2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Review: The Legend Returns!

This is the new

2024

Toyota Land Cruiser and it's a big deal because the Land Cruiser name died a few years ago after decades on the market with an obsessive fan base, but now it's back with a new off-road SUV that's highly anticipated today. I'm going to

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the new Land Cruiser and show you all its quirks and features. Today's video is brought to you by cars and deals. My online enthusiast car auction site that recently sold this and this and this and this and this. It's all right time for quirks and features of the new Toyota Land Cruiser and I'll start with a little history of the

legend

of the Land Cruiser, so this model dates back to the 1950s and has always been an iconic SUV with off-road capability.

In the line of Toyota known for being able to traverse any terrain and last for decades here in the United States, over the years the Land Cruiser became bigger and more expensive until a few years ago it cost $90,000 and no one bought it, it became unpopular and that's why Toyota killed it after 2021. Model year, well, now it's back for 24 and is in a completely different position in Toyota's SUV lineup. More on that position in a second, but first let's get to the quirks and features we start under the hood, where the big news is for the new Land Cruiser. that the old V8 models are gone, the old Land Cruiser used a V8 for almost 15 years, is no more and has been replaced by a 4 cylinder.

There isn't even a V6 available in the new Lane Cruiser, much less a V8. Instead, you get a turbocharged hybrid. 4-cylinder, while it makes a respectable 325 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, those are strong numbers that should do a reasonable job of motivating the Land Cruiser, although there's no V8 or V6, now what's not a V6 It's especially interesting because Lexus sells a luxury version. of the new Land Cruiser called new Lexus GX which I have already

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ed and that model, which is largely identical in many aspects, offers a V6 in addition to this four cylinder, but for the Land Cruiser it will apparently only be 4 cylinder.

V6, if you wanted to step up to the Lexus GX now you'd think the benefit of switching to a four-cylinder turbocharged hybrid would be fuel economy and in fact it's significantly better than the old Land Cruiser, but this new one, according to Toyota still only It gets around 23 mil per gallon in combined city and highway driving, it's definitely an improvement, but it's not exactly tremendously green or fuel efficient, and then we move on to the next most interesting thing about the new Land Cruiser, which is your appearance. This blocky, fun, off-road fun design is definitely eye-catching and definitely cool, and it's a significant improvement over the sort of curved, bloated look of the outgoing Land Cruiser model.

This one is distinctive, awesome, all-terrain, tough and definitely a totally cool look. worthy of the revived

land

cruiser

nameplate now with all that said the new

land

cruiser

really looks a lot like the lexus gx i mentioned a second ago these are similar vehicles and if you saw them with the correct trim and color part Right next to each other, it would be hard to tell them apart, so as cool as the Land Cruiser is, it's also cool as ACC now, as far as cool exterior quirks and features, there are certainly some with the Land Cruiser for a badge, There is a relatively small Land Cruiser badge in the corner of the tailgate, as you can see, this goes against the convention of most new Toyota models which have the model name written in giant letters at the bottom of the tailgate. rear, like the Tacoma, Sequoya and Tundra. this, but for some reason they left it out with the Land Cruiser.

The other interesting thing here is the giant tow hitch cover on the rear bumper. I hadn't noticed it in the press photos, but it really is big in person, you almost notice it. The bumper looks like it has a big diaper in there and it's fun to see how they did it. Now also on the topic of badges on the front, you get this cool old school Toyota badge on the grille instead of the usual boring Toyota logo. you get a throwback to the old days of Toyota written, which I find quite interesting now, interestingly, which is located directly next to the new slim LED headlights that look very modern in comparison, but Toyota offers a base model version of the new Land Cruiser.

It is a kind of basic version that has circular headlights on the front. It's a different headlight than the other models, where you rarely see two different headlights available, but that's what they've done with the Lane Cruiser if you want to go retro with driving. headlights, you can do that if you get the base version, now move towards the side of the new Land Cruiser, you can see the rear view mirrors, the door mirrors are quite large and quite vertical, these big vertical squares that, frankly, match the overall design spirit and look of the Land Cruiser and so it works now at the rear, one interesting thing here is that the glass opens independently of the tailgate, if you want to just open the glass you can do so by pushing this. little button inside this little triangular panel next to the glass, you press it to make the glass open and then you can lift it up from there with this little handle next to the wiper.

Now, one thing I love about the position of the windshield wipers is that they are on. On the inside you can see exactly where the wiper track goes with this little screw in this circular pattern. You can almost move the rear wiper yourself if for some reason you wanted to because you're immature and easily amused like me now more on the Land Cruiser tailgate situation in a second. Next, let's go inside and look at the quirks and features of the interior. After getting into the new Land Cruiser, we started looking around and the first thing we noticed is that it is very durable.

Here you have everything in a vertical position. The layout of the dash, the screens, the controls, all upright, with squares, blocks and hard angles, no sweeping curves or wood trim here, that's not how it's made and fits what you'd expect from the Land Cruiser , although having said that, I just entered. the new 4Runner about an hour ago and that interior is also very tough and in fact a little bit tougher than the interior of the new Land Cruiser, it looked cooler, it seemed more exciting, more interesting and more adventurous, which takes me to some confusion about the Land.

Cruiser and 4Runner and how they coexist more on that in a moment, but keep that in mind, especially if you saw my recent 4Runner walkthrough video as we move on to the Land Cruiser, but anyway, moving on to the center console next , there are many things. of very useful controls for all the off-road hardware here, you can see that this switch will change you from four-wheel drive high, which is available all the time, to four-wheel drive low now in the 4Runner and Sequoia, some of they come with part-time four-wheel drive, so you're in two-wheel drive until you switch to four-wheel drive, not the case with the Land Cruiser, which is always in four-wheel high at all times, no There is two-wheel drive mode or version. to the left of that switch and you can see the two differential locks, you have a center lock and a rear lock and you also have a button here to disengage the sway bars for additional off-road articulation which is a nice feature that you don't have. you have to go out and do it yourself, you can just press the button and in theory it does it completely for you.

Now you move this center console up and you can see there's a dial here to adjust the modes, it says mode select and at its default setting. it's used to adjust the driving mode you're in, whether it's sport, eco, normal or whatever, but if you press this center button, an MTS appears which stands for Toyota Multi-Terrain Select System and then the mode dial takes on a whole new purpose when you're on MTS, you can use it to adjust the type of terrain you're driving on and when you adjust it, the Land Cruiser will make changes to your driving experience to optimize mud or sand or whatever, now you will too.

I see a button under all of these that says crawl. This will activate Toyota's crawl control system, which is a fantastic type of off-road cruise control that lets you get unstuck. It really is a great system. I have used it many times to get out of the mini. it gets stuck and I think it's fantastic. I can't say enough about the inching control now when it comes to technology and the infotainment screen in the new Land Cruiser. It's excellent. Toyota's infotainment system is excellent. It is not the most advanced that exists, for example, it cannot. it shows like two screens at the same time the navigation map and the radio, something that many other brands can do, but it responds very well, it is very easy to use, of course, Apple carplay and Android auto come standard and everything works reasonably well Now, interestingly, the new Land Cruiser doesn't have the new giant infotainment screen on the 4Runner.

I think it's 12.3 on the 4Runner, it has 14.4 available, so the 4Runner actually has a larger screen, which is interesting now beyond the center screen and also worth noting in this inter directly below. If you have the climate controls, which frankly are pretty standard climate controls, just physical buttons that haven't migrated to the infotainment screens yet, you can turn on the heated seats, change the temperature, the fan speed where the air comes out. , everything usual now directly. Below the climate controls you have a wireless charging pad, as you can see here, unfortunately just flat and no clip to hold your phone in place, which is a bit disappointing if you're going to be driving this brute Land Cruiser with your phone. .

It probably pops out of the charging pad and a clip might be nice, but you've also got a couple of USBC ports here anyway, some for charging, others connecting to the infotainment screen and back to the screen for another item. important in the central control stack. You have a button with a camera marked as view, if you press it when you're driving it opens a camera system, a 360 top down camera and another one pointing forward. Toyota calls this the multi-terrain monitor because it allows you to see what's coming when you're driving on a difficult trail and it's a nice feature and it's nice and easy to be able to open the camera system with the push of a simple button.

It's also worth noting that within this Terrain Monitor Multi-Tool, you can change the color of the example Land Cruiser shown. You go in here, you adjust the color. I'll select blue since that's what this one is and then you go back to the camera screen and there's our blue lamb. Cruiser, which is a totally strange thing, kind of a strange gimmick, but a quirk worth covering now on the topic of technology in this car, the gauge cluster display situation is worth mentioning and it's fantastic, It is a full screen and is fully configurable, you can adjust the center left. or right panels to show basically whatever you want the map the music you're listening to a trip odometer your range your fuel economy tire pressure off-road stuff everything is adjustable in this gauge cluster display.

I've complained about previous Toyota models, including my own SEO, which is like 3 weeks old, the gauge cluster just doesn't have enough configurability, but the new Land Cruiser and the rest of the newer Toyota models have a technology fantastic gauge cluster that is fully configurable to exactly what you want to see and The new Land Cruiser also offers another hidden display which is the rear view mirror. Now you can see that it is a standard rearview mirror, but if you flip this switch, it becomes a camera with a screen that shows what is behind you. This is especially interesting if you charge it.

When you start your Land Cruiser with people running you can't really see through them to see out the rear window so you flip the switch and look out with no obstructions to your view thanks to the mirror camera and next is the part where I had to do another 4Runner comparison because I have to say that while this interior is great with all the tech and features you want, I'm a little surprised by the lack of fanfare on this interior compared to the 4Runner TRD Pro which I just said says Toyota on the dash and has Cool Storage grab handles and pockets and fancy carbon fiber trim and rubber surfaces basically everywhere on the Land Cruiser.

Well, to be honest, it seems pretty generic; in fact, it doesn't even say Land Cruiser. anywhere in this interior, except in thefloor mat, which is obviously only removable, the interior of this just doesn't look exciting enough compared to that 4Runner TRD Pro which, by the way, costs about the same or maybe even less than this one that makes you wonder more about that in a second and then we move on to the back seat of the new Land Cruiser which, frankly, feels a little roomier than the back seat of the new 4Runner even though the Land Cruiser is actually a little roomier than the back seat of the new 4Runner. a little smaller, we're talking inches here, but I feel like I have a little more knee and head room compared to the Forerunner, it just feels a little bigger back here, maybe due to the overall design, the straight sides on blocks not exactly sure what it is, but it's a nice, reasonably spacious back seat and there are a few things back here worth noting, for example you've got rear seat climate control back here so you can adjust the temperature in a third climate zone aimed only at the rear occupants. and you have the rear seat vents on the roof which is a nice feature, they are closer to you than the rear vents mounted on the back of the front center console which is great.

You also have charging ports back here, as you can see. two USB ports and a cigarette filter outlet style port, which is pretty standard, but it's nice to see that you can charge your devices. This is the interesting thing about the back seat of the new Land Cruiser: it does not offer third-row seating. In the unfinished version of the new Land Cruiser that offers a third row, the Land Cruiser has only two rows, which is especially curious because the back seat the third row is available in the new 4Runner and it's available in the new Lexus GX which I already mentioned is pretty identical just a little more upscale compared to the Land Cruiser, you can get the third row in those models but not this, although I suspect That's going to change for a couple of reasons, number one, the back seat folds down incredibly easy, you have a little latch. here you just pull it, it folds, folds again and then tilts forward for easy access to the third row of the Phantom, but when the rear seat is folded you can also see that there is a latch on the back of the second row so that passengers in the third row can access. fold the seat down so they can get out of the non-EX 3rd row passengers, I might add, and when you look at where the 3rd row would be, you'll notice there are cup holders, there are climate vents, there are even USBC ports back there. for people to charge devices except there are no people because there are no seats again it's hard for me to believe they are going to cram all this stuff into this car and never come out with a third row I guess we'll see but for now the new The Land Cruiser is the only model in this world of the Land Cruiser 4Runner GX seoa that doesn't offer three-row seating, which is another mark in favor of the 4Runner or the Lexus GX if you want to spend a little more money. but anyway let's move on to the cargo area, but before we get into the cargo area let's talk about the tailgate on the new Land Cruiser.

I already mentioned that the glass opens separately from the tailgate, but one drawback that will disappoint Land Cruiser faithful is there is no more split tailgate on the Old Lane Cruiser models, half of the tailgate is raised and the other half is lowered. It came down so you could sit on it, have a picnic, whatever you wanted to do, you no longer have the separate glass opening and then the rest. The tailgate simply opens like the tailgate of a normal SUV, fortunately it is electrically operated. Now you come back here and you can see all the Phantom stuff for the third row that doesn't exist and you can also see a pretty big cargo area that looks like a big block. a little bigger than what you get in the 4Runner again, although this is a little smaller again, talking about small amounts here, but due to the boxy design of this vehicle I think it has a little more room or at least that's how it looks now.

One drawback that I think people are going to complain about with the new Land Cruiser is the height of the load floor, you can see, it's higher than the bumper, higher even than the inside door sill, it's higher that to put things in here, this has also been a complaint about the new Toyota seoa and the reason why it is like this in the seoa is because of the hybrid component that is apparently under the floor in the rear and takes up space, which lifts the loading floor. I suspect that's also the situation happening here now.

A nice benefit is that there is a little extra storage pocket on the front of this cargo area if you want to put gear or other things that you don't want moving around, so it's nice to have that little extra storage pocket, but really It is not like this. helps with the cargo floor issue now also worth noting since we're talking about the cargo area, in addition to all the third row Phantom stuff, it's got an extra charging port back here, a style power port domestic where you can plug in household items, which is always good for you to go off-road.

You want to plug in an air compressor. You can do it easily with this power port. It's a great feature to see here, especially in this location, and also worth pointing out even if you've lost your cool. split tailgate on the Land Cruiser, you still have speakers on the inside of the tailgate, so if you want to have some kind of fun tailgate party, you can't sit there like you used to, but you can still have music and you can plug things into that outlet, so there's a big element of fun anyway and finally we need to discuss the last important element of the Land Cruiser, which is the trim line and then the positioning within the Toyota lineup, which is, as I mentioned, maybe a bit complicated, but let's start with the equipment levels and prices, so the Land Cruiser will be launched with three different versions available: the base model which, as I said, is the stripped down version of Back to Basics for people who want the simple life is called the 1958 model which is a nod to when the Land Cruiser came out and starts around $58,000 with simple basics like cloth upholstery.

Now if you want some nicer stuff you can get this Land Cruiser, this is the mid trim level, it doesn't have a name, it's just It's called the Land Cruiser and it starts around $63,000 with the basics that you would expect in a vehicle like this, yeah you want one that's loaded with everything it's called first edition and it starts at around 76,000 it's packed with a lot of the cool stuff that you would want as an option on this Land Cruiser just get the first edition and you can get them all obviously , I don't expect the first edition to stay in the Land Cruiser line for long, probably just this model year. but I'm sure they'll replace it with something similar in the future.

Now all of these prices are a pretty big discount compared to the outgoing Land Cruiser, which started at $86,000. It's like I mentioned a totally different position in the Toyota lineup. although the size is actually almost the same, there is only an inch difference between the new Land Cruiser and the old Land Cruiser, it's just that that was the top model in the range, it has everything, it does everything, model Toyota and that position is now occupied by the Sequoia which costs around $90,000 in its highest trim levels, it has sort of taken the old place of the Land Cruiser and the Land Cruiser has moved here and that is my big confusion , where exactly is here?

What I mean by this is that I don't completely know. I understand exactly how Toyota separates all the off-road SUVs that currently populate its lineup. I say this because I just spent 3 hours with the new 4Runner and posted my video on the new 4Runner last week. I haven't driven it, but I poked around as much as I could and frankly, I like the Forerunner a little more, which is a problem for Toyota because the Land Cruiser is more expensive and supposedly more desirable. You settle for a precursor you aspire to. Land Cruiser, but for me it doesn't work that way, let me explain.

I think the 4Runner looks better, that's especially true of the TRD Pro model. I just think it has a more muscular and bulky look, where this is kind of a little cartoony and maybe a little stylized. I just like the look of the 4Runner better, it doesn't look like it's trying as hard, then there's the fact that the L Cruiser and 4Runner share an engine, not just a similar engine. the exact same engine with the exact same specs and since they are basically the same size within an inch and a half of each other, it probably suggests that the performance will be about the same and the 4Runner offers third row seating while the Land Cruiser is not another point for the 4Runner if you are looking for additional space and the 4Runner as I mentioned is going to be cheaper.

I suspect it will start around $40,000 while this one starts at $58,000 for the base base. model, you can probably get a fully specced 4Runner TRD Pro, the cool off-road version for the same price as this, the mid-version Land Cruiser which, frankly, isn't all that inspiring, cool or exciting, especially compared to that 4Runner TRD Pro, that's all To be clear, I think the new Land Cruiser is completely competent and well put together. A decent interior. Good technology. Good space. Good drivetrain. Has it all. I'm just not exactly sure what it does better than the Forerunner, except maybe the brand name.

Land Cruiser is a little cooler I guess, and maybe some people prefer that look, but if you want that look, you can also upgrade to the Lexus GX and get more power and third row seats and still keep the Land Cruiser look and I understand why. people will do that compared to a 4Runner, you get the luxury of Lexus, more power, you still get the cool looking third row, but you don't get any of that with the Land Cruiser or you step up to the 4Runner and get basically all the benefits of this. but in a fairly similar package that I think looks better, the Land Cruiser seems to me to be floating in no man's land in Toyota's lineup and I'm not really sure what the compelling reason is to buy it instead of some of their Toyota.

Guys, but anyway, with all that being said, I'm going to stop talking about the new 4Runner now and get behind the wheel of the Land Cruiser and let you know exactly how it drives by first driving the new Land Cruiser. What I noticed the moment I started running is that this powertrain has power and I say this as someone who had the old Land Cruiser with the V8 engine and who has a current Sequoia V6 turbo with 440 horsepower, this powertrain has power even though it's a four-cylinder hybrid, you wouldn't think it can really do much, that's not the situation, it actually moves surprisingly well.

I had to pull out of a driveway to get onto like a high-speed country road, you know, two lanes, it does. great, no problem getting there, the other thing I noticed instantly, uh, driving, is that the ride quality is much better than in the outgoing Land Cruiser, the old Land Cruiser, I mean, there's still a body on the frame, but it came out in 2008 and The last 16 years have given us a lot of technological updates and improvements in the world of suspension and noise, vibration, harshness, you know, testing and durability, and this seems much smoother and calmer, especially sitting here, going at speed, one of my big complaints about the previous model was that it really felt like a truck, uh, and this one is a truck too, but it doesn't have the exact same amount of truck feeling.

You have a high seating position with a square windshield, so you know where to sit. like you're sitting down and you're in a big, bulky vehicle, you know, the king of the road, but you don't necessarily feel like you're in such a big vehicle, it's definitely more comfortable, definitely, quieter. The more quiet ride, I will say in terms of steering and handling, it's still a little heavy, the steering has a lot of play, straight up and when you do any kind of sharp, hard cornering, you definitely feel some body roll. After all, it is a tall vehicle and, again, it is still a body-on-frame vehicle, so it will have some of these truck features.

This is certainly not a performance vehicle, but I'm surprised at how strong that powertrain is, although I will say that when I floor the powertrain, uh, and go over any kind of little cornering situation that you're having, you're definitely getting more body roll than I think you know you would expect in anything that's really very established and really nice. Street focused and that's the trade-off for an off-roader, you know, I'm in a unique position here to judgethis vehicle because I have a seoa, I have the old Land Cruiser, I have a lot of experience and I just drove the new GX.

I have a lot of experience in all of these and I would say this slot is up there, uh, there are a few things I like about each of them, better than the Sequoia. I prefer that wonderful V6, uh. This is a great powertrain, but it's hard to fight that - even with the Sequoia's added size and weight, it still feels tanner and more muscular overall. It feels like a great vehicle. This one is priced at $65,000. This is exactly the same. We were all hoping they would bring back the Land Cruiser name. I'm glad they did it.

Again, I'm not quite sure how exactly it fits into the lineup, considering it's in the same spot as the 4Runner, just more expensive. 4Runner, but you get this cool Land Cruiser name, definitely cooler styling and probably a little more capable off the pavement. We'll see how the new 4Runner performs. My only real complaint is that I really wish they had put the third row in the Land. Cruiser, um, and it would be cool to see how it performs if it had this AOA V6, even a dtune version with only 400 horsepower, uh, like the GX has in general, although I think they've done a good job bringing Land.

Cruiser really emulates old school styling in a great way and I think it's a special vehicle that is reasonably priced, looks great and drives reasonably well on the pavement. One of the things I think is worth pointing out about the new Land Cruiser. is that the driver assistance technology is really excellent, kind of similar to what I have in my sequel and I really like it, you can't do automatic lane changes which is a little disappointing but it does an amazing job. Lane following, so when you're taking highway curves or whatever, it does a fantastic job of keeping the car going with just minimal input from the driver, you don't have to watch the steering wheel as much, you just had to keep one hand. resting on it, uh, which is kind of the mark of a good driver assistance technology right now in terms of the off-road capabilities of the new Land Cruiser, unfortunately I haven't been able to test them when we get to off-road. -Roadside setup to do exactly that, but unfortunately it rained and all the trails became incredibly muddy and it's not really a usable scenario.

I'm driving it right now on kind of a dirt track, um, and I've driven it a little bit. It is a type of thick, wet mud and its performance is admirable and reasonably good, but not enough to test it. Still, it gives you a very confident feeling when you're off the pavement um and in that mud, you know, the power transfer from the wheels seemed great. Etc., we're talking about a really small amount of time. It would have been nice to be able to test it more, but I don't control the weather. and that's the new

2024

Toyota Land Cruiser, frankly it's a fantastic truck with great benefits and I'm absolutely thrilled that they brought back the Land Cruiser name.

Frankly, I still miss the big boy, the giant 300 series Land Cruiser that Toyota sells globally, but This is a fantastic revival of the Land Cruiser brand here in the United States and now it's time to give the new Land Cruiser a try a score from Doug and Doug's score here is 58 out of 100, which puts the new Lane Cruiser here against some of its rivals. It's only okay to link the new seoa TRD Pro and fall behind the new Lexus GX, which has a little more power, slightly better looks and more equipment. The real test will come when I drive and review the new 4Runner, which looks cheaper and more practical.

Land Cruiser and since they have the same powertrain I already have a pretty good idea of ​​how the 4Runner will drive, frankly I would probably wait to get the Forerunner instead of the new Land Cruiser which is more expensive but if you really want the Land Cruiser brand , you can pay a premium for it