100% electric, s'il vous plait
First of all, I'm totally in love with Toyota.
I never really liked the brand before because all cars were "Japanese looking", including the corolla that was sold in Brazil that had the mirrors horribly placed near the front end of the car instead of the doors.
However, I never had any doubt Toyota were indestructible cars.
When I moved to the US I was a Renault/Ford guy. My last cars in Brazil were a 2001 Renault Clio and a 2015 Ford Focus. The clio was the daily driver and the focus was for weekends.
Arrived here, Darryl had a Toyota Rav4 and my father in law a Lexus sedan (I don't remember the model, but it's that fancy one).
Note that before, Darryl had a Camry, it made me curious and my new cousin Cynthia said "Welcome to the Toyota family, all Bantons have Toyotas.
Ok... got used to it, even not really in love.
I started driving uberEATS a few hours per day using the rav4. OMG that car was absurdly reliable and comfortable.
Then Darryl and I suffered a horrible crash with the Rav 4, I was driving, somebody rear ended me on the freeway, it was a high speed crash and we both walked away from that pile of crumbled metal. Toyota saved my life! This definitely counted a lot.
Rav 4 was replaced by a Corolla. I drove UberX and Lyft with it for almost a year. Put a zillion miles on it and that "thing" keeps going and going and going. It simply refuses to fail.
I got a Toyota Prius, because it's hybrid and a second car was needed. It's rented, costing me $1k per month. Other amazing car. It's old, ugly, but for deliveries, who cares? It gives me great mileage and, no surprise at all, that ugly little thing is reliable beyond absurd levels.
I drive average 100/150 miles per day, sometimes 200 miles (average 5 hours per day doing deliveries in Long Beach).
When Toyota announced the 2023 prius, I was crazy for it. Went to several Toyota dealers and no luck, the waiting list is beyond 1 year. I was totally in love with it but haven't seen one "live" yet.
Revvinkevin took me to the biggest Toyota dealer in the US, I finally saw the prius and had a massive disappointment. I don't fit in it! To make it look more sporty, Toyota made the new prius ridiculously short, almost like a ferrari or a corvette. For me it's impossible to enter the car without hitting my head and to exit I feel like I'm part of the cirque du soleil cast. Now imagine entering and exiting the car 50, 60, sometimes 70 times per day... adiós knees and spine.
Then I saw the BZ4X. OH...MY...GOD! It was just like the first time I saw Darryl. I fell in love instantly. Starting by it's beautiful, then when you seat in it, if feels like the car is hugging you. Ideal height, ideal driving position, ideal seats. If feels like the BZ4X was Taylor-made for my body.
The only time in my life I felt the same was in 1997 when I entered the Ford KA for the first time. (I had 5 KA, so much I loved that tiny car)
The only two details I didn't really like in the BZ4X are the like-fabric dashboard and the lack of a glove box. (Well, the KA didn't have a glove box as well, it had a tiny box that looked like a Tupperware container.)
I dont understand why Toyota did that. Maybe because of the radiant heater? Anyway, that didn't prevent me from falling in love.
Best of all, they had it in stock and financing it would be cheaper than what I spend every month renting a junk prius.
Then the nightmare began. My score isn't enough to finance it (unless I give a huge down payment and have an absurd interest rate) and my boss refused to co-sign.
Well, we can't always win, but my feelings were deeply hurt, specially after hearing a BZ4X doesn't match my professional position, I can't drive a car better than the CEOs wife. The stress and disappointment was so big that I ended up having a stroke 2 days later.
Now, no matter what, I no longer want a BZ4X (but the Lexus version of it, which is even more luxurious), even if I have to sleep a few hours less every day to keep up with my job and the delivery and end up having a second stroke for working 18 hours per day, even paying 28% interest rate, I want and I will do it ASAP. There's nothing like feelings being hurt to drag us out of the comfort zone and make us move our fat ass.
The good thing of not being able to buy the BZ4X that was in stock is the color. It was red with black roof, not exactly a color that matches me, as I always loved silver cars.
Regarding going electric.... that's the future, Toyota has proven they make good cars and good batteries. Toyotas are reliable so I'll go 100% electric and it will be a Toyota or Lexus (most likely a Lexus only to grab my boss by the neck and rub his face on the front grille and say "it's better, more expensive and more luxurious than your Tacoma and I deserved it because it was paid with my work".
