Toyota bZ4X review: reliability & safety rating
Toyota’s reputation for reliability is bolstered by an extensive list of standard safety features
|
Euro NCAP |
Adult protection |
Child protection |
Safety assistance |
|
5 stars (2022) |
88% |
87% |
91% |
Safety and reliability are both traditional Toyota strong points, and it doesn’t look like that’s changed with the brand’s transition to electric power. The bZ4X received the maximum five-star safety rating from crash-test experts Euro NCAP, thanks in part to a strong suite of standard active safety systems.
Toyota bZ4X reliability & problems
Toyota is taking its first proper step into the world of electric vehicles with the bZ4X, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any big concerns over reliability. This is reflected by the bZ4X’s 10-year/150,000-mile battery warranty and Toyota’s decent 12th-place finish in our 2023 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, with a below-average 15% of owners reporting a fault with their cars within the first year of ownership.
Toyota did announce a recall for the bZ4X, and its Subaru Solterra sister car, in June 2022 due to issues with wheel hub bolts that could have caused wheels to come loose while driving. Only one bZ4X had been delivered in the UK at the time of the recall, and the Japanese firm has stated that the problem has been solved.
Safety
In recent years, Toyota has adopted a philosophy of offering a complete suite of active safety equipment across every trim level of its cars, instead of reserving the higher-tech systems for range-topping models. That admirable approach continues with the bZ4X, which gets the latest third-generation iteration of the brand’s 'Toyota Safety Sense' suite of driver-assistance and collision-avoidance technology.
Standard crash-avoidance systems include automatic emergency braking with collision warnings, cross-traffic alerts, detection of vehicles approaching an intersection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, road-sign recognition and automatic high-beam headlights.
The only features absent on the entry-level Pure trim level are blind-spot monitoring and a sensor that warns you not to open the doors if a car or bicycle is approaching; these are standard on the Motion and Vision models. The bZ4X’s extensive list of safety features allowed the electric SUV to receive the full five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating, its 91% score for safety assistance in particular.
