The Land Cruiser is a humble Hummer H2

This is a review of all Land Cruisers in general because after living and reviewing quite a few (76 78,100,120,150,200), I think the internet is terribly corrupting the land cruiser. Land Cruiser is something familiar to me for years now. Our family has had land cruisers since even before I was a teenager. From the ‘skinny’ ones aka the Prado to the ‘proper’ ones. then there’s the 70 series which is something else.

Don’t get me wrong, The Land Cruiser is a good car but, its a good car for the reasons you wouldn’t expect! I mainly focus on the V8 ones such as the 100 and 200 but this is a full review of Land Cruiser’s in general.

Let’s start with Reliability. The Land Cruiser in general has this tough car image and it is further amplified by the internet. The Land Cruiser is known for being rugged and reliable but lets bust some of those myths as well as confirm what’s true.

Now the Toyota Hilux, That’s tough. Justified. We have had that and I promise you, I’m not going to argue with that statement. The Hilux is something else and the same goes for the 70 series Land Cruiser. The 70 series is a Land Cruiser I’ve been familiar with since childhood because it used to take us shopping and on long road trips and that one plus the Hilux I can certify but the others though is a complicated situation. Fun fact is I learned how to drive stick shift in a Hilux.

To say the same about anything from the Land Cruiser 100, 200, 120, 150 (Prado and Full size) is pure ‘cap’. I think what people really mean to say is that the Land Cruiser is easier to fix rather than more reliable. I don’t think those Land Cruisers are any more reliable than most cars on the road. It’s ‘cap’ ‘pure bollocks’. There’s a lot of Land Cruiser fans that will swear by dead that its the most reliable but, its Japanese car Tokenism. Just like most other cars, If the Land Cruiser isn’t maintained, it’s no better than a European or American cars today.

What? what exactly is this guy talking about? tokenism? yeahhh. Most Land Cruisers are not faultless so don’t think that because it’s a Land Cruiser that it will be ‘free to own’. Most people that buy them are enthusiasts that really love their Land Cruisers. Enthusiasts pamper their vehicles when it comes to maintenance so you may not even realise the faults. We have suffered with many of these issues. Not all but most.

The issues are the steering racks on the 100’s and 200’s, the engines blowing up on the 120’s, Hydraulic suspension my goodness, The hydraulic suspension is no better than Land Rovers air suspension. The only difference is the hydraulic suspension has steel springs so it doesn’t completely sit but it bounces like jello or J. LO. The sunroof leaks are notorious. Rust my friends, rust. Things loosening and falling off like mirrors and lights and water leaking into them. Transmission issues that can be deadly mainly on the Prado’s and Im not using the word deadly metaphorically, Im literally serious. KDSS, electric seats, window regulators squeaking, Head gaskets, Radiator and cooling, A.C, EGR values and turbos e.t.c.

So after we established this we were like wait a minute, these cars aren’t really as reliable as people hype! We had literally given up on one of them at some point. The radiator and A.C plus suspension were too much work but the difference between the Cruiser and its European competition is the Land Cruiser is relatively simple, so its relatively easy to fix in tough conditions but It isn’t any less expensive to maintain than any of its competition. You would have to weigh in when buying because the same things that make the European cars difficult to fix are the same things that make them more convenient and more importantly, ‘safer’. That’s my take on buying it for the reliability.

Next is quality and comfort. Now, if you buy the Lexus version then the quality is very good. There’s soft touch materials from top to bottom. Fake wood is a downside but at least it will never get termites. The leather is world class soft jeez, and the seats are so soft but that’s a major downside which i’ll explain. The other Land Cruisers are a little more basic but compared to the Japanese competition I can’t complain. The Nissan Patrol isn’t on the same level in terms of quality.

It’s where the Europeans come in that it starts to fall behind. The Land Cruiser doesn’t have that ‘solidity’ feeling. The materials are similar but the feel is different. It’s like a MacBook vs a Dell XPS or Wendy’s vs McDonald’s. When you hop into something like a Discovery straight after a Land Cruiser, You notice the Cliche ‘Bank Vault’ solidity that the Cruisers miss. My biggest problem with the Land Cruisers however is the seats, the seats have caused me serious hip joint issues and same with my Uncle.

I do not think it’s fair to compare the Land Cruiser to any Land Rover Range Rover. It shouldn’t happen, It’s a stupid comparison. I’ve realised that people buying Land Cruisers don’t even consider Range Rovers. The Land Cruiser is a nice car but I don’t necessarily think it’s a ‘luxury car’ in the same way that a Range Rover is although the Land Cruisers are Luxury oriented which puts it in very dangerous waters. It would be more fair to compare both the Prado and Big one to cars such as the Defender and Discovery.

If you really wanted to throw in the Range Rover into the mix then maybe the Lexus LX would be a better fit and in that case the LX has some studying to do because, I can not think of a valid reason to choose a new Lexus LX over a Range Rover other than the 8 seats and value retention. A Lexus LX can make a Range Rover feel ‘sporty’ and ‘light’. I kid you not, the Range Rover isn’t smaller than the LX at least dimensionally but when you drive them, the Range Rover feels manageable which is a ridiculous thing to say by most peoples standards!

Ride Quality is something that is most important to many people such as me. So where do these Land Cruisers stand? That’s more complicated than you think because people judge comfort differently. Some people judge it by the wrong way which is having soft suspension. I’ve said this in another blog but there’s a difference between a soft ride and a compliant ride. The Land Cruisers all have a soft rides but none have a compliant ride.

If you drive a Land Rover Discovery, Defender or any Range Rover, you’ll immediately notice that they feel firmer so you’re like what the hell? Aren’t Range Rovers supposed to be more comfortable? But they are. At some point you’ll realise that most of the bumps on the road are disappearing. In a Land Cruiser you are bouncing over everything. For example a speed bump, in a Land Rover you can point the car straight at it and fly over the bump as if it was pushed into the ground but in a Cruiser if you don’t slow down, It will bounce like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre made recommendations for the suspension. See what I mean? Some have the hydraulics of course but those are even worse even in the sportiest setting. Compliance is more important than softness.

The bigger issue that needs addressing is the driving dynamics now, the engine response is good and few complaints there. It’s just that they drive like trucks. Off-road its fine but on the road, no. From the steering to the gearbox responsiveness to the ride and body roll. This is the furthest SUV from something like an X5 as you can imagine. It’s not intimidating or dangerous by any means but don’t expect 911 GT3 levels of performance.

The place where the Land Cruiser shines is practicality. It’s such a shame that they had to reverse all the benefits of the practicality with the engines. The efficiency of the petrol engines in general is not good. First is the fuel economy. We are going through a fuel crisis and the cruiser/ Lexus LX doesn’t make things any better. So you might say wait a minute? Range Rovers are just as bad. Who told you that? We have owned the thirstiest 5.0l Range Rover Supercharged AJV8 and the Land Cruiser/ Lexus LX was by far less efficient. The EPA estimates the Rangie to be around 14-18 mpg and its fairly accurate but the Land Cruiser with the V8 gets nowhere near that in ‘real life’. to put in into perspective, Over a daily commute, the Land Cruiser gets filled on Monday and Saturday where as the Range Rover could last from Monday till the next week on Wednesday and bear in mind the Range Rover has a smaller tank. This is a healthy serviced Land Cruiser bear in mind.

With this in mind you’d also have to consider that the competition is generally more efficient. the 2uz-fe and 1ur-fe make anywhere from 270 to 304hp. The competition make hundreds of horsepower more with smaller engines and before you bring in the argument of reliability, re-read the section above where I actually talk about the reliability. The better thing to do would be to buy the diesels but still the competition has better diesels. You ever seen a Land Cruiser on Wards 10 best engines? don’t wonder why. The engine may be simple but, why? Why are they going through all the trouble to make engines so simple?

The reason I would buy a Land Cruiser is the resale value simply. Land Cruisers hold their value well. In todays world, we live in a time of PCP and Hire Purchase and leasing. Most people that can afford this car will not keep it for more than 10 years. It’s cap. With the way things work these days especially with leases and PCP. Most contracts are around 3-5 years and at that point, in PCP you can return a car and buy a newer one which most people do. People get bored too, the same car for 10 years is like eating the same food everyday for months.

Institutions that buy these too such as the UN have policies that don’t let them keep cars for over a certain period typically no more than 10 years. I know this because of connections in Government and Non-government institutions. They mainly use them for field work and trips which is fair enough. Field work involves a lot of off-roading. The ones they use however for such tough jobs are the 70 series. Most 200 series and 100 series Land Cruisers never see dirt in the same way because they are luxury oriented. People that go to the bush prefer the 70 series. If its the bush we are talking about however then Land Rovers are the true lawn mowers. The Land Cruisers are good but when you off-road them side by side with something like a Land Rover Discovery then you can tell the Land Cruiser is less equipped for battle in its stock form. On top of that, the Land Rover is more of a point and shoot where as the Land Cruiser requires you to know specifically what to press in order to take advantage of it fully.

Land Cruisers are not cheap and they make them simple for the sake of ease to fix and reliability but on a car that’s less than 10 years old, are you seriously worried about reliability? Doug De Muro points it out in his video too saying that if you aren’t keeping a Land Cruiser for a long time then you’re just better off with the competition. So the major benefit this has which is value retention is completely overshadowed by the fact that people don’t actually keep them long enough to actually enjoy the benefits.

So, are you surprised that it was pulled from the US market and does not sell in Europe? no. The reason it does so well in Africa is that Africa actually accepts this pollution. If you owned this in London, you’d pay £12 every day in congestion charges. Every freaking day! 12 Quid! No wonder the new ones are all V6. The Land Cruiser 300 is a car that actually makes some sense. The older ones give you bad fuel economy and bad pollution in exchange for simplicity that you don’t need and a lack of power. I’m not an environmentalist but does this really make sense to you now? Does this situation remind you of something? Perhaps a reminder, Hummer H2. In this day and age you need technology! It cannot be avoided. It not only saves your life but the lives of others too and your wallet.

So you get what I mean? Something you like doesn’t have to make sense. We buy things that don’t make sense and so do many people. The Land Cruiser has been one of my favourite cars for years because of its looks and charm but, in 2022, In a time where fuel is almost £2 per litre and the world is concerned about the environment more than ever, vehicles are more reliable than ever and everyday, vehicle support and roads are being built leaving little off-roading to be necessary! In a world where payment plans are more popular leaving people to change cars every 3-4 years and technology is making the world both more efficient and safer, In a world where creature comforts are no longer luxuries and the standard of living is higher than ever and in a world where everyone is moving towards electric cars, Does the Land Cruiser make sense to you anymore?

If you have always desired to own a Land Cruiser then by all means buy it but, If you are genuinely looking for a good car to drive everyday in this day and age, I think the Land Cruiser reign is coming to an end. I love the Land Cruiser but love cannot beat logic sometimes. I’d check out the Land Rover Defender 110 or even 130 now. If used then I’d check out the Land Rover LR4 or Ford Everest. As for the smaller Prado, there’s too many options so its really upto personal preference on the competition.

(Some pictures aren’t pictures of our Land Cruisers because I can’t find all the pictures).

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