How BZ4X compare to others

[TonyHSD]

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-group-tests/358471/toyota-bz4x-vs-volkswagen-id4-vs-hyundai-ioniq-5-2022-group-test-review
 

There are interesting facts here, I know for myself which car will pick , and what about you, would you wait for bz4 or perhaps look for another brand? 

[philip42h]

So, which one have you ordered Tony? 😉

It's an interesting comparative review. Readers, and more importantly potential purchasers, will need to be very careful to verify all the reported facts for themselves. And consider carefully what is important to them as individuals rather than the paid reviewer. But the bottom line is that there is really much to choose between them - all are very competent EVs. In the game of 'top trumps' the Ioniq 5 probably wins; on a Toyota Owners forum the bZ4X at least holds it's own (provided that the wheels stay on! 🙂 ); after diesel-gate who on earth could countenance buying a VW? 🙂

But I won't be buying any of them for the time being - they are each far too expensive for a car that is limited to operating within, say, 120 miles from home, and the charging infrastructure isn't yet in place for me to be comfortable attempting to go any further. There's nothing at all wrong with any of the cars - they all have a decent range per charge and reasonable recharge rates providing that you can find an available, working charger with appropriate capacity, but, today, I don't think that you can ...

[Rosgoe]

If I go Fully electric I am seriously going to consider the Kia e niro it has approx 280 to 300 mile range if driven sensibly and is a lot cheaper than the bz4 Kia actually turn out some good kit now.

[Roy124]

We would have bought an eNiro had they shown any interest in selling us one.  Their head salesman had 'sold us' on one a year previous but was not there when we went in.

[Cyker]

I mostly share philip4sh's view, plus I want an electric car and not an electric land boat  

[philip42h]

I quite like the Electric Vehicle Database as a means to 'objectively' compare EVs. If nothing else it gives 'its' idea of real ranges and rapid charge rates.

The Kia Niro and Soul are good examples of previous generation EVs. Their real ranges are comparable to that of the bZ4X but recharge rates are half those of the bZ4X (and the Ioniq 5 and EV6 are quicker still).

I tried to get the wife interested in the Soul last year - it still qualified for some of the EV discount. The dealer was more interested in selling her a Niro. So we ended up buying a C-HR ... 😉

[Cyker]

I was speaking to a salesman while my Yaris was being serviced, and apparently Toyota's EV direction is for lower-range but rapid-charging EVs; The idea is these will be more efficient as they'll be lighter and use less energy per mile etc.

This is a problem for me, as what I'm after is the total opposite - I effectively want a slow-charging long-range EV! (That is also Yaris-sized just to make it even more difficult and unlikely  ). My reasons for this is the problem with high-current rapid-charging all the time is it accelerates degradation of the Battery, and also I don't want t have to stop loads of times on a long journey - I'd want to stop maybe once or twice, in which case the car can charge for slower and longer anyway as I'd be stopping for longer for lunch or dinner or something anyway.

Because I've become totally jaded about the environmental side of things (KHAAAAAN!), I'd only buy an EV on merit, and so far not a single one is even close to being better than my Mk4 or even my Mk1 in any of the areas that matter to me.

 

[TonyHSD]

Well, I have the car of my choice ordered back in 2015 and I have no plans to change of yet, I don’t see a need to change as still does it’s job and deliver its promise 🚙👌 

Now for the electric cars above, my pick would be the ioniq, it has the best tech ( not screen but Battery and drive train) , has the most practical interior, it has the best warranty and cheapest service and it looks the best in my eyes, I actually like and dislike a bit in each competitors but the Hyundai wins. I never listen auto journalists as they know nothing about cars and talk empty words, just for the fun yes 👍 Toyota does the best hybrids and best FCEV’s no doubt about it, but they first ev it’s not to my like, a large percentage for this is because of the dashboard steering wheel position and design (functionality). I can see they are going with this trend in their other upcoming Evs and this is for me enough reason to look elsewhere. I can live with notch on an iPhone but I can’t live with steering wheel that blocks my Speedo view all the times. 😉

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

the ioniq ... has the best warranty

Not really - in top-trump terms Toyota's 10 year warranty trumps Hyundai's 5 year warranty ... 😉

But in many other respects it is easy to choose the Ioniq 5

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, philip42h said:

Not really - in top-trump terms Toyota's 10 year warranty trumps Hyundai's 5 year warranty ... 😉

But in many other respects it is easy to choose the Ioniq 5

Correct but Toyota warranty after the third year is only available as part of dealer service at cost of £600 per year where Hyundai is half price., they also offer longer warranty on drive train and Battery 8 years if I remember correctly. 

[Rosgoe]

17 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Correct but Toyota warranty after the third year is only available as part of dealer service at cost of £600 per year where Hyundai is half price., they also offer longer warranty on drive train and battery 8 years if I remember correctly. 

£600 a year that can’t be right I was under the impression it was around £200 ish for a minor service and £360 ish for a major service for the corolla anyway.

[swoop5511]

10 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Correct but Toyota warranty after the third year is only available as part of dealer service at cost of £600 per year where Hyundai is half price., they also offer longer warranty on drive train and battery 8 years if I remember correctly. 

Not quite correct. 

Independent of the extending warranty to 10 years by annual service etc. 

Battery warranty is 8 years (100000 miles) and 12 year anti-corrosion & perforation warranty. Drive trains on EVs are childs play compared to ICs and while I couldnt find anything to confirm I dont think this will be of importance for an EV

Can you please confirm where that £600 per service figure comes from? I currently pay £250 per standard annual service for my Toyota IC car. 

[Rosgoe]

That was a good marketing ploy by Toyota to reduce the manufacturers warranty to 3 years and let you have a 10 year warranty providing you have it serviced by Toyota (or do you).

 

[philip42h]

The Toyota manufacturer's warranty always was 3 years. Toyota UK used to bundle in 2 years of extended warranty bringing the total up to 5 years. Folk like me would then purchase further years of extended warranty to cover the period we kept the car.

If you are keeping the car for 2 or 3 years only the warranty differences are moot. Otherwise you only start to 'care' as the warranty runs out. If you are the sort of person who cares about a 10 year warranty, then you are also likely to be the sort of person who will have the car routinely serviced by the dealer anyway, and under those circumstances the Toyota warranty model 'wins' - but only for someone who cares about a 10 year warranty ... 😉 

[kingrikk]

Servicing costs for bZ4X was quoted at one point as being £140 per year. 

[philip42h]

Carbuyer quotes the bZ4X service costs thus:

Quote

If you pay for a bZ4X through Toyota’s latest leasing scheme then servicing is free for the first three years. Otherwise, it’s £180 for a small service and £260 for a major service, which seems reasonable.

I've no idea whether they've got their facts right but ...

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, swoop5511 said:

Battery warranty is 8 years (100000 miles)

Quote

In addition to the manufacturer warranty, your Toyota Hybrid battery can benefit from up to 15 years of warranty in total. With every service at a Toyota dealer, the warranty is extended for a further 12 months, up to the 15th year of registration.

or so it says on the website ...

[Cyker]

Ehhh I'd still say Kia and Hyundai win the warranty battle as Relax isn't really a 10 year warranty.

It's more like a bonus 1 year warranty that you get for servicing the car with Toyota that you can renew up to 10 times.

Also, the factory warranty and extended warranties are much more comprehensive, while the Relax warranty is more like a very good third-party warranty, like what you could buy from e.g. warranty direct, that you get as a complementary bonus when you service the car.

I see it as more of a consolation to take the sting out of the pricey servicing costs... (Esp. since the cheaper 5+ and gold/silver services are no longer a thing).

 

[TonyHSD]

£600 for 3 years, oops pardon me, my bad I did not read correctly. 👍

[Cyker]

That's another thing that EVangelists say that annoys me, i.e. that servicing is a lot cheaper than with ICE cars... 

 

[kingrikk]

bZ4X servicing is definitely £144 a year/10000 miles.

https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/bz4x/owning-a-bz4x.DE.202.8488494a-2bac-457e-87b8-5eeacde1199e

[kingrikk]

Toyota can’t even keep their own messaging up to date.

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/all-new-toyota-bz4x-makes-world-debut/comment-page-13/#comments

[TonyHSD]

Here latest comparison with Nissan