, that you still see every now and then. Every once in a while. Matter of fact, there was one who went down the road the other day. This thing was immaculate. You could tell that the guy really took care of it. That's cool. Yeah, it is. Two-tone versions, add pizzazz to the interior look, made from rugged materials and coverings throughout the cabin. Cargo room below the rear seat, handy storage bin back there for my trim level, the Lobo. What I liked about it, Ford knows how to make pickups, and here is just another one that really, if you're in the market for a small pickup truck, this is one you definitely need to check out. What could use improvement? I say don't touch it. Great options on all of the trim levels.

Engine, Towing, And Real MPG

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Now, as far as motivation, it has a two-liter EcoBoost inline four-cylinder engine that has 250 horsepower, which is more than most. You know, when you get into those two-liter uh inline four-cylinders, 200 horsepower is about all it's got. This one's got 250, 280 pound feet of torque. Transmission, seven-speed automatic with a tow rating of two tons, four thousand pounds. Hall, 1,500 pounds. And it's smaller than the maverick.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

No, it's the maverick. Smaller than the Maverick. But it is the Maverick.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Smaller than the range. It's the globo edition, okay. And smaller than the F-150. That's what you got. Uh miles per gallon, it got 21 in the city and 30 on the highway for a combined to 24. I got 26.1 miles per gallon over the 208.6 miles that I drove it. Why did I not drive it very much? Because there was a short window for me to have this because of the holidays. Gotcha. So they picked it up on Tuesday. It was just short. Just got you. What I liked about it? Plenty of horsepower and standard all-wheel drive on mine. What could use improvement? Nothing. Like I said, I really like this. Ride and handling, smooth ride for a pickup truck. It is based on the Ford Escape SUV and the Ford Bronco Sport.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Huh.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

So it's got underpinnings and it shares some under the body work bits and it's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

So they can run it down the same line, pretty much, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

So it uh it it really is kind of a car-based uh truck. It's easy to maneuver in parking lots because it's not so massively

Platform, Ride, And Usability

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huge. What could use improvement? Nothing. Would a four by eight sheet of plywood fit in? Yes, four feet wide it would. Eight foot long, you'd have to lower the tailgate and let it hang out the back end because it is small. Okay, here's the pricing on it. Base trim price for this particular vehicle was forty thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. Prices tested forty two three forty-five. Base model price, entry level for this particular truck, the Maverick, twenty-eight thousand one hundred twenty-five dollars.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

For a small truck, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yeah. Uh I really did like it. Okay, competitors, really, there's only one. Believe it or not, there's only one. I looked and looked and looked, and the only one that actually goes head to head with this is the Honey Santa Fe. The Hyundai Santa Fe starts at $28,750. And what and what did the base price of the Ford Maverick go for? $28,145.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Now the that uh Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, that's a unibody. There's no gap between the bed and the cab. That's a unibody.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

That's the same thing with the maverick. Uh so uh next up would be uh in kind

Pricing And Competitor Landscape

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of comparison, uh mid-size ranger. That starts at 33,350, and then the Honda Ridge line, man, it's expensive. Forty thousand one hundred and fifty dollars is where it starts.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

And it and it's not a unibody anymore. They've actually put a cab big conversion thing on the code.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

From what I understand is it's not a unibody in the sense that the cab and the truck bed are one piece. Right, right. There is a separation, but it's still considered a unibody underneath.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

The way the frame, the way the platform is. Yeah, because there is no frame. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

It's car-based. It's an accord, basically. That's weird the way I don't know why they did it that way, but you know the Japanese they do things differently.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Well, and and you can't hardly find one on a used car lot, even the old ones just that ridgeline holds its value.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Yeah, it does. Well, I think most Hondas do, don't they? Yes, they do. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I don't get Hondas very much anymore, do you? No.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

I see a lot of them.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

No, but I see a lot of them. Yeah, they we just don't get them. I don't know why. I guess they don't think enough of us. Or they don't need the advertisement.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Well, uh you know my my oldest daughter had a uh an accord hybrid, and she's now got a pilot. Amazing. Oh, the pilot? Yeah, and they're both nice, really nice cars. You know, I haven't driven them, but looking at them is a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Hell no, they wouldn't let you drive it. No, they've seen you drive. Yeah. I mean, you know, he tears up uh cast iron exhausts on on engines. Wow. Um, you know, he hits curbs. He does things. What's the curb fall? Why was the curb there?

SPEAKER_02 6:57

That's right. If it hadn't been there, I wouldn't have hit that. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Come on. Yeah, I'm sorry, Mike. I I had to go there. It was there. And you let me go there, so it's all your fault again.

unknown 7:08

All right.

Battery Brands Ranked For Extreme Climates

SPEAKER_00 7:15

All right, time now for Jeff's car culture. Today is it culture or six, whatever. Top six car bri battery rankings.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Okay, I gotta find it. I was uh out of sync here. You were? I was on the wrong page. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

We've been on the wrong page since we got there.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

It's kind of kind of a given. So car battery shopping has been one of the least exciting parts of owning a car. We all know that. And I'm doing this story because there's parts of the country that are really cold and parts that are really warm. So this goes out to our cold friends up there in the northeast. Uh a few things to remember before you head inside to locate a battery group for your vehicle is to know the battery group, the CCA, which is the coal cranking amps. So the number one we have on here, now these are listed. Is that a club? The CCA? The C C A? I think so. Uh has to do with CARP or something. Uh could be CCA. TCA, whatever. And then there's uh AAA and then there's AA. Uh number six on my list is the Odyssey batteries. Uh they have a number of features that have pushed them high in the rankings. Their commitment to over-engineering is given the batteries a reputation of reliability. The claim of a longer service life and cycle life and the shelf life are the comparisons for any competitor in the battery field. It's called Odyssey. Odyssey. Odyssey extreme batteries can start a vehicle in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

And all the way up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. So there you go, there's the Odyssey. The next one, and it's kind of surprised me, is the Durecell. It's all about the big name and it gets the battery world, and drivers may be pleased to learn that a well-known brand of manufacturers also does car batteries. Uh in terms of the custom reviews, Durecell batteries can in some respects be the best out there. They're pretty highly rated, and the majority of the outlets like Sam's Club and AutoZone have these batteries. Duracell has a few options available, like the basic level, there's a company standard series, all that good stuff. No frills option for the for the company, claims to meet basic needs of the vehicle. The next one we have, Michael, is a Superstart. The Superstart, which is mainly sold through O'Reilly Auto Parts, offers a good range of batteries spanning from its economy to its premium units. Their economy batteries come with a one-year warranty. Those are premium units. Premium units. And while the premium unit receives two years worth of backing, both the platinum and the extreme batteries get three years of coverage bundle. So there you go. That's for that one. Die Hard. Now it's not the movie, it's the battery. This is the battery. It did. This is the battery your dad told you about and put in your first car. That's the one he bought. Die Hard remains a great uh aftermarket option for it was for Sears until they sold the brand to Advanced Auto Parts back in 2019. They relaunched in 2020 pairing the diehard battery with the die hard film hero. Just mentioned that, John McLean. Popular advertising campaign. Reintroduced the battery brand and the availability. The next one, Michael, is an Optima battery. They use several unique design choices that move them to the number one spot in some cases, but not here. The six-pack design and spiral wound cells are used both in the lead and the AGM versions of the batteries. They have lead versions? Yeah, uh the old school, the old style. Now, they're very expensive in some respects. The most affordable option for a 1996 Ford Ranger is a $250 battery. But they're reliable, trusted, and have a good warranty backing for the product. Next one, Mike, is a Dakota. One of the main sources people tend to shell out more than a car battery is the ability to crank an engine when things get chilly. In this respect, Dakota has good good ratings on that part. The company claims that the batteries offer 200% of the power traditional car batteries offer. Five times the charging speed, uh it lasts eight times longer and are half the weight of what you would normally have as a battery. So check them out. There's all kinds out there. Just be careful. Uh get what you need, check the coal cranking amps, and you should have a good solid battery.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Then there are those uh batteries that you go, I've never heard of this, but okay, the salesman said buy this, it's good. Yeah. Have you ever done that?

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Uh no. No. Because I'm I I do my due diligence and research. Did you did you mention Interstate? Interstate was probably seventh or eighth on the list. Interstate is in the grouping of twelve, but these are the top six.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yeah, sure. Mars, you bought a battery in a while?

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Uh no.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Good for you. All right. Driving destinations. Driving destinations. Mr. Mars, Southeast Texas Car

Texas Auto Museums And Road-Trip Ideas

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Museums. How many are there?

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Well, that's kind of the concern. And the ones that are there are no longer there. So I I learned real fast uh last night. A lot of them are closed for the winter, and a lot of them are closed, period. They're not coming back. Oh boy. So I took and added some of the North and the Central Texas pieces in there just so it would be more than just three. And um, start out with the uh Formula Automotive Museum in Houston. I'd never heard of this until I got to looking for these. And it's focused on curated automotive history. You know, they have different exhibits that go through the year, including classic cars, specialty vehicles, you know, collections. Kind of depends on what all they can kind of put together, but they uh a lot of it goes into the engineering and the highlight design behind the cars. Now, this is again, this is in Houston. Uh a lot of the Houston car clubs go there for some of their events. Then if you want to get a little further out, and something that's a lot different, is uh Orangefield Cormier Museum in Orangefield, Texas. Now, if you haven't ever heard of Orangefield, it's next door to Orange, which is over in the Beaumont Port Arthur area part of the building.

SPEAKER_03 13:09

It's in a field too, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:11

It is. And they have a lot of oil fields, and there's a lot of this is based on the oil and stuff that goes around there because it's still very much oil producing with a lot of derrics and a lot of things going on. But it's built in, but the school district gets involved in it. It's all run by volunteers, and they do a lot of things related to the oil industry, including the car shows. They have a uh a boom town that's set up with bank and post office, soda fountain, things like that. So there's a lot more to it than just the cars that they have there. This is one of them that's only open on certain times. But then you go into Beaumont and you get to the Fire Museum of Texas. Now, this is the state fire museum of Texas. It's set in a 1927 Central Fire Station, and it's got a lot of old vehicles. Like there's a fire engine that used to be on the LBJ Ranch and some of the others that are similar to that. And out front of it, you're going to find this giant uh fire fire plug. And it was actually something Disney built to use for part of the uh 101 Dalmatians. And the fire station there got it donated there, so they've got it there on the outside. The kids love going out there and taking pictures of it. You can climb on all the engines and stuff, and it's got a real nice station.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

They just built one themselves. Dogs love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah, yeah. It's in the dogs park. Uh then, if you want to go a little bit further, and this is kind of out of whack, but over at the Texas Transportation Museum in San Antonio. Now, this celebrates just more than automobiles. It has a lot of trains, it's got a lot of trucks, how public transit has shaped its uh life in Texas and how it's kind of expanded as it goes around. It's got a lot of interesting things there, including model trains that apparently the kids really love getting in there and watching those go. Then you're going up north, the DFW Carn Toy Museum is being considered one of the largest museums of that kind in the state. It has got pre-admission. It's 150,000 square feet. Holy cow. It's got 200 collectible vehicles, got 3,000 vintage toys and automobilia, you know, like signs and cool cars and stuff. Yeah, yeah. Uh it goes through the brass era cars, muscle, exotics, pop culture, and it's really diverse, and it's got a lot of and they even have some dog-friendly and family-oriented areas there that you can bring your kids and dogs and have a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

It's free. Now you you said some of these are closed and not open or wintertime. Any of the ones you've talked about like that?

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Well, like the orange field is only open on certain city on certain Saturdays. This one's open year-round and uh got all the hours and stuff on it. So uh then we can go out to Amarillo to the Jack Size More RV Museum and Storage. Now, I thought this was kind of a unique idea. He's got a lot of RVs and stuff in there as part of the museum. And uh it's also got some motorcycles, some other things, but it also has part of a storage. You can actually rent a place there and store your RV there to become part of the display. So it kind of keeps it going as a museum because a lot of these museums have closed down because of this funding. Then the Clinton Classic Chassis and Golden Age gallery is another one like that. It's 22,000 square feet up in Clifton and uh runs from the 40s through the 80s uh vehicles and it kind of rotates through them depending on what they have. Then the Terrell Antique Car Museum in De Leon. Dillon, De Leon. Dillon. Uh pre-World War II.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

I'll notice that you looked at me for that.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Well, I figured you would know. Pre-World War II automobiles is what's highlighted in here, including a rear vehicle such as a 1901 Coffin steam carriage and a 1915 REO speed wagon. All right. A lot of these vehicles actually keep them running. It's real popular. And that's that was their truck. That was their band Hollow that made it. There you go. So, anyway, that's just some of the museums. You're going to make uh need something to do this warning. You want to go see an automotive museum, there's some of them that you can go. Just be sure and check before you go if they're open.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yep. I like it. Thank you, sir. Hey, the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues right after this quick break. You own a car you love. Well, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it? Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts. We promise you'll be impressed. Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nano ceramic window tent, or new windshield protection called Exoshield, Gulf Coast Auto Shield is where Houston's car people go. Curbed your wheels? Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired? How about a professionally installed radar detector? Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too. Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshield.com. Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior. Call them today, 832-930-5655, or gcautoshield.com. Apple or Android, NWL Time Podcast can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads. Whether you're on the road or at home in Jones in for a different kind of car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try. Honest new car reviews, fun, informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture and Mike's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time. Check us out on Sirius XM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music. Mm-hmm. InWheeltime.com has a list, and we know you love lists. But we did that. Time now for this hour's car review.

2025 Bronco Strope Edition Deep Dive

SPEAKER_00 18:49

I had the opportunity, and it was a good opportunity, to drive a 2025 Ford Bronco. But it's just not an everyday regular Bronco. Although the Bronco itself is really a cool vehicle, I will say that. Final assembly location, Michigan Assembly, Wayne, Michigan. You've been there? Driven by Mars, did you go to did you go to Michigan Assembly with me? At the time they were building Ford F-150 pickup trucks. Anyway, so this is where they build the Ford uh Bronco. Available trim levels, the base, the big bend, the outer banks, the Badlands, Heritage Edition, the Strope Edition, and the Raptor. I had the Strope two-door edition. Very special vehicle. I'll tell you about it in just a minute. Small SUV. This was the two-door version. It seats five people. It's a red, white, and blue paint job. And it is patterned after the famous stroke fella that uh actually did the big rally stuff back in the day that made a name for the Ford Bronco, off road stuff. And so They've kind of recreated that in many ways. Um, I was really hoping, as you can see here, exterior features and interior features. I draw the line through there. Why did I draw the line through there, Mars? Because I was going to have a great video that I was going to play that explained everything about Mr. Strope and the Strope Edition, and it had video on it, the whole nine yards. It was a five-minute long video. And I thought, well, this will be a great addition to my car review. Well, guess what? It's done. Thank you, Ford Motor Company, to putting it up on uh YouTube that we couldn't download it. Jacked up. So it's got a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 that turns out 330 horsepower, 415 pound feet of torque through a 10-speed automatic transmission. Till ratings $3,500, but uh 3,500 pounds, but that's not what you want it for. 17 miles per gallon city 18 on the highway, because it is a hot rod. Uh has a combined rating of 18. I got 18.4 miles per gallon over 342.8 miles. What I liked, the power and the transmission work very well together. And most of the time, when I say something about the motor and the transmission, they don't talk to each other. This one, oh yeah, baby, they got this one down. It's like I said with the Ford Maverick. You know, when it comes to Ford Motor Company, they know how to build pickup trucks. And this is kind of an extension to that. And this strobe edition has all of the off-road features. Um, what could use improvement? Absolutely nothing. Love the paint job. Got tons of thumbs up with the red, white, and blue paint scheme on this thing. Uh riding handling, not as bouncy as you'd think with this short wheelbase.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Really?

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Yeah, it's not because the uh travel and the shocks and the springs is great, so we can handle that off-road bouncing stuff. Okay. Okay. So lots of suspension travel. Um I want you to go to YouTube and look up Ford Bronco Strope Edition because we can't play it for you here. It's not your fault. I'm not blaming it. Yeah. Yeah. So the media website that Ford has come up with for us media folks to use as a tool to show these things to you has been hijacked by somebody, uh, I guess that Ford contracted with. So I'm just griping uh and I've got a right to. Base trim price, $77,630. Okay. You're going, oh my God, that's huge. Uh price is tested, $77,665. Now the base model Bronco price is $38,995. Got the goat mode, all that good stuff. Now, what are you going to compare it to? Obviously, Jeep Wrangler. It starts at $32,095. I thought I would go outside the box and look at some other vehicles that you may or may not have heard of because in this group of vehicles, I picked the Scout Traveler. Okay. Um, it doesn't come out until 2028. Um it's under $60,000, is what they're shooting for. My

Powertrain, Drive Impressions, And Value

SPEAKER_00 23:20

guess is two years out, they're not going to make that. That's an all-electric Scout version called the Scout Traveler. You remember the name? Then we have the Subaru Outback, and you're going, well, how could he compare that to it? Well, you know, that uh off-road edition that they have, I think it's a wilderness. Is that what they say?

SPEAKER_03 23:40

Yeah, Subaru is pretty strong in that market.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Yeah, it was $34,995. Uh we got tons of thumbs up with this thing, riding down the road, going into parking lots. Hey man, can I see that? Yes, you can. Um, the paint job resonates with everyone. And I would not have thought that, but boy, it does. And what Ford did was they took the paint job from the Strope family that did the racing back in the day, and they got real close to the same colors. And uh, it's just a really cool vehicle.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

And it depends on where you put those colors, how you put that on the body of the vehicle to make it look good. Because sometimes putting that together, you can make it look too busy and gaudy.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yeah, well, it it was really cool and uh really enjoyed it. And uh, thank the Ford Motor Company and Ken Peabody in Dallas for sending that to me because I had lots of fun with that, and um unfortunately couldn't play the video for you. You know what? We need we need to really try and get that video somehow, somehow, and play it on a random show coming up because it's that good. Gives you the whole story behind the strokes. All right.