I was thinking of elite ruling class people in places like Pakistan and Haiti, where they like to drive Pajeros and Land Cruisers. In Pakistan I call em wadera-mobiles, a wadera is a landlord or “feudal” as they call ‘em.

But let’s put this into perspective…it is the vehicle of choice for moneyed elites in developing countries with poor roads. The other vehicle that is favored by such Third World ruling elites is the Mitsubishi Pajero.

Simply put, if you require a vehicle for use where improved roads and repair facilities are few and far between, you get a 4Runner. If you’re particularly well-off (think oil sheik), you get a Land Cruiser.

Toyota’s effort to capitalize on the original 40-series Land Cruiser’s unabashed ruggedness and reliability with the ungainly, quasi-retro FJ Cruiser is a rather unfunny joke.

That is all.

tell that to the Asian market which fully enjoys their Toyota Majestas, Crowns and Centurys.

RF: Your comment is a bit too strong.

The LC is not just a luxury car to many people, they consider it a tough truck, a piece of equipment, and they see Toyota to be a company that makes the best, most reliable SUV’s.

Mercedes has a HUGE range in Germany, and while the US is different, it could work here. Yes, it’s safer for them to keep Lexus and Toyota better branded, but when you are number one who can argue with your strategy?

Also, Toyota is in a rut because if they offered a down market LC wouldn’t it compete too much with the other million SUV’s they have? I wish they would do it, but I won’t hold my breath. I would love a rough and tumble world LC for about 45k. I would really love a stamped metal dash, powder coated interior parts, with the leather reserved for the people interface.

I suspect that if fuel prices keep going up, we may get one when the only people buying SUV’s are people who really want or need one. Lexus could continue to sell a pimped out luxo SUV for the weekend ranchers.

Overall, I wish they would NOT have taken the Toyota version up so high, but I can’t fault them for it. I will stick to buying used ones, and watch to see if the electronics hold up. The only thing on my ‘97 that is broken is the automatic antenna. Who thought a Landcrusher needed an automatic antenna?

That argument may hold water for vw and the phaeton, but not the cruiser. Toyota isn’t breaking from their traditional milieu to put out a new model in a different market segment. The cruiser has been at the top of its genre for a couple of (human) generations. And whatever States-side folks may think of toyota generally, this isn’t the tercel we are talking about. (That being said, it’s still too expensive. There ought to be a $50-ish LC available w/o the gizmos.)

Another thing, toyota only sells a couple thousand of these a year in the U.S., so it’s niche. But also note how often you recognize them on the streets. That’s b/c (1) visually the model hasn’t changed much over the years and (2)
they last much longer than any other SUV.

A quick reminder: Toyota is not an upmarket brand. It has no business charging upmarket prices, no matter how awesome the product.

That is all.

i would not be surprised if TOYOTA centurys and LCs also sell in excess of $100k there.

These are either the smartest people on the planet, or the ones with the least developed sense of irony….

still cheap (ok, reasonable) for what you get. as many posters have noted, the LC has a proven track record for 20+ year durability, AND ability in the outback and bush areas across the planet.

and how about $100K for a toyota? you can find those in the Toyota Century, their v12 limo intended to compete with rolls royce.

But comparing these vehicles to the landcruiser is apples and onions. Even the 100 series makes mincemeat out of the best jeep has offered in the last twenty-five years.

That being said, I’m not particularly fond of the 200, it does look generic, the additional space and weight (and decreased clearance) are not improvements, and, yes, it costs too much. I fully expect, however, that these vehicles will out-last their chevrolet, cadillac, hummer, and jeep contemporaries by 10-20 years. Because that’s the way toyota builds them.

My preference would be for one of the stripped-down versions offered in Australia, with a (clean) diesel.

There are plenty of people who want a new one though. Whine about the price all you want. If you really want a stupid price, go see a baseball game and whine about the players’ salaries.

If you want a great deal. Buy one when it gets down below 20k in price. It’s the last truck you will ever need to buy. It has real off road cred, even when stock. I have gotten all sorts of compliments on my ‘97 in middle of nowhere Canada where getting stuck can mean death.

Yes, Toyota has pimped it up, and no, I will not ever be buying one of these new ones with electronic overload. Perhaps they do electronics right, but I will wait and see. Reliability is key to the cost equation. I lose very little in depreciation, and spend very little time and money at the shop. My last domestic truck, an explorer, cost more each year than my crusher does in three years, and the exploder was just out of warranty.

Lastly, complaints about mileage are missing the point. If you are not on a road, you won’t be putting down a lot of miles. If you want to go across Asia, then you carry extra fuel in cans.

The base price is $63,000. OK, not cheap by any means, but to continously quote a price above $80,000 is like saying that a $45,000 Boxster is an $85,000 car because it can be optioned up to that price.

On the other hand I can see that many people here do not know what a Land Cruiser is. With the expection of maybe the MB G-Wagen and LR Defender this is the best 4WD SUV money can buy. This is the Rolex or Bretling of 4WD vehicles or put another way it is the 911 of off-road multi-passanger vehicles.
It has been so for a long time, before Lexus and the LS400. The LC demands a premium for the same reason that a Panasonic Toughbook does, when you need the best…………

I guess a lot of folks did not know that Toyota had already had it hand in the “high-end” auto market before they tried their hand at luxury cars!

One thing I don’t understand is why the Sequoia isn’t based on the LC Prado platform. How does Toyota justify a separate platform for something that sells in such small numbers.

Carshark: Toyota already sells two vehicles in the US based on the Prado platform: The Lexus GX470 (which is a near-copy of the Prado, with a few significant differences) and the 4Runner. And of course it’s already been pointed out that the Sequoia is based on the Tundra platform.

$85k for a Toyota?

These are either the smartest people on the planet, or the ones with the least developed sense of irony….

to debushau i would like to say that in australia the landcruiser line up is very pertinant. there is the down to earth work horse 70 series, the midsize lc prado, and the true lc. land cruiser is the name toyota gives to off road vehicles, this is shown by the small soft roader being called simply “kluger”

to westhighgoalie the grand cherokee is not as capable, yes it is much more reasonably priced but this is due to the relative simplicity compared to the lc. of course to a capable driver in a manual cherokee it makes no difference but to the inexperienced driver who wants an automatic vehicle the lc is the only choice