The Toyota Land Cruiser Is Coming Back To America

[T-Willy]

Toyota needs to tread very very carefully IMO, enthusiasts drive the legacy, LC are what they are in the US because of enthusiasts, they don't want to step on those toes and need to respect that relationship. It keeps prices up, drives forums sections like on Expo and IH8MUD, drives aftermarket, social media enthusiasm, etc....you lose or water that down, those thing start getting diluted and IMO (as an underqualified market analyst) you lose what the name stood for. If I was in that Toyota board room I would of fought tooth and nail to keep the drivetrain in line with other HD options....even if it wasn't needed, even if it didn't really make a huge difference in performance, the perception is the key IMO. I saw this on IH8MUD the other day, LX vs GX tie rod ends.....this is the stuff that gets most enthusiasts excited:

View attachment 790004

But has Toyota published specs on the 250's axels, tie rod ends, arms, etc.?

Having owned 80s since they were available, I'm quite sensitive to matters of robustness. But robustness and a mid-50s price point aren't mutually exclusive.

Our family's first (and quite austere) 80 rolled off the lot at a mid-$50ks price point (in inflation adjusted dollars). By the mid-1990s, Land Cruiser prices skyrocketed with the addition of luxury bits (but not better hardware). Three decades of more luxury and cost ultimately killed the 200.

I'm not surprised that Land Cruiser's return now to its austere roots (good), freed from luxury bloat (good), also means a return to mid-$50k pricing (good).

A retreat from luxury? Yes. But I'll be surprised if the 250 retreats from the robustness we've come to expect from U.S. badged Land Cruisers.

 

[BuckinghamBuilt]

Enthusiasts don't buy cars. Toyota is a business that sells cars. How many enthusiasts bought new 200 series Land Cruisers? A few thousand a year, which is why Toyota discontinued it. Meanwhile Toyota sold over a hundred thousand 4runners a year, which are ancient in their design with completely paid off tooling that printed money for the company. For a company that sells millions of cars a year, the entire 200 series production in the US may as well have been a rounding error in cars sold let alone profit.

Exactly, I would hear people complain about buying a land cruiser or GWagen. They would say its too expensive or flashy and they need to go back to offering just the basics for the US market. Well, here it is. Toyota is giving customers two options.

I see no reason these won't sell in the US market. Now will Toyota be able to actually build/ship them in a timely manner is another question. I don't imagine seeing a ton of these in the wild for a few years.

 

[calicamper]

Exactly, I would hear people complain about buying a land cruiser or GWagen. They would say its too expensive or flashy and they need to go back to offering just the basics for the US market. Well, here it is. Toyota is giving customers two options.

I see no reason these won't sell in the US market. Now will Toyota be able to actually build/ship them in a timely manner is another question. I don't imagine seeing a ton of these in the wild for a few years.

Dealers will also hide stock and meter them out to drive the markups. Lithia created the game

 

[Dougnuts]

Huh. A review that doesn’t just pander to Toyota…who’d of thought!? Interesting take on the 4R.

2024 Toyota Land Cruiser | Specs, Details, Pricing

After three long years, Toyota has brought the Land Cruiser nameplate back to the U.S. but it’s not the Bronco buster that we hoped it might be.

www.overlandexpo.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hmmm....different axles, different front end, a selectable transfer transfer case, and call it a 4Runner? Maybe, but then again, why are we listening to someone who says it will have 17" brake rotors?

 

[XJLI]

I glanced over this thread and it's about what I expected.

As long as this truck lives up to the fuel economy numbers and has a generous payload (I'm sure it will be fine) it's my next truck after my LR4 is ready to retire. I expect another 100k out of it, so 5-6 years or so? By then it'll be plenty easy to get one. Toyota recalled and REPLACED rotted out frames on 10 year old Tacomas for crying out loud. I'm no Toyota loyalist, but they have a history of doing the right thing. I don't see any reason why this truck won't be anything but great. People jerking off to photos of tie rods ends are dumb. The aftermarket will build you whatever chromoly, ballistic, military grade end-of-the-world proof parts you think you need to cosplay your Last of Us fantasy.

The people who really need the robustness will continue to use 70s, which is why it was (terribly) refreshed (again). Everyone in the states will be just fine with our new pair of Prados to choose from.

 

[utherjorge]

If they are the same then you could say a 4Runner is as well….

And they do that with the 4Runner/GX all the time. Just yesterday, I was out and a woman said "Nice 4Runner!" Well it's a GX, so a 4Runner with a V8. So, she's not wrong. I also didn't take offense, but reading some of these posts are....something

 

[plainjaneFJC]

And they do that with the 4Runner/GX all the time. Just yesterday, I was out and a woman said "Nice 4Runner!" Well it's a GX, so a 4Runner with a V8. So, she's not wrong. I also didn't take offense, but reading some of these posts are....something

Oh it’s nothing worth getting offended over for sure- just pointing out the difference.

 

[utherjorge]

Took the words right out of my mouth. 100% this. Toyota doesn’t care what the 40-something, 4th owner of an 80-series thinks. They care about what will sell a vehicle tomorrow.

Granted…they don’t help themselves making vehicles that last forever


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I generally agree, but perhaps the way to view the last couple of years of Toyota SUV/Truck info is that this is the best temporary alignment of enthusiast/capitalism that were likely to get. I will always be of the mindset that everyone can be happy at the same time. Or...happy-ish?

 

[utherjorge]

I'll also add, if Toyota wasn't playing the enthusiast game.....why compare them to "retro" cruisers and put in old school styling cues and use marketing terms that compare them to old cruisers? They are OBVIOUSLY playing the bait and switch a bit with vintage cruiser lineage, they need to be careful, because this may start to break that cycle.

There is absolutely nothing that is "bait and switch" here. Nothing. Toyota is giving you/the market what is wants, and aligning as best they can to continued necessary improvements in emissions, MPG, economies of scale, and so on.

Your absurd posts remind me EXACTLY of the chaos when Jeep went to square headlights. And then when they changed back. And then brought out the newest version. And then brought out the Turbo 4. And on and on and on. Settle down.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Toyota needs to tread very very carefully IMO, enthusiasts drive the legacy, LC are what they are in the US because of enthusiasts, they don't want to step on those toes and need to respect that relationship. It keeps prices up, drives forums sections like on Expo and IH8MUD, drives aftermarket, social media enthusiasm, etc....you lose or water that down, those thing start getting diluted and IMO (as an underqualified market analyst) you lose what the name stood for. If I was in that Toyota board room I would of fought tooth and nail to keep the drivetrain in line with other HD options....even if it wasn't needed, even if it didn't really make a huge difference in performance, the perception is the key IMO. I saw this on IH8MUD the other day, LX vs GX tie rod ends.....this is the stuff that gets most enthusiasts excited:

View attachment 790004

Hey don’t turn this into a tie rod measuring contest…😆

 

[utherjorge]

Huh. A review that doesn’t just pander to Toyota…who’d of thought!? Interesting take on the 4R.

2024 Toyota Land Cruiser | Specs, Details, Pricing

After three long years, Toyota has brought the Land Cruiser nameplate back to the U.S. but it’s not the Bronco buster that we hoped it might be.

www.overlandexpo.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's so much nonsense and incorrectness in that post/review it's mind-blowing

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Good question
I’m going with Toyota is in the camp of no right to work on your own vehicle model for the US market. This actually plays into the company taking a silent stance on their brand dominated by Auto Group owned store fronts with now long established history of tacking dealer fees onto MSRP tags.

You can easily buy a Toyota out of state- get a one way ticket and drive it home for less than dealer add ons

 

[Tex68w]

And they do that with the 4Runner/GX all the time. Just yesterday, I was out and a woman said "Nice 4Runner!" Well it's a GX, so a 4Runner with a V8. So, she's not wrong. I also didn't take offense, but reading some of these posts are....something

I can top that, had a guy ask me how my "Pathfinder" was handling the trails atop Engineer Pass last week lol. I turned around and looked for a Pathfinder and when I realized that he thought my Land Cruiser was a Pathfinder I turned and said, "Nissan makes them tough" and then I laughed. I've also had it called a 4Runner and a Highlander lol, 90% of people have no idea what a Land Cruiser is.

 

[Tex68w]

I am as disappointed as the next guy in what they unveiled in this new Prado but it will sell simply due to it's size and price point. An enthusiast like myself likely won't be a buyer and the misses already said she wants the GX Over Trail which is a three-row gussied up version with a better power plant so that'll be next and our fourth GX in 14 years. See, if you're a lunatic like myself it's possible to be both an enthusiast and an every two to three years consumer lol.

 

[utherjorge]

You can easily buy a Toyota out of state- get a one way ticket and drive it home for less than dealer add ons

Yep. Just went through this crap with my daughter, who bought a brand new Mazda. Closest dealer wanted more than a 15% ADM on a car that...is not hard to get. And this at the dealer family where I bring my GX to. Stupid.

Where she bought the car from was a bit extra drive. I'll do that in a heartbeat. The dealership people laughed at the ADM from the Buffalo dealer. If you're willing to drive a bit, you can find anything you want.