200 Series Newbie Questions

[MrWiggles]

Hi all,

I am considering a low mileage (~50k) 200 series to do some overlanding, but I also want to use it as a daily driver, so I want to keep it pretty stock. I love the land cruisers, but I am trying to battle some underlying doubt. I understand people don't generally prefer the the 200s, but not sure why. I have a few questions I wanted to ask:

1: Are these viable for overlanding in near stock form? How much would I need to put in to have something comparable to the Tacoma builds I see throughout the forums? I am in Colorado if it makes a difference, and want to do some longer trips.

2: What does a Land Cruiser 200 have stock that a Tacoma TRD doesn't?

3: I could get a new Tacoma with new OME suspension, wheels, and control arms for the price of a lot of the land cruisers I see. If I did, would the Tacoma be more capable and reliable than a stock(ish) 200?

 

[cruiserdude80]

1. The 200 is viable for overlanding in stock form. The only change I would make would be to upgrade the tires. I don’t think you would have to do much to it to make it comparable to the Tacoma’s you are referring to. Mild suspension upgrades, better tires. Bumpers? Not really necessary given your parameters but could be done as you figure out what you want your vehicle to be.

2. The V8. A Tacoma TRD (Pro? I assume) has an upgraded suspension, locking rear differential. The skid plates are basically the same, as in, aftermarket is better. The Land Cruiser will be more comfortable, family friendly, and way more expensive than a Tacoma TRD.

3. I consider both to be equal in terms of reliability. As far as upgrading a Tacoma, I think that stock, the Tacoma will match the 200 off road. Suspension upgrades are available for the 200 and the Tacoma.

To me, it just comes down to cost and what you like driving the most. There is aftermarket for the 200 and an extensive aftermarket for the Tacoma.

Personally, I already have a Cruiser, but I can’t reconcile the cost of even a used 200. So, if I was going to replace my Cruiser, I would replace it with a Tacoma CCSB TRD Off Road in order to get the locking rear. I would do a 2 inch lift, go up one tire size, put on aftermarket skids and front and rear bumpers. I would concentrate on interior upgrades because that is where my driving time would be spent, so make it work for me.

Drive em both and see what appeals to you the most.

 

[babybluebeast]

I have a 200 and i really like it. I also have a triple locked 80 series which i love. You really just have to drive the 200 to understand it. Its big, heavy, and powerful, yet extremely docile. It is extremely capable off road with a decent set of tires. It isn't as capable as my 80, however i wouldnt want to take a 10hr road trip in my 80 either. You can cruise on the interstate all day long in the 200 at 85mph and the ride is silky smooth. In addition, the 200 can tow over 8000lbs and comes wired from the factory for a trailer brake controller to be installed plug-n-play.

Only downside to the 200 is the price in my opinion.

 

[MTSN]

I understand people don't generally prefer the the 200s, but not sure why.

What “people” are you referring to? They don’t prefer a 200 to what?

 

[ekapel]

The "people" he is referring to are probably LC aficionados who think the last real LC available in the states was the 100 or 80 series
and deride the 200 as a mall crawler that looks like a Sequoia but 2X as expensive. I have to admit they have a point, though I am
biased as a devoted 100 fan. If my 100 were destroyed, I have to admit I would be shopping for a 200 as it is almost impossible to
find a 100 that is not in very "used" condition. If I lived in CO I would take my new 200 to Slee Offroad to have it modified to fit my
intended use.

 

[ckkone]

You need to decide if you want a mid sized pickup or a SUV. The two vehicle you are trying to compare have nothing in common.

 

[fungus]

A better question may be, what is the underlying doubt? I’ve owned 4runners, Tacoma’s, tundras, and now a 200. They all have their positives and negatives. Hands down, the 200 is the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. Without a doubt, I’ll own an LC of some sort forever. You can’t compare a Tacoma to a 200. Drive both back to back and you’ll know which you like.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[babybluebeast]

other than an opinion about the appearance and the fuel economy, i dont know what there is not to like. Only way it could be any better is if they made a 205....

 

[lugueto]

I believe any sensible LC driver and aficionado looks up to the 200, and will always want one. I know I do. I believe it is the perfect platform for overlanding.

The obvious downside is pricing, that's why they're not as common as Tacomas or 4Runners. You can purchase and fully outfit a Tacoma or 4Runner for the price of a 200.

Off course it isnt as spartan as an 80 series, but I'd drive a 200 over an 80 every day of the week. The only situation where I'd prefer an 80 (which I profoundly admire as well) is as a dedicated trail rig. The 200 will be better in pretty much any situation an overlander will face.

So to answer your questions:

1) Yes, they are. Depending on the factory spec of your particular option. The TRD Off Road Tacoma includes lockers and suspension basically. I believe the 200 can be specced with lockers. So, basically just an upgraded suspension and tires will make the 200 as equipped, and better performing than a Tacoma TRD Off Road.

2) Depends on the specs of the vehicles, but not much. As mentioned, basically suspension and stronger skid plates.

3) I'd look for a TRD Off Road Tacoma. Simple, no nonesense.

 

[hayde89]

I believe any sensible LC driver and aficionado looks up to the 200, and will always want one. I know I do. I believe it is the perfect platform for overlanding.

The obvious downside is pricing, that's why they're not as common as Tacomas or 4Runners. You can purchase and fully outfit a Tacoma or 4Runner for the price of a 200.

Off course it isnt as spartan as an 80 series, but I'd drive a 200 over an 80 every day of the week. The only situation where I'd prefer an 80 (which I profoundly admire as well) is as a dedicated trail rig. The 200 will be better in pretty much any situation an overlander will face.

So to answer your questions:

1) Yes, they are. Depending on the factory spec of your particular option. The TRD Off Road Tacoma includes lockers and suspension basically. I believe the 200 can be specced with lockers. So, basically just an upgraded suspension and tires will make the 200 as equipped, and better performing than a Tacoma TRD Off Road.

2) Depends on the specs of the vehicles, but not much. As mentioned, basically suspension and stronger skid plates.

3) I'd look for a TRD Off Road Tacoma. Simple, no nonesense.

Just letting you know. No E-locker is available for the 200 series at least state side it is not available.

 

[lugueto]

Ahh thanks for clearing that up. Well that's sad, score one for the Tacoma then.

 

[99Discovery]

Looks like ARB has the air-locker available for the 200 series. The 200 series looks SWEET once you mildly upgrade the suspension and take away some of the mall-crawler plastic.

I'm in the same boat. I'm most likely going to go Toyota with my next purchase and I'm doing my research. It's either going to be the Tacoma Off-Road, 4Runner Trail Premium, or an equivalent 200 series. Here is what I've come up with so far, and you Toyota experts correct me and/or chime in:

Tacoma: Pros: Cargo storage. Manual Transmission (yes, I like 3 pedals), plethora of racks and aftermarket over landing options. The new generation looks great and at $37k you can get leather up to radar-controlled cruise control and collision avoidance. The best bang for your buck. Downside? The new engine and drive train is causing issues for some owners. Shift points and low-end power isn't up to par with the 4.0 (per the facebook groups). Also...Wheelbase!!! Having a Tacoma is going to limit me considering some trails in Utah and Colorado are tight.

4Runner: Pros: Nice wheelbase. Nice setup. Older chassis with proven design: (4.0/5spd) Rear Locker. This is where my wife and I are leaning. Downside: Not as good of MPG as that Taco. Not as good of safety features for the price (around $41k), you lack the radar assisted collision stuff. The LCD information/etc. is all previous gen. vs. the Taco. Also, is the older chassis an advantage? Do you wait for a 6th gen? Is the 6th gen. going to be bigger? Disc brakes in the rear and the wheelbase are far superior to the Taco for me. Storage will be an issue since I have 3 kids and I won't have the truck bed, so that means the requirement of a roof rack.

Land Cruiser: Pros: Nearly everything the 4Runner has except slightly bigger (will be nicer when my kids get older), plus the V8. I might also be able to tow my camp trailer (6k empty) with it, although I'll most likely keep that duty to the 3/4-ton for safety. Also AWD!!! Coming from Land Rover and my wife's daily Hummer H3, I really do NOT want to go back to part-time FWD. Especially for winter/foul weather driving, having full time 4wd is awesome. Lock in the center diff when you get to the tough stuff and you are just like your jeep/taco buddies and their part time systems. I'm sold on full-time 4wd systems. Cons: Where do you find one???? They were 80k to begin with and sell like 3k units per year. So even if you DO find one, you are going to have 10s of thousands of miles on them at $40k, which really sucks. Also, no rear locker, but if you are getting a 200-series you'll probably want ARBs front and rear anyway. Armor components are tougher to find, but not *that* hard. I like the CBI bumpers (for all 3 rigs) and I'd try to go with Icon for my suspensions (but I'm not that rich).


Most likely I'm going to dream of an LC-200, but unless I get lucky, a 5th Gen. 4Runner is probably the best combination of size/performance, while the Taco is the best bang for the buck/maximized cargo.

To the OP, if technical terrain isn't high on your list and your anticipated trails aren't going to suffer form a long wheelbase, the 3rd Gen. Taco is probably the all-round favorite. The TRD-Off Road rigs are nice. Pro tip? DO NOT get the factory slider steps. They are like $700+ option and even though they are metal and look awesome they aren't mounted in a way to protect you very well. Go aftermarket.

 

[chunko]

Looks like ARB has the air-locker available for the 200 series. The 200 series looks SWEET once you mildly upgrade the suspension and take away some of the mall-crawler plastic.

I'm in the same boat. I'm most likely going to go Toyota with my next purchase and I'm doing my research. It's either going to be the Tacoma Off-Road, 4Runner Trail Premium, or an equivalent 200 series. Here is what I've come up with so far, and you Toyota experts correct me and/or chime in:

Tacoma: Pros: Cargo storage. Manual Transmission (yes, I like 3 pedals), plethora of racks and aftermarket over landing options. The new generation looks great and at $37k you can get leather up to radar-controlled cruise control and collision avoidance. The best bang for your buck. Downside? The new engine and drive train is causing issues for some owners. Shift points and low-end power isn't up to par with the 4.0 (per the facebook groups). Also...Wheelbase!!! Having a Tacoma is going to limit me considering some trails in Utah and Colorado are tight.

4Runner: Pros: Nice wheelbase. Nice setup. Older chassis with proven design: (4.0/5spd) Rear Locker. This is where my wife and I are leaning. Downside: Not as good of MPG as that Taco. Not as good of safety features for the price (around $41k), you lack the radar assisted collision stuff. The LCD information/etc. is all previous gen. vs. the Taco. Also, is the older chassis an advantage? Do you wait for a 6th gen? Is the 6th gen. going to be bigger? Disc brakes in the rear and the wheelbase are far superior to the Taco for me. Storage will be an issue since I have 3 kids and I won't have the truck bed, so that means the requirement of a roof rack.

Land Cruiser: Pros: Nearly everything the 4Runner has except slightly bigger (will be nicer when my kids get older), plus the V8. I might also be able to tow my camp trailer (6k empty) with it, although I'll most likely keep that duty to the 3/4-ton for safety. Also AWD!!! Coming from Land Rover and my wife's daily Hummer H3, I really do NOT want to go back to part-time FWD. Especially for winter/foul weather driving, having full time 4wd is awesome. Lock in the center diff when you get to the tough stuff and you are just like your jeep/taco buddies and their part time systems. I'm sold on full-time 4wd systems. Cons: Where do you find one???? They were 80k to begin with and sell like 3k units per year. So even if you DO find one, you are going to have 10s of thousands of miles on them at $40k, which really sucks. Also, no rear locker, but if you are getting a 200-series you'll probably want ARBs front and rear anyway. Armor components are tougher to find, but not *that* hard. I like the CBI bumpers (for all 3 rigs) and I'd try to go with Icon for my suspensions (but I'm not that rich).


Most likely I'm going to dream of an LC-200, but unless I get lucky, a 5th Gen. 4Runner is probably the best combination of size/performance, while the Taco is the best bang for the buck/maximized cargo.

To the OP, if technical terrain isn't high on your list and your anticipated trails aren't going to suffer form a long wheelbase, the 3rd Gen. Taco is probably the all-round favorite. The TRD-Off Road rigs are nice. Pro tip? DO NOT get the factory slider steps. They are like $700+ option and even though they are metal and look awesome they aren't mounted in a way to protect you very well. Go aftermarket.

That's a really good summary of the pros and cons of each of those vehicles. If you are looking for full time 4WD and more power I would add the Lexus GX460 into the options. It is essentially a 4Runner with a 4.6L V8 and a full time 4WD system with a center differential lock and selectable low range transfer case. There is no rear diff lock option like the 4Runner but with ATRAC and crawl control (and a set of all terrains) it will probably take a lot on with no issue. Plus, they are most of the time less expensive on the used market than comparable 4Runners, have never been off-road and usually dealer serviced.

 

[babybluebeast]

The only downside to the GX is the back door. If they at least would make a version for the rest of the world that opened curb side for left hand drive countries it would help. Window needs to roll down too if it isn't going to be a tailgate/liftgate combo.

When I bought my 2013 200 with 45K miles in august of 2017, i got it for almost the same price people were asking for 1-2 year old 4Runner TRD's with 20K miles with all options. I was patient though and had sold my 2014 Silverado Z71 and had cash in hand and could grind dealers down against each other.

 

[99Discovery]

My issue with the current GX is the hideous new Lexus bumpers. Can that even be fixed with an aftermarket bumper? Soooo much plastic and it hangs down so low.

I could get used to the door. My disco has the door and in a lot of ways I prefer it to the lift gate (split tailgate is preferable).

Thanks for letting me know the GX has a Full-time t-case. If it can take the same aftermarket lockers as a 4Runner, I'll definitely add it to my list.

Also...the manual transmissioned FJ Cruisers are full-time 4wd, but y'all probably knew that. I have 3 kids, so the FJ's rear seating arrangement hurts me, or I'd be all over that too.