Bought a brown station wagon

[chucchinchilla]

The lease on our Volkswagen ID.4 is coming up so we've been shopping for a replacement and this week finally bought it. Enter the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland which is essentially a Toyota-Subaru electric Outback.

Initial Thoughts:

• Very easy to drive with excellent visibility and this slightly smaller diameter steering wheel makes it easier to whip around
• Maybe it's a J VIN thing but the build quality on this car is excellent. No imperfections spotted, doors have a very nice thunk to them, everything feels solid. Also based on some engineering deep dive videos I've been watching, this car should last a very long time as Toyotas typically tend to do.
• It's nice having normal things in a car again like normal door handles, some buttons for commonly used things, normal window switches, normal and functional UX, etc., it's a really nice blend
• Acceleration is Porsche 911 Carrera S fast...on a wagon. It's fun.
• Very quiet on the highway.
• Huge rear legroom and lots of rear cargo space.
• Tons of space inside but doesn't look or feel like yet another big SUV.
• Interestingly it's $200 less a year to insure than the ID.4
• Car comes with a 120V 1500W outlet in the trunk which taps into the high voltage battery which means when we lose power this winter thanks to El Nino, I will be able to recharge my Anker Power Station with the car giving me something like 3-4 weeks of power for the refrigerator/wifi/lights in the house before having to recharge the car. Nice.

 

[cyure]

The lease on our Volkswagen ID.4 is coming up so we've been shopping for a replacement and this week finally bought it. Enter the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland which is essentially a Toyota-Subaru electric Outback.
View attachment 19663
View attachment 19664
Initial Thoughts:

• Very easy to drive with excellent visibility and this slightly smaller diameter steering wheel makes it easier to whip around
• Maybe it's a J VIN thing but the build quality on this car is excellent. No imperfections spotted, doors have a very nice thunk to them, everything feels solid. Also based on some engineering deep dive videos I've been watching, this car should last a very long time as Toyotas typically tend to do.
• It's nice having normal things in a car again like normal door handles, some buttons for commonly used things, normal window switches, normal and functional UX, etc., it's a really nice blend
• Acceleration is Porsche 911 Carrera S fast...on a wagon. It's fun.
• Very quiet on the highway.
• Huge rear legroom and lots of rear cargo space.
• Tons of space inside but doesn't look or feel like yet another big SUV.
• Interestingly it's $200 less a year to insure than the ID.4
• Car comes with a 120V 1500W outlet in the trunk which taps into the high voltage battery which means when we lose power this winter thanks to El Nino, I will be able to recharge my Anker Power Station with the car giving me something like 3-4 weeks of power for the refrigerator/wifi/lights in the house before having to recharge the car. Nice.

Congrats!

 

[Scoutsie]

Cool! Definitely curious to hear more about how you’re liking it as time passes.

 

[Jasco]

That's great feedback on the woodland. Looks like an excellent choice! I agree more wagon than SUV which is a good thing in my opinion.

 

[speedrye]

The lease on our Volkswagen ID.4 is coming up so we've been shopping for a replacement and this week finally bought it. Enter the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland which is essentially a Toyota-Subaru electric Outback.
View attachment 19663
View attachment 19664
Initial Thoughts:

• Very easy to drive with excellent visibility and this slightly smaller diameter steering wheel makes it easier to whip around
• Maybe it's a J VIN thing but the build quality on this car is excellent. No imperfections spotted, doors have a very nice thunk to them, everything feels solid. Also based on some engineering deep dive videos I've been watching, this car should last a very long time as Toyotas typically tend to do.
• It's nice having normal things in a car again like normal door handles, some buttons for commonly used things, normal window switches, normal and functional UX, etc., it's a really nice blend
• Acceleration is Porsche 911 Carrera S fast...on a wagon. It's fun.
• Very quiet on the highway.
• Huge rear legroom and lots of rear cargo space.
• Tons of space inside but doesn't look or feel like yet another big SUV.
• Interestingly it's $200 less a year to insure than the ID.4
• Car comes with a 120V 1500W outlet in the trunk which taps into the high voltage battery which means when we lose power this winter thanks to El Nino, I will be able to recharge my Anker Power Station with the car giving me something like 3-4 weeks of power for the refrigerator/wifi/lights in the house before having to recharge the car. Nice.

Happy to hear positive feedback as I've been eyeballing one. A Hyundai was the thought originally, but I'm not crazy about the ICCU problems that persist. I've definitely had good luck with Japanese-built Toyotas and their conservative approach is usually a good thing for reliability.

 

[chucchinchilla]

Happy to hear positive feedback as I've been eyeballing one. A Hyundai was the thought originally, but I'm not crazy about the ICCU problems that persist. I've definitely had good luck with Japanese-built Toyotas and their conservative approach is usually a good thing for reliability.

Yeah we checked out a number of Hyundai/Kia models both gas and electric and the ICCU issue is a tough one to swallow. Interesting anecdote, a friend of mine works at a FAANG company and through various reasons they ended up hiring a handful of Hyundai/Kia engineers. According to my friend these people brought over a culture of never wanting to fully and properly solve problems, instead just applying band aids everywhere. Enough so that my friend has completely sworn off Hyunida/Kia because that's just not an engineering culture he can get behind.

Back to Toyota I agree and support their conservative approach. They willingly sacrifice cutting edge and gimmicks in the name of long term reliability. For a car actually worth buying, that's what I want.

 

[J Alynn]

The lease on our Volkswagen ID.4 is coming up so we've been shopping for a replacement and this week finally bought it. Enter the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland which is essentially a Toyota-Subaru electric Outback.
View attachment 19663
View attachment 19664
Initial Thoughts:

• Very easy to drive with excellent visibility and this slightly smaller diameter steering wheel makes it easier to whip around
• Maybe it's a J VIN thing but the build quality on this car is excellent. No imperfections spotted, doors have a very nice thunk to them, everything feels solid. Also based on some engineering deep dive videos I've been watching, this car should last a very long time as Toyotas typically tend to do.
• It's nice having normal things in a car again like normal door handles, some buttons for commonly used things, normal window switches, normal and functional UX, etc., it's a really nice blend
• Acceleration is Porsche 911 Carrera S fast...on a wagon. It's fun.
• Very quiet on the highway.
• Huge rear legroom and lots of rear cargo space.
• Tons of space inside but doesn't look or feel like yet another big SUV.
• Interestingly it's $200 less a year to insure than the ID.4
• Car comes with a 120V 1500W outlet in the trunk which taps into the high voltage battery which means when we lose power this winter thanks to El Nino, I will be able to recharge my Anker Power Station with the car giving me something like 3-4 weeks of power for the refrigerator/wifi/lights in the house before having to recharge the car. Nice.

This is the sibling to our Lexus RZ so I hope you like it as much as we do. Since you are a longer term EV owner I’ll be curious to see your thoughts moving forward. Congrats

 

[maynard]

Yeah we checked out a number of Hyundai/Kia models both gas and electric and the ICCU issue is a tough one to swallow. Interesting anecdote, a friend of mine works at a FAANG company and through various reasons they ended up hiring a handful of Hyundai/Kia engineers. According to my friend these people brought over a culture of never wanting to fully and properly solve problems, instead just applying band aids everywhere. Enough so that my friend has completely sworn off Hyunida/Kia because that's just not an engineering culture he can get behind.

Back to Toyota I agree and support their conservative approach. They willingly sacrifice cutting edge and gimmicks in the name of long term reliability. For a car actually worth buying, that's what I want.

In regards to that engineering team - I saw a lot of that begin to happen when companies started pushing the agile methodology in software…. So glad I retired a tried and true waterfall guy

 

[chucchinchilla]

This is the sibling to our Lexus RZ so I hope you like it as much as we do. Since you are a longer term EV owner I’ll be curious to see your thoughts moving forward. Congrats

Likewise.
Since this is the Scout forums, I'll say the Toyota has proven to me Scout is on the right path skipping the gimmicks you see on other EVs and just making a no bullshit Swiss army knife truck that you can depend on long term.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

The lease on our Volkswagen ID.4 is coming up so we've been shopping for a replacement and this week finally bought it. Enter the 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland which is essentially a Toyota-Subaru electric Outback.
View attachment 19663
View attachment 19664
Initial Thoughts:

• Very easy to drive with excellent visibility and this slightly smaller diameter steering wheel makes it easier to whip around
• Maybe it's a J VIN thing but the build quality on this car is excellent. No imperfections spotted, doors have a very nice thunk to them, everything feels solid. Also based on some engineering deep dive videos I've been watching, this car should last a very long time as Toyotas typically tend to do.
• It's nice having normal things in a car again like normal door handles, some buttons for commonly used things, normal window switches, normal and functional UX, etc., it's a really nice blend
• Acceleration is Porsche 911 Carrera S fast...on a wagon. It's fun.
• Very quiet on the highway.
• Huge rear legroom and lots of rear cargo space.
• Tons of space inside but doesn't look or feel like yet another big SUV.
• Interestingly it's $200 less a year to insure than the ID.4
• Car comes with a 120V 1500W outlet in the trunk which taps into the high voltage battery which means when we lose power this winter thanks to El Nino, I will be able to recharge my Anker Power Station with the car giving me something like 3-4 weeks of power for the refrigerator/wifi/lights in the house before having to recharge the car. Nice.

Great choice! When this car came out I really liked the direction they took with it. It looks good and is very capable. Idk if you watch the Youtube chanel Driving Sports TV but he just go the sibling to your car the Subaru Trailseeker. He also swapped the wheels and tires for 18 inch wheels with AT's and it looks awesome!

Did you shop the Trailseeker and if so why did you go with the Woodland? Also, are you planning on doing in mods?

Look forward to hearing how the ownership goes. Congrats!

 

[J Alynn]

Likewise.
Since this is the Scout forums, I'll say the Toyota has proven to me Scout is on the right path skipping the gimmicks you see on other EVs and just making a no bullshit Swiss army knife truck that you can depend on long term.

That is what I have loved from day 1