ford Maverick road test reports and car reviews

Ford Maverick 2.0 XLT High class 2003

I bought 2 years ago (October 2006) a second hand Ford Maverick XLT 2.0 Petrol High class (produced in 2003). At that time it was a car in perfect condition with 110,000km. A friend of mine sold Maverick on very affordable price of EUR 10,000 (EUR 12,000 with tax and registration). In the period 2006-2008 I didn’t have any serious problem with the vehicle. Good things: - Very good price of second hand cars; very comfortable and driver and passengers do not suffer after 5-6 hours of driving; as it is an American vehicle consumption is not so high: on open road I had few times 8.8 litres/100km (it is very light vehicle of with only 1515 kg); could be a very good for the off road even if it is not constructed for such conditions. I drove a few times with 7 people, 2-3-2 (in the back) in very difficult conditions without problems and we have enjoyed; very well defined car for conditions of Balkan where the roads do not offer such high speeds (max 100-120 km/h) - For the 4x4 vehicle with better stability of driving then there is the Nissan Terrano 2; very good acceleration driving between 30 - 130 km/h on flat road. Problems: we do not have first-class Ford service in Montenegro. Ordering of spare parts takes time. I did a full-size service this summer (August 2008) in Greece when I have changed all belts, stabiliser and the car now is in a perfect condition. - I am having a problem with the air-conditioning as of last year (somewhere is leaking). Ford service in Montenegro is not offering such service and recommending us another company to assist us here in Podgorica. I did repair once in Sarajevo (Bosnia) but after a while I have a problem again. It is not so strong: acceleration on slope is not so good, but driving it in the off-road conditions in first gear you will not have a problem; - It is not so fast on the motorway. 110 km/h is its best driving speed (consumption/speed), up to 130km/h is ok, but you can push the pedal on 150km/h and max is 170-180km, but the engine is suffering then and the consumption is than very high. - I think that the reservoir is very small: you have to stop each 400-500km driving it on the motorways. In principle a very good car for the price and I will keep the car for sometime.