In June, Toyota issued a warning to owners of its BZ 4 X electric SUV that they should stop driving the vehicle and have it transported to a dealership because of a serious problem: the wheels could fall off while driving even after just a short time on the road.
Toyota did not know why this was happening, but the automaker said it would investigate and correct the problem once engineers understood why the wheels were coming loose. There are only around 260 BZ 4 X owners in the United States facing this situation because of the issue that became apparent soon after the SUVs went on sale. There were more people who had ordered the SUV but not yet had it delivered when the Do not drive warning was announced. The customers of those customers have never been able to accept delivery of their SUVs.
The owners are asked for their patience as the automaker offers a number of options beyond the buyback. Toyota is offering customers the chance to use another Toyota vehicle until the issue is found and corrected. Toyota is giving owners $5,000 toward their car payments or a partial refund of the purchase price. Toyota will extend the warranty of the vehicles by the amount of time that the SUVs are taken out of service, whatever it ends up being.
The exact terms of the repurchase may vary depending on the state regulations and specifics of the owner's situation.
The BZ 4 X is nearly identical to the Subaru Solterra electric SUV. The two Japanese automakers developed the vehicles together. Subaru didn't have to recall any SUVs in the United States, because none had been delivered before the problem was discovered. Toyota is not the first to recall electric vehicles in recent years. General Motors offered to buy back Chevrolet Bolt EVs after reports of battery fires. Bolt owners were able to use their vehicles with restrictions despite the fact that there were potentially many more vehicles than the relative handful of BZ 4 Xes. GM was able to replace batteries in vehicles that needed them after discovering the source problem. GM hasn't said how many customers took advantage of the buy-back offer.