What’s the cheapest pickup truck you can buy in 2025?
America loves big trucks. For some star-spangled car shoppers, it’s the bigger the better. Not for everyone, though. If you can live without some of the brutish abilities of a full-size truck, you can grab the keys to the cheapest pickup truck in America for 2025.
It’s the 2025 Ford Maverick, a little unibody truck sitting just below the $30,000 mark before fees. But don’t expect to get a ladder frame or the towing capacity of a full-size truck.
The Ford Maverick is the cheapest pickup truck in America– by a teeny tiny margin
For 2025, the Ford Maverick enters its fourth year as part of the Blue Oval’s truck lineup. But it has a bragging right that doesn’t belong to the Ranger or the perennially popular F-150: it’s the cheapest pickup truck in America.
But not by much. The Maverick starts at $29,840 for the entry-level XL trim. That makes it the only production pickup truck in the country with a starting price below that round $30,000 mark. Moving up even one trim level to the XLT adds $2,500 to the base price, taking the starting ask to $32,340.
But the Maverick doesn’t ditch all of its pickup truck credentials in exchange for a smaller price tag than its larger siblings. The optional towing package, available with all-wheel drive (AWD), allows for up to 4,000 lbs of towing capacity.
The bed isn’t anywhere near as spacious as bigger trucks, but it’ll still accommodate up to 33.3 cubic feet of, well, whatever you put in the back of your truck. The Ford Maverick XL’s starting price also puts it just ahead of one of its closest competitors, the Hyundai Santa Cruz.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz isn’t far behind
Granted, the 2025 Ford Maverick XL starts at $29,840. But the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz starts at $30,245, just $405 more than the Ford. A margin that small leaves the decision between the two down to personal preference.
On the one hand, buyers can get the Maverick in a fuel-sipping hybrid variant. That option will net around 38 mpg combined, 14 more than a comparable Santa Cruz. On the other hand, the Santa Cruz offers more standard towing capacity and a 5-year, 60,000-mile basic warranty.
Of course, things could change next year. Upcoming pickups like the Slate EV and a rumored Toyota truck could challenge the Maverick’s claims to the title of cheapest truck.
