XL short bed?! That sounds like jumbo shrimp, an oxymoron, but that’s exactly what this truck is. XL is the trim level, of course, which you all knew. This is a great-looking 1993 Ford F-150 XL short bed, for its general condition, but also its bulletproof drivetrain. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Yelm, Washington, and they’re asking $14,995. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
Since I’m not a contractor, I don’t need a long-bed pickup able to haul full sheets of 4×8 plywood, which seems to be how most pickup owners define whether a pickup is worthy or not. Some folks gasp when I say I want a Ford Maverick and they immediately go into the “Only wimps drive tiny trucks, get you’self a man-sized truck for real truck hauling duties, boy!” Yeah, no, I don’t need a 3/4-ton or heavier truck to haul anything, ever. I never have and have managed to make a living without owning one.
What I do need is a vehicle to haul an occasional motorcycle or some mulch. A “small” truck like a Maverick, or this short-bed F-150, would do nicely. And who gives anyone else the right to tell someone what kind of vehicle they should drive based on their needs, not on the truck buyer’s needs?! COME ON! It’s just one thing that sticks in my craw, as nobody says anymore. That being said, I would also love a full-sized 4×4 diesel pickup with a 5-speed, now that I think about it… ha.
Enough rambling. The ninth-generation F-series was made from 1992 through 1997 here, and this is a somewhat basic truck but still has power steering, power brakes, dual gas tanks, a tow package, only 42,800 miles, and was a one-owner truck until the selling dealer bought it. Not to mention a 5-speed manual transmission. The seller included good photos, but there were no photos of the bed or topper/cap area to see what that looks like. I’d bet it looks like new. Air conditioning was optional on the XL, and this one doesn’t have it.
The clean engine is Ford’s 300-cu.in. OHV inline-six, with 145 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque when new. The 5-speed manual sends power to the rear wheels only on this truck, and they don’t say how it runs, but I’d have to believe it runs great. Hagerty is at $11,100 for a #3 good-condition truck and $24,600 for a #2 excellent truck, how much is this one worth?
Plain jane and reliable as the tides SG.
So much I want to say here right now…..
Ok here goes. The Ford Maverick is VERY popular in my neck of the woods. And I guess I must be seeing a huge amount of “Un manly men” driving them. ( I hope you all are seing the extreme sarcasm in my sentence). That being said, I must also br an unmanly man for wanting to have one too. I think its the perfect size for my wife and I and a dog or two in the back seat. I don’t need something Gigantic. I think Ford did a nice job designing the Maverick. I like it.
Ok, that out of the way. This truck ticks a lot of boxes for me. The 300 straight six is fantastic in a short bed pickup this size with a 5 speed. If no one told you what it was, and you were wearing ear plugs so as not to hear anything and were to drive a Ford F150 equipped like this….. You’d think you had a 302 under the hood. ( Very bold statement on my part but I’ve driven both and walked away impressed and would own a Ford 300 in a heartbeat.).
This truck is in amazing condition, and Scotty, I think this would be perfect for you. And if you buy it, please swing by my place and pick me up, and I’ll treat you to a coffee!!! Lol. Actually, its a pretty long drive for you…. Better make it lunch…. And you and “Supersize it” too!! In all seriousness, Great truck here, once again great find Curvette, thank you, and a great write up too Scotty!!
-Dave
My wife bought a 2023 Maverick Hybrid. We have 87k miles on it now and no issues, still average about 40 MPG. We ordered a base model and waited over 400 days for it while the dealer kept trying to up-sell us Lariet and XLT packages they had on the showroom. To us, it makes no sense to make a cheap vehicle expensive.
All that to say this. We use the Maverick for far more than we originally thought. My full-size truck sits in the garage 90% of the time, I haven’t driven it in almost three weeks now. So I still need to tow more than the Maverick can handle occasionally but it’s far less than I thought.
I agree with Stan and Dave (and Scotty). Very nice, very basic truck. When I think about a basic truck like this, I think of something which would have been heavily used, maybe even abused. Not this one. Low miles and in good shape, perhaps owned by an older gentleman who used it carefully and sparingly.
And I too like the Maverick. It is a well-done package. They have been solid sellers.
Ford sold so many of these XL pkg trucks both 2 & 4wd. Such a sensible no frills pkg. Wish the Maverick had a stick shift available in AWD. Which..is the ultimate winter driving set up in my opinion. ❄️ 😌
Totally agree Stan. I always thought theres more control with 4WD and a manual transmission in the snow.
Thanks for all the positive Maverick reviews! I have been considering buying one.
I have the luxury oddball version of this. White/gold trim Eddie Bauer, yet it has the 300, 5 speed and short box. Most would think this trim level would be a V8 automatic as standard…
That is not an oddball. FORD purposely equipped thousands of F150″s this way, 6 cylinder + 5 speed to help meet government fuel mileage standards.
To help sell them, most were Eddie Bauer plush cabs. They looked good, were well equipped, priced accordingly, and sold well. Somewhere, I have the FORD brochure with this F150 offer…somewhere.
From wikipedia:
Eddie Bauer (1995–1996, F-150 only) – Added (from XLT trim): slotted front bumper, Eddie Bauer floor mats, rear privacy glass (SuperCab models), convertible console seat, power mirrors, two-tone exterior paint, and forged aluminum deep-dish wheels.
Appreciate the info. Not an oddball, just not too common now due to the 30 years that have passed since new. It’s in pretty good survivor condition, no rust, new clutch and a solid 6.
Fuel economy standards. My ’93 F150, equipped exactly like this one, got 15-18 mpg average. My ’09 F150 with the 5.4 V-8 gets exactly the same. And it’s twice the truck. And without A/C? That ’93 was miserable in the summer.
More on the Eddie Bauer Package. Eddie was an outdoorsman and had quite a reputation for the products he sold. Somehow, he and Ford got together and came up with the Eddie Bauer Bronco II for the outdoorsman crowd. I believe it came with some Eddie Bauer luggage of some type and a fancy interior and paint. It also carried a 2 year, 24,000 mile Ford Warranty. (I could be off on that, maybe 3/36000?) Anyway, the people at Eddie Bauer wanted the Bronco II to come with a lifetime warranty because that was the warranty on the clothes they sold. Obviously, that would not work for a Bronco II, so they settled on the Ford Warranty.
The difference in gas mileage between the 300 and 302 was zero, I had both and really no difference between the two in normal driving. Both were roughly 12 MPG, which in today’s world is awful! That’s why Ford axed the 300, couldn’t get fuel milage out of it then. Now days they probably could. I did like the 300 though, lots of low-end power.
Consider me enlightened ! https://barnfinds.com/5-speed-driver-1996-ford-f150-eddie-bauer/
This reminds me of my 1980 F100, 300 six and a 4 speed OD manual transmission. It got 24 MPG with a 2.75 rear end. It just wouldn’t pull a sick ant off of the hill.
I currently have a 93 long box 112k miles 5.0 automatic I’m the second owner I like it because of the 8 foot bed and two tanks I would buy this one today but I think the dealer is $10k to high on the asking price I know they sell for ballpark this price on bring a trailer and cars and bids but this is just a dealer who probably paid the KBB price around $2k for it. But if they can get almost $15k for it I should be able to get at least $8k for mine.
But it’s RED!!!
Saw this Ad like more than a year maybe even 2 so is still a no sell. but is a nice truck & manual. love plain Jane, don’t need all the newer high-tech L/R mirror is all I need to backup & w/o camera’s / navigation / computer screens – when they failed people go crazy. only thing A/C
Saw this Ad like more than a year maybe even 2 so is still a no sell. but is a nice truck & manual. love plain Jane, don’t need all the newer high-tech L/R mirror is all I need to backup & w/o camera’s / navigation / computer screens – when they failed people go crazy. only thing A/C
Saw this Ad like more than a year maybe even 2 so is still a no sell. but is a nice truck & manual. love plain Jane, don’t need all the newer high-tech L/R mirror is all I need to backup & w/o camera’s / navigation / computer screens – when they failed people go crazy. only thing A/C
Here’s my two cents and it’s going to sound like top 40 radio.
First, I love this truck. It’s my kind of ride. When I got in the business of selling cars these were something you could have on the lot. Thing is even 35 years ago the take rate was dropping off in the Detroit market. Not so much in other regions but stay with me. Psychologically people begin to reason that if I’m spending this much I’ll just get the nicer model. Sort of like what happened to the Galaxie as the LTD gained in popularity.
Then there’s the shade thrown at today’s pickups. Geez, one could catch cold around this conversation. As larger trucks became more comfortable they changed the game regarding car ownership. Look no further than the 1979 F-150 Lariat. Ford had begun it’s takeover of Chevrolet and the light truck market and the Lariat looked like a Lincoln next to the Silverado. People bought them in higher and higher numbers and this is the slugfest we have today. Where are today’s deVille, New Yorker and Town Car? Well, they’re still here but they have two drive axles and a box out back wearing names like Denali, Platinum and Titanium. This may sting to hear but no single one of us is the market as a whole.
Lastly, why don’t we have a proliferation of small trucks? I’m convinced that it’s coming but we are going to have to buy them. No excuses. Ford nailed it with the Maverick not because everyone thought they wanted a small truck but because people wanted a $20,000 dollar car. Even in SE Michigan I see plenty of the base models so I know they’re being ordered and purchased. Yes, you may have to wait. That’s your option. As long as you get what you come in the dealer for, you win. So does the seller.
Why do I drive a 1500 crew cab? It does everything and gets 20 plus mpg. When you’re older, 6’5″ and a bit large you get over crawling in and out of the little cars you once enjoyed. This is now my full size car. The Newport I would drive if it were built today. Many of my 4 cylinder cars had trouble breaking 30 mpg because I really liked driving them. She used to say, don’t be so hard on my car! At least the kid didn’t tell her how we drove.
Excellent market analysis and related comments Nelson C.
Man I was ready to get serious on this one. Low miles, nice condition, 300
Six, 5 speed, and then, no A/C🤦♂️ No A/C might be ok in Washington, but not Louisiana.
Before the XL there was the Custom in the F150 line. That was a stripper. Not even a headliner or rear bumper!
I would be happy to own this truck for $ 10 K
No A/C? I’m out. Maybe 30 years ago, I could handle the no A/C, but as I’ve gotten older, that is the one option I won’t do without. Two options that would make this the perfect truck, A/C and 4wd and it has neither.
Last brand-new truck I bought was a 1995 and it also did not have air conditioning. But times have changed and climates have changed, and there are fewer and fewer people who are interested in driving vehicles without A/C. That could be the big question mark on the selling price, but maybe in the PNW people don’t care.