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Toyota says I should not have this vehicle.

3K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  Bamajim 
#1 ·
I had a conversation with Toyota customer service after buying my vehicle and they expressed concern that I had been able to buy this vehicle in my state as they do not sell the BZ4X in North Carolina. They said that my dealer should never have been able to get this vehicle so I wonder if I have the only BZ4X in my state. Apparently this vehicle is only for sale in zero emission states.
 
#4 ·
One of the longstanding critiques of the vehicle from nay-sayers is that it was built merely as a "compliance" vehicle; manufactured not for Toyota to put forth a respectable and competitive vehicle into the growing EV market, but simply to meet zero-emission standards in some municipalities so that Toyota can continue to market their vehicles in those states, by meeting said regulations.

If what Toyota told you on the phone is true—and is official company policy—then it does in fact hint that they never intended for the BZ4X to be a mainstream vehicle.

Either way, it's bizarre.
 
#7 ·
North Carolina is in Southeast Toyota (SET) territory, which is a distributor independent from Toyota USA. That may have something to do with it. Hawaii is also supplied by an independent distributor and is NOT a ZEV state, yet it is receiving bZ4X inventory.

When the RAV4 Prime first came out, it also was launched by Toyota USA in ZEV states only first, reportedly due to limited inventory. I would guess the same with the bZ4X.

The other possibility is that some Toyota dealers that weren't getting inventory somehow managed to get a few units at a premium by begging or bartering because they thought it'd be something they could profitably resell (with a nice ADM, of course). The joke is probably on them given how some dealers are advertising the bZ4X with a discount from MSRP.
 
#9 ·
My car was marked up $5000 which was removed the before I walked into the showroom. I ended up getting a $1500 discount. My salesmen said it'll be about 6 months before they get
another one.
If they had high hopes of getting a $5k ADM and ended up selling it $1,500 under MSRP, my bet would be that they really don't want another unit for another 6 months. They'd be better off fighting for RAV4 Hybrid or Highlander Hybrid allocations.

I saw on a few dealers in TX who were trying to move bZ4Xs on FB -- the people there haven't been very kind to those thinking they'll get the ADM they are asking...
 
#10 ·
This response from customer service ("you should not have the vehicle") is a bit of a head scratcher. My Toyota dealer said they were told by the region (Southeast US) that each dealer would get one and only one bz4x this year (not sure if "this year" means this model year or calendar year 2023). So I guess I bought the only one to be sold in Tuscaloosa county this year. Maybe I ought to call customer service and see if they also tell me I "shouldn't have the car." I wonder, what would be the rationale for that? Again guessing, maybe the dealers really aren't ready to service the car yet (training for service specialists, service parts) (?)
 
#19 ·
I didn’t, mainly due to the fact I really like my local Subaru dealership and have had a decade-long relationship with them.. They had 2 folks well-trained on the vehicle that spent a couple of hours helping me learn my way around the ABC’s of the car when I picked it up.

I bought the car for 99+% local area driving, so the range isn’t a big deal for me as it is for others.
 
#18 ·
Which is probably why Toyota USA stated that they shouldn’t have been selling it.

Making a product “sales ready” is more than just getting inventory to the dealership…so delivering a vehicle they aren’t prepared to sell or support would be concerning to them.
 
#20 ·
I also live in Alabama in Marshall County, and as I posted on here before I drove to Cedar Falls Iowa to trade my RAV4 prime. I could see the car being a problem if you travel a lot but absolutely none unless you are on trips that are in excess of 200 miles and then you just need to do some planning.
 
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