Why the Toyota Land Cruiser is so expensive

[calicamper]

As much as a niche vehicle as these are, especially in the U.S. How many do you think get used to their capabilities?
I think Toyota is missing a bet here, if they sold them in three different trim levels that were available everywhere else, they could eliminate the U.S. only Sequoia and save a ton of money. Convert Sequoia production to Land Cruiser production and increase your market share. Frankly I can't see why Toyota and Nissan even bother with a U.S. specific truck platform, together they barely crack 100,000 units a year. Toyota fans I know would rather buy a mid level Land Cruiser than a Sequoia if it was available.
I won't muddy up this thread with my opinion of the recently cancelled FJ, but we will leave it as 2 door SUVs are deader than the Greek economy!

As a former LC owner and now owner of a 07 Sequoia I will tell you why. #1 space yes there is a difference and a big enough one to force me to sell my cherry LC and get a Sequoia. Having said that todays Sequoia is too damn big given we just spent yesterday in San Francisco with 8 family members doing the Tourist guide thing with the Sequoia which easily fit the tight parking situations in SF. The new one would have been an epic pain in the A--ss to take. And no the LC would not seat 8 with three decent sized people in the 3rd row.

Last of all the LC mileage is pretty dismal when I had mine I just didn't care given thats what you get with an LC. The typical 4-5mpg increase in averages we get with the Sequoia has been very nice! Is it a LC? No! but with the advanced traction hunting systems on the newer one's dumping the soccer mom steps and putting decent tires on the Sequoia it easily can meet the needs of what 99.98% of the LC owners do with their LC's except all while posting better mileage and offering up more seating room for the butts in seats hauling needs. We treat our Sequoia like a highly capable Sienna yes its been off road it did a Gwagen trip north of the Rubicon with some friends last year fun trip did great but dumping the soccer mom steps would have made it more fun, a rear locker would have made it pretty damn good too. Is it a LC? Hell no!!!

 

[jhanley]

Has anyone ever closed the door on a Ford with 300k miles, then, done the same thing on a landcruiser? This might be a simple / stupid argument, but, one feels tank-like, the other, like a broke down, decrepit, old, Yugo...

 

[toylandcruiser]

Has anyone ever closed the door on a Ford with 300k miles, then, done the same thing on a landcruiser? This might be a simple / stupid argument, but, one feels tank-like, the other, like a broke down, decrepit, old, Yugo...

Yea the ford sounds like a broke down yugo. That's a good comparison actually.


"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

 

[CYK]

Given how many Tesla's are around my area the LC is cheap beans today considering what your getting regarding the vehicle. We have several folks driving new LC's too but I would guess that they considered it the cheaper choice of the vehicles they were looking at. Another neighbor just replaced her 100 series which they owned since new with a BlueTec GL her daughter baby sits my kids once in a while. She said they considered another LC but she liked the added space in the GL and her husband liked the Blutech. I saw him at a local party and asked him about the bluetech after a few drinks and his comment was I will not confirm or deny that the bluetech will get 25mpg while doing far beyond legal speeds on a guys trip to vegas last week. I doubt the 200 LC could break 17mpg doing 100mph across rural CA and Nevada on a guys trip to Vegas. Then again the GL won't be seen in 4low climbing through the Andes either. LOL

$80K cheap beans? What do you drive, again?

Mercs, save for the G, shouldn't even be in the conversation.

http://blogs.motortrend.com/1312_the_big_picture_my_favorite_toyota.html

It's a complete mall crawler and couldn't be anything more even if it wanted to be.

 

[CYK]

Do you want to spend any time in this interior?

Or having to mod this with your hard earned money?

For a comparable 2001, the LC is valued @ 3x to the Expedition. The LC wasn't 3x the cost when new compared to the Ford. Educated gents don't invest/commit to strippers and prostitutes. You only put a ring on it when you know she's good for the long haul. Ford reliable? As a brand, they're near the bottom. Toyota at the top.

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...-reliability-rankings;-ford-again-near-bottom

Case closed.

 

[jhanley]

If you left that hunk of ******t in my driveway with the title in the glove, I wouldn't drive it.

 

[justcuz]

As a former LC owner and now owner of a 07 Sequoia I will tell you why. #1 space yes there is a difference and a big enough one to force me to sell my cherry LC and get a Sequoia. Having said that todays Sequoia is too damn big given we just spent yesterday in San Francisco with 8 family members doing the Tourist guide thing with the Sequoia which easily fit the tight parking situations in SF. The new one would have been an epic pain in the A--ss to take. And no the LC would not seat 8 with three decent sized people in the 3rd row.

Last of all the LC mileage is pretty dismal when I had mine I just didn't care given thats what you get with an LC. The typical 4-5mpg increase in averages we get with the Sequoia has been very nice! Is it a LC? No! but with the advanced traction hunting systems on the newer one's dumping the soccer mom steps and putting decent tires on the Sequoia it easily can meet the needs of what 99.98% of the LC owners do with their LC's except all while posting better mileage and offering up more seating room for the butts in seats hauling needs. We treat our Sequoia like a highly capable Sienna yes its been off road it did a Gwagen trip north of the Rubicon with some friends last year fun trip did great but dumping the soccer mom steps would have made it more fun, a rear locker would have made it pretty damn good too. Is it a LC? Hell no!!!

Thanks for that, I guess for the American market the Sequioa does have a place in the lineup and the first generation ones are a nice looking vehicle too.
As for the Land Cruiser all the points made about long turn reliability, I guess it is up to the purchaser if its worth the price you have to pay for them. They hold their value, they are reliable, and Ford doors have always sounded tinny even when new! Then again the Ford faithful have a loyalty to the brand that rivals Toyota! I am not a Ford or Toyota owner, but can appreciate a well maintained, well used vehicle when I see one. It not only speaks to the vehicle but also the owner who knows that careful maintanance will bring long term usefulness to any brand. If you can't get 200,000 miles out of any modern SUV today, excluding accidents, something is wrong. 200,000 miles is the new 100,000 miles. With fuel injection and modern engine management systems, oil dilution from excess fuel is minimal, piston rings have less friction and engines last much longer.

 

[CYK]

Thanks for that, I guess for the American market the Sequioa does have a place in the lineup and the first generation ones are a nice looking vehicle too.
As for the Land Cruiser all the points made about long turn reliability, I guess it is up to the purchaser if its worth the price you have to pay for them. They hold their value, they are reliable, and Ford doors have always sounded tinny even when new! Then again the Ford faithful have a loyalty to the brand that rivals Toyota! I am not a Ford or Toyota owner, but can appreciate a well maintained, well used vehicle when I see one. It not only speaks to the vehicle but also the owner who knows that careful maintanance will bring long term usefulness to any brand. If you can't get 200,000 miles out of any modern SUV today, excluding accidents, something is wrong. 200,000 miles is the new 100,000 miles. With fuel injection and modern engine management systems, oil dilution from excess fuel is minimal, piston rings have less friction and engines last much longer.

Agree 100000% with what you said in bold above.

I wouldn't trust any SUV/truck product from Europe to get near the vicinity of the Toyota quality/reliability/durability test. They're lease vehicles designed to last the life of the first 36 month, 12K miles per year rental agreement. The 2nd and 3rd owners are the silly ones screwing themselves because they aspire to drive a luxury brand vehicle. Planned obsolescence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence).

The made in Japan Land Cruiser is engineered to a 25 year service life. Ford suv/truck team, where do you stand? And you don't just drive an engine. It's everything else that needs to work well together. Electronics. Window switches. Each nut and bolt type. Chassis rigidity. Diff strength. The type of materials used. Ford simply sucks in this area compared to Toyota because they institute change nearly as often as the European makes. Toyota has a seriously slow release cycle because they value QRD above new highlights in the brochure.

Whether meandering through the Outback or getting to safe haven in Somalia, there's no way I'm going with anything but the LC.

 

[calicamper]

Agree 100000% with what you said in bold above.

I wouldn't trust any SUV/truck product from Europe to get near the vicinity of the Toyota quality/reliability/durability test. They're lease vehicles designed to last the life of the first 36 month, 12K miles per year rental agreement. The 2nd and 3rd owners are the silly ones screwing themselves because they aspire to drive a luxury brand vehicle. Planned obsolescence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence).

The made in Japan Land Cruiser is engineered to a 25 year service life. Ford suv/truck team, where do you stand? And you don't just drive an engine. It's everything else that needs to work well together. Electronics. Window switches. Each nut and bolt type. Chassis rigidity. Diff strength. The type of materials used. Ford simply sucks in this area compared to Toyota because they institute change nearly as often as the European makes. Toyota has a seriously slow release cycle because they value QRD above new highlights in the brochure.

Whether meandering through the Outback or getting to safe haven in Somalia, there's no way I'm going with anything but the LC.

I will say the quality of materials and engineering with my 07 Sequoia is nothing close to what went into my 93 LC. From a parts quality stand point I don't see any difference between Ford and Toyota. Having said that I think todays car choices should be weighed more on the reputation of the auto maker and how it treats customers with flawed parts or vehicles with odd issues which case hands down Toyota is far superior at working with a customer and or just taking on the issue and fixing it vs Ford will pretty much tell you to go pack sand and oh give your self a hand job after you write us a check ;-)

 

[justcuz]

Interesting article on planned obsolescence. Also the part about the EU starting to discipline manufacturers who practice it.
I am old enough to remember when Japanese cars had the same reputation as European ones do now, or worse. The little Toyota Corona sedan had an automatic called a Toyoglide, that was a scaled down Powerglide. The Datsun pickup and 510 cars finally ended VW's lock on the majority of foriegn car sales.
Back to the subject at hand;
Land Cruisers, FJ 40's were just developing their reputations and FJ 45's were super rare. FJ 55's sold a little better and then the FJ60's became much more plentiful. All these vehicles created the legacy the modern Land Cruiser needs to maintain. I looked at other, more basic Land Cruisers, sold in other parts of the world, with manual transmissions and diesel engines and more austere trim. I then looked at the sales figures world wide for the model. My guess is that with the Middle East being the largest market for them, that most of them sold there are not the top of the line models we are limited to here. My point? It's an expensive niche vehicle here and the equivalent to a mass market, dare I say Ford Expedition there. The 25 year life span is a benefit we enjoy for a vehicle designed for its larger market in the Middle East.

 

[CYK]

Good point about origin of goods reputation. It is also just a matter of time when made in China no longer becomes a knee jerk pejorative.

Though I highly doubt I'll own my still a pup lc thru 2040, it's good to know it'll go the distance with a bit of follow the manual dummy tlc.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jhanley]

Comparing a Sequoia to a LC ain't fair. Go drive both, back-to-back, you FEEL the difference - Not all Yota's are created equally.... You think a Mercedes C-class is on par with a Unimog? Same argument.

Sequoia's are great vehicles, but there's a reason why most third-world recovery vehicles are landcruisers.

 

[1911]

It is also just a matter of time when made in China no longer becomes a knee jerk pejorative.

Agree completely. When I was young, "made in Japan" was still a knee-jerk pejorative, and then came Toyota, Honda, Sony, Minolta, etc. No doubt that China will do the same in their time.

 

[zelatore]

The amount of Toyota love here is staggering. And scary. It's a good truck to be sure but man you guys are in serious phan-boy territory here. I think one or two of you might have reached the big O just at the mention of LC.

It would be interesting to see this topic discussed in other places. In here it's sort of like preaching to the choir. While I don't expect anything different given the user base here, you have to admit this isn't exactly an unbiased bunch.

 

[texascrane]

The amount of Toyota love here is staggering. And scary. It's a good truck to be sure but man you guys are in serious phan-boy territory here. I think one or two of you might have reached the big O just at the mention of LC.

It would be interesting to see this topic discussed in other places. In here it's sort of like preaching to the choir. While I don't expect anything different given the user base here, you have to admit this isn't exactly an unbiased bunch.

Don't worry, we'll still give you a ride after the air suspension dies on your LR3 while you're in the middle of nowhere. We'll just follow the trail of oil... :ylsmoke: