This Ford Maverick Lobo recently popped up on Facebook Marketplace with an asking price of $47,345. That’s a whole heck of a lot for a Maverick, and to make matters worse, it’s priced that way due to a “market adjustment on top of MSRP plus dealer adds.” While the seller doesn’t mention which dealer this Maverick is being sold at, and declined to tell The Drive where it is, it’s not the only Lobo being sold with a dealer markup. A quick search on KBB shows that there are several listed nationwide with sticker prices higher than their MSRPs, pushing them dangerously close to the $50,000 mark and even beyond it in at least one case. Now, I’m sorry, but there’s no reason for anyone to spend that sort of money on any Maverick—not even the Lobo.
The Maverick has been something of a blue-collar hero since it first launched in 2021. Its unbelievably low starting price and excellent fuel economy made it the perfect pickup for so many American customers that Ford had a hard time keeping up with demand for the first year of sales. In turn, dealers were marking up the budget truck beyond its bargain status. But now that supply has more than caught up to demand, there is absolutely no reason to pay a dealer markup, especially since there are plenty of Lobos for sale without ’em. Clearly, that hasn’t stopped dealers from trying.
The Lobo starts at $36,850 and is essentially the street performance version of the Maverick. It comes with quite a bit of standard kit to justify its extra cost, like the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder making 238 hp instead of the less powerful hybrid, all-wheel drive, and a seven-speed automatic transmission. It’s better beneath the surface, too, with upgrades that might not show up on the spec sheet. Its all-wheel drive is the same “Advanced 4WD” system as the Maverick Tremor, meaning it comes with a clever rear differential that helps improve cornering. Ford also took parts from various bins to upgrade the Lobo’s suspension and brakes, like front strut mounts from the Mustang Mach-E, monotube shocks from the Maverick FX4, the steering rack from a Euro-market Ford Kuga, and front calipers from the Euro Focus ST. So it’s more than just a Maverick with cool wheels.
However, click one option box—Equipment Group 702A—and it turns into a fully loaded truck with a $42,345 MSRP. That’s already. lot for what’s still a $28,000 truck at its core, and once dealers add on their nonsensical “market adjustments,” then it’s really too much.
There are nicer cars with better performance that you can get for roughly the same money. The track-torching Honda Civic Type R gets you a sporty four-door for $47,045, and if outright cornering capability is what you’re after then it’s clearly a better pick than the Maverick. Or let’s say you want brute speed and engagement—you can score a Mustang GT with a 486-hp V8 and a manual for $48,155. You could argue that the Maverick Lobo is dual-purpose since it’s a pickup truck, but is that enough to justify choosing it over the others? I’m not so sure. After the dealer add-ons, it quickly turns into a non-starter.
It’s true that the Lobo is unique in that it offers hot-hatch performance levels with pickup utility. I understand paying a little more for that combination. But the audacity of dealers to mark them up to nearly $50,000 is baffling. No one should ever pay that much for a Maverick; not even Ford prices ’em that high.
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