Man Who Hates EVs Buys EV. What Will Go Wrong?

[RRocket]

Well I don't hate EVs, but....


Was looking to upgrade the Prius to another plug in but with AWD. There's  a couple of boat ramps that were sketchy this year, covered with moss or slime (or ice!) Plus I'm looking at a slightly bigger boat. And the Prius has 270k on it (but still runs and drives perfectly). So I started kicking tires...

And stopped as quick as I started. The costs for used AWD plug-ins are ridiculous! Rav4 Primes are $35k ($37k with Technology Pkg). Outlander PHEV same ballpark. Considered a new Prius (no AWD though) and prices were similarly bonkers.

On a lark, looked at the prices on some EVs. And they are pretty cheap! Mid $20s fully loaded. Ended up testing one. Like it enough to decide to buy one. So I did. I'm curious to see if I'll regret it.

The much unloved Toyota BZ4X is what I ended up with. The fact they are unloved has depreciated them to borderline "bargain" prices. But only IF you can deal with the shortcomings. And I think I can.

Range is 300km (or so). The most I did in a day last year with work was 118km. The most in a non work day was 136km. And I regularly make my 40km range in the Prius work. So I have no concern there.

Charging time on 110v is 50 hours from dead to full. I only work part time and my time between shifts is 40 hours. So no concern. If it doesn't work out, I'll upgrade to a level 2..which gets it down to about 10 hours. Crappy for an EV but will work for me.

Since this is replacing my Prius, that was the benchmark. Not shocking it's "better" in most regards. Ride and handling are fine. Car feels planted (low CoG?). Better acceleration. Quiet. Nicer interior. Even the sucky JBL sound is better.

The Technology Package here vs the Prius is massively better. Not shocking given the 6 years between vehicles. But I actually was shocked by how fast and polished the self parking feature is vs the Prius which already worked really well.

Even though the Prius ICE engine was a bit grumbly...I think I'll miss that. I just like ICE. But I still have my awesome LS. So all is well!!

Anyways, here's the car. 2023 Toyota BZ4X with Technology. 49k kms. Bulk of factory warranty still intact until 2031. Also a HUGE thank you to Guy!! He checked out the car for me and like my Prius I bought it based on his inspection/test drive. So he's 2 for 2 on selling me Toyotas!

[Firm]

Congrats! Literally never heard of or seen a BZ4X, but it sounds like it'll meet all your needs and then some. The fact that you have the ICE LS you can lean on if/when the EV isn't going to cut it makes this pretty sensible. Did you trade the Prius or you going to sell it privately? 

[GreatBigAbyss]

Congrats on the new EV.  Looks like a solid buy for you, and it should work well for your needs. 

[Tortoise]

That looks pretty clean! And should work well for you. For me the 300 km range would be severely limiting for a number of trips that I do, particularly if I'm towing the boat. 

How far do you normally drive to the nearest launch?

[RRocket]

How far do you normally drive to the nearest launch?

6km. Here's the live video link. https://www.essex.ca/en/play/colchester-harbour-live-video-feed.aspx

The next most used is 25km.

We are surrounded by water so you're never more than a few KMs from a launch.

[RRocket]

Congrats! Literally never heard of or seen a BZ4X, but it sounds like it'll meet all your needs and then some. The fact that you have the ICE LS you can lean on if/when the EV isn't going to cut it makes this pretty sensible. Did you trade the Prius or you going to sell it privately? 

I'll sell the Prius privately...Very reluctantly.

[Gurgie]

Nice find! Will be interested in hearing your impressions.

Was thinking that you finally took some decent show'n'shine pictures, then realized they are dealership pics 

[Tortoise]

Was thinking that you finally took some decent show'n'shine pictures, then realized they are dealership pics 

"like"

[RRocket]

Nice find! Will be interested in hearing your impressions.

Was thinking that you finally took some decent show'n'shine pictures, then realized they are dealership pics 

That's why I used them.

Bad enough I bought an EV! Bad pictures would have been a bridge too far! LOL 😆

[RRocket]

Congrats! Literally never heard of or seen a BZ4X

Subaru made a sister called the Solterra.

The BZ4X uses Subaru's off road X-Drive AWD modes. And also has hill ascent/descent. I've seen some impressive off road capability videos from both vehicles.

[RRocket]

Congrats! Literally never heard of or seen a BZ4X

Subaru made a sister called the Solterra.

The BZ4X uses Subaru's off road X-Drive AWD modes. And also has hill ascent/descent. I've seen some impressive off road capability videos from both vehicles considering what they are.

[Johnnymac]

Congrats on the new wheels.  Was it a short term lease return you think?  I always wonder this when seeing cars with so few kms and years for the first owner.

One thing that I would have done extra that I might not do with other vehicles is go to Toyota with the VIN and see if they can print you off all the service and repair records.  Sometimes that'll show if there was some issues that kept popping up and could have caused the trade.

[RRocket]

Congrats on the new wheels.  Was it a short term lease return you think?  I always wonder this when seeing cars with so few kms and years for the first owner.

One thing that I would have done extra that I might not do with other vehicles is go to Toyota with the VIN and see if they can print you off all the service and repair records.  Sometimes that'll show if there was some issues that kept popping up and could have caused the trade.

Clean service..no problems.

Was a service loaner for the dealership.

[Johnnymac]

Congrats on the new wheels.  Was it a short term lease return you think?  I always wonder this when seeing cars with so few kms and years for the first owner.

One thing that I would have done extra that I might not do with other vehicles is go to Toyota with the VIN and see if they can print you off all the service and repair records.  Sometimes that'll show if there was some issues that kept popping up and could have caused the trade.

Clean service..no problems.

Was a service loaner for the dealership.

Perfect, so it should be good then.  Any idea of what the service intervals are or any major services that might be coming up?

[Blizzard]

Nice! My girlfriend actually bought almost the exact same car as you last summer to replace her 2016 Crosstrek, except hers has the light grey interior and the gloss black fenders and roof. Originally she was looking for a hybrid or PHEV AWD compact SUV, but being just out of school she didn't want to buy new and used were CRAZY expensive. We looked extensively at options like a RAV4 Hybrid/PHEV, CR-V Hybrid, and Sportage/Tuscon Hybrid, and in her age and km requirements (1-2 years old, <40k km) everything was $40K and above. Insane! Originally like you she was against an EV, but when we started seeing the used prices, they're clearly a bargain.

After living with the bZ4X for 6 months, it's clear why they're generally considered to be the "worst" EV out there, lol. The specs are underwhelming all around and sometimes I ask myself what the heck they were thinking for certain elements of the car. And it's definitely inferior to the competition in many ways. I'm curious to see what you think after living with the car for awhile.

It's slower than most EVs in that you don't have the crazy 0-60 acceleration, but it rides very smoothly and comfortable. Charging isn't an issue for us since I already had a Level 2 charger at home. The interior, like most Toyotas, is well constructed but looks cheap. I find that the interior is barely passable for a 63K car in terms of look and materials - we test drove a base model LE and it was beyond bare-bones. The weird gauge cluster up near the windshield took me awhile to get used to, and this was worsened by the fact that at many seating positions, the steering wheel blocks part of the screen. I've figured out a good seating position now so it's workable - but YMMV, I've never had a car with a gauge cluster somewhere other than the "normal" position. Also, the one-pedal driving isn't truly one pedal, it just slows the car to 7-8 km/h, which was annoying since I'm used to the Bolt and it's full one-pedal driving. 

All in all though, it's a huge upgrade from the Crosstrek and the fact that is has a bad rep means that the car was a great bargain - mid-high 30s on the road for a 2024 with 16,000 km (original MSRP of $63K before subsidies). Her car was purchased new and traded in at Porsche after less than 1.5 years, the original owner retired and bought himself a Porsche as a gift. We both agree that it's a terrible 63K car, but a great 34K car. At this price, the comparable options were new/almost-new gas subcompact SUVs, and this car is far superior (and has way lower operating costs) as long as you can deal with the range.

Like for you, range isn't a problem. We're not big road trip people so for the maybe once a year we drive beyond the range of either the Bolt or bZ4X in a single day, we'll rent a car or fast charge. Until temperatures dropped, the car was showing (and actually getting) 380-400 km in mixed driving (50/50 in-town suburbs/suburban highways at speeds of 90-105). Now that's in cold it's more like 230-250 km, which is crazy drop-off from the warm range and probably more than most EVs. But again, considering most of this car's driving is commuting (60 km round-trip), cottage weekends (90 km one way), and around town errands, it's never been a problem so far.