u
Most such are unneeded – and pure profit centers – as the car already comes with a clear coat. Window coating, or tinting? (glass is glass, no need for coating)
if they find a model they like, call (or email) a bunch of dealerships within decent distance and ask for model and color and make it clear seeking best price. (I even check dealerships throughout the state, and have jumped a cheap flight to save thousands.)
The screenshot @jym626 posted above prompted me to do a similar analysis. I’ve driven my Bolt 11,700 miles at an average efficiency of 4.5 miles per KWh, meaning I’ve used 2,600 kWh of electricity. I always charge at home, at a cost of 10.279 cents per kWh.
So my electricity cost for 11,700 miles of driving has been $267.25, or 2.284 cents per mile.
A reasonably comparable ICE vehicle is the Chevy Trax, which gets 30 mpg. The same 11,700 miles at 30 mpg equates to 390 gallons of gas. At our local cost of $4.00/gallon, my gas cost would have been $1,560, or 13.33 cents per mile.
I’m saving about 10.5 cents per mile. So far I’ve saved a little over $1,200 in energy costs. Assuming rates stay constant, if I drive the car 100,000 miles my total energy savings will be about $10,500.
Taking the analysis further, the MSRP on the Trax is about $6,300 less than the Bolt. But the Bolt gave me a $7,500 tax credit, giving the Bolt a slightly less expensive net purchase price.
Bottom line, the Bolt was cheaper than the Trax, and the Bolt’s energy cost is about 17% of the Trax’s.
Seems like I made a good decision.
Oh no question this is plain and pure rip-off! We will absolutely check around.
When we were buying our truck 24 years ago (yikes!), the only one we wanted had two thin lines aka “racing stripes” pre-applied by the dealer. My husband was firm he did not want that upcharge. The dealer was very eager to sell us something, but my husband insisted on a truck with no extras. So the guy caved in… he said that my husband would get his wish… but the stripes needed to be removed. 
! The guy scratched the “stripe” with his fingernail and started very slowly but very theatrically pulling these stripes off thinking it would irritate us. My husband jumped in and began helping him with the removal! No way we were paying $300 for something like that.
I’m not going to do a deep dive on 12 volt car batteries, but older Tesla’s use a cheaper lead acid type battery. The battery type that’s been around since the dinosaurs roamed Earth. 
The Bolt uses a lighter and more expensive AGM type battery. That battery type has been around since 1990’s or so.
Somewhere along the line, Teslas began using a much more expensive lithium ion battery.
@ucbalumnus will likely check me on that. 
correct, announced in '21 and started to be installed in most 2022’s.
Some 12v batteries are super easy to replace — you can go to CarQuest and they’ll pop it in for you — and some are pretty tricky. Our 2017 Bolt battery is the original if I remember correctly but we have had the 12v on our C-maxes replaced a couple of times and its pretty involved labor wise. Makes sense to get a longer lasting battery there if you can.
If you like that Toyota, Subaru has a version (out of same factory - basically same car but different fit and finish.) Definitely worth comparing the two to see whose "differentiators " appeal more to you.
The BZ4X did have to be recalled because the wheels fell off, so that’s something to bear in mind.
That was the earliest version. I’m sure a few heads rolled at Toyota because of that flop. I wouldn’t be discouraged by that initial flop.
We also looked at Subarus! 
It has long been the case that lead acid batteries are recycled to recover the lead.
I don’t recall this being discussed on the thread…
For EV’s and PHEV’s that don’t contain enough North American parts to be eligible for the $7500 tax credit on a vehicle purchase, they often are eligible for the commercial clean vehicle credit on a vehicle lease.
The dealership gets the credit, and it is up to them whether to pass that along on the consumer’s lease. The credit is 15% of the dealer’s basis cost, or $7500, whichever is lower.
So, if the end goal is to own a vehicle, it may be cheaper to initially lease the vehicle rather than purchase in order to take advantage of this credit. (Example: $7500 for bz4X, $6500 for RAV4 Prime, and $4500 for Prius Prime)
I haven’t done this myself, or gotten a detailed quote from Toyota, but I think that is how it should work.
One of my s’s did this - leased a kia EV6 and they did something with the $7500 discount. That said, the car has had some problem with temperature control so it won’t charge correctly and has been sitting in the shop for 2 mos or more
I would just be careful about Toyota EVs. They were very late to the game and don’t have much track record with 100% EVs. I casually keep up with EV news and have not seen much positive about the BZ4X (aka Busy Forks).
gift link
Can you please explain why this story is relevant to our EV discussion? This has nothing to do with EV tech. Only a handful of people chose to be Guinea pigs for this not yet ready for prime time software.
Just saying… Leaf and Bolt and various Teslas had issues in the beginning. Toyota seems to be a latecomer in the EV market… but sometimes, the tortoise wins. 
Toyota made their bet on Hybrids for now. The EV market is just beginning its product life cycle. And Toyota and hybrids in general are doing well.
I’m confident that Toyota will have products to meet consumer’s needs in the coming years/decades. I’m a big fan of Toyotas.
Also, while EV’s have less maintenance overall, if you buy a reliable car like a Toyota, with today’s synthetic oil, maintenance intervals between 7,500-15,000 miles, depending on manufacturer recommendations.
For my daily driver, that’s about every 1-2 years.
We have synthetic oil in both of our cars, and the recommended change is 10,000 miles or one year, whichever happens sooner.
