New Land Cruiser - Meh

Thanks for sharing

 

$55K...$63K... at those prices it's a whole different buyer. Way outta my league.

 

More money than sense.

 

Lets go Habibi!

 

Deep sand makes me nervous. I've crossed too many places with basic 2WD rental sedans with no clearance and highway tires. I try to maintain a steady speed and pray for the wheels not to start spinning.

 

Agreed. It is fine if you have disposable income and can pay cash for such things. But more often that not folks get into the mindset of "just a few dollars more per month gets me into this vehicle!".
We have too many people understand too little about their own finances.

 

Don't get me started on people that go into buying a vehicle only thinking about the payment. Blows me away hearing people talking about trading in a vehicle not paid off and their goal for the deal is a certain monthly payment.

 

Well they are the salesmans dream client.

 

It's easier to budget around a monthly payment than the actual cost of a vehicle. Edit: but, I understand this is not a smart way to shop.

When I bought my '19, I had a monthly payment in mind, but it was based on getting a certain amount for my trade and getting a certain discount on the new 4Runner.

In the past, though, I have gone by payment alone and gotten screwed. My fault for being a stupid shopper.

 

If you don't understand the math behind financing, you probably shouldn't be buying a car...but, that's my dad, the salesman talking. I remember the first time I bought a new truck and got hit with that car salesman shenanigans, the 4 square. I just looked at the guy blankly, he kept talking and talking and talking, until finally he asked me what the problem was. I was like, this is how much I'm offering for the truck. And he starts back in with that crap. I just kept saying, this is my offer, until he gave up and passed me to the "manager". I got the deal I wanted, but I remember thinking, they must really think everyone is stupid.

Buying the 4R was hilarious, you have to go through the bs with the dealer add-ons. I'm like, nope, nope, nope, nope. The phrase is: it's just another $nn per month. You do the math in your head, and tell them, you just added $1500 (or whatever) to the price of the truck, are you nuts?

 

I'm going to be the weirdo and not worry too much about it remaining body on frame as long as the unibody has some body on frame attributes like the old Cherokee and especially the Jeep Liberty. Those weren't bad in terms of how they thought about the frame, and nobody really complains about the old Cherokee being unibody.

 

They are, and it will. For now.

 

Unibody is just fine with me- my wife rolled our 2004 Liberty at 55 MPH and even though every single panel was messed up and all the windows blown out, the doors and tailgate opened and closed just fine. And that was after a wrecker dragged it out of a ditch.

 

In 1999, I took a job as a salesman for a Jeep/Plymouth dealer. Everyone should do that. I was provided a Master Class on how to manipulate people. And trust me most of the time, it’s more than easy. I didn’t last long, because I couldn’t do to people what they wanted. It was such a great learning experience though, its easy to recognize anytime it’s happening to you.

 

I will reserve my opinions until I see a few in the wild. When the very first 5G came out I had strong feelings against it. I had an ‘06 4G that I f’n loved. I ended up in a ‘10 Limited and loved it even more. Now I’m on my 2nd 5G and am still in love.

Moral of the story…did not love a vehicle on 1st sight…ended up owning 2 and loved them tremendously.

 

They do tend to grow on you. I hated the rounded redesign of the JGC in '99 and felt it looked like a minivan from the back when compared to the boxy earlier model. I ended up with an '01 limited for a few years and then an '04 overland that I drove until it was 13 years old with 215k miles. Loved every bit of it and wanted to keep it. If they had sold the same one except new (like 4runners pretty much have been since 2010) I would have bought the same one

 

Maybe I wasn't clear with my point.

Land Cruiser is a global brand, not just one US model. To call any one of them a "true" LC is silly.

Incidentally, one of my 200 owner friends was telling me yesterday he really likes the new one, and is hoping to convince his wife to get one since she's up next for a new vehicle.

Call it whatever, I really like the new one too. Unfortunately I'm not affording a 55k vehicle in this lifetime.

 

Likewise, to say any of them is not a "true" LC is also silly. That was my point.

And, I fully understand that there are multiple versions of the Land Cruiser depending on what part of the globe you live in.

I can't afford it either, but that doesn't mean I won't try to buy one in a couple of years somehow anyway.

 

Agreed. The first Land Cruiser was built in 1951 and looked like this, if my research is correct.



I suppose one could argue that deviations from this aren't true Land Cruisers. But Toyota does decide that, and has for the entire life of the LC brand. So if they make a vehicle and call it a Land Cruiser, then it is. They market it as they see fit. The fact that it doesn't fit my conceptions of what a Land Cruiser should be, or deviates in form, function, or perceived purpose from the preceding iterations, doesn't make it any less a Land Cruiser.

 

Man, I'd love to have an old plain Jane LC or Willy's Jeep for a trail toy! That just looks like fun!

 

Anyone ever been to the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in SLC? Looks like some nice old vehicles I have never seen many in person.

https://landcruiserhm.com/

 

I have not. But I think that if I ever make it out to Moab, I will have to make it a point to get there. Could be a good way to spend a rainy day.

 

Sort of Toyota’s fault. Some places the Prado is called a Land Cruiser, other places they distinguish between the Prado and other vehicles like the 70 series 300 series.

If the 4runner is closely related to the prado, does that mean I can call my 3rd gen 4runner a Landcruiser? It was made in the same factory as the J90 prado. If so I could really piss some LC owners off who see the 4runner as a lesser vehicle that isn’t designed for a 25 year lifespan.

Even the wiki article on the prado says “Land Cruiser Prado”. So Toyota seems to consider the Prado a sub-model of the Land Cruiser.

If the market sells the Prado along side a full sized Land Cruiser, I’d bother distinguishing between the Prado and the full sized. But the US only knows the Prado now, so distinguishing between them will only cause confusion and contention among owners of them.

You even see this with the Lexus Lx. People will call it the “lexus Land Cruiser”, not a LX. Like they want people to know it’s technically a LC even if it’s a Lexus badge.

If there was a pretentious Toyota owner, it would be a Land Cruiser owner. They gobble up all the “25 year lifespan” stuff and it goes to their head.

 

Aussies are lucky bastards

 

According to iseecars.com my 2000 Land Cruiser had 9.8 inches and yes, the 2021 had 8.9 if that site is correct.

 

Does anybody here know the process of importing cars? And can all years and models be imported?

 

A 3rd gen 4R can make it to 35 years lol. I see 25 year olds all over.

 

No, because it's not a Landcruiser. If Toyota stamps the word "Landcruiser" on it, then it is a Land Cruiser.

Enthusiasts will always distinguish between trims. So, it doesn't matter whether one LandCruiser is better than another. Anyone who actually cares about the different sub models will also know which models are which.

 

Are you able to import 70 series that are newer than 25 years old?

Except for a very few number of special case exemptions for temporary import, it is not economically possible to legally import newer 70 series and modify them to meet EPA and DOT standards.

https://landcruisersdirect.com/faq/#:~:text=Except for a very few,meet EPA and DOT standards.