My New 2024 Land Cruiser

Let me get this out of the way: I had major reservations about the new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser. I criticized the decision to not offer the now questionable and recalled V35A-FTS twin turbo V6 in the new Land Cruiser. I called it the "Lame Cruiser", I wanted more power than the T24A-FTS hybrid offers, I wanted more than 8 gears in the transmission. If you look hard enough you will find me casting shade on a $70K vehicle that I just bought an example of not 72 hours ago.

Furthermore; let me point out that I am basically a caveman at heart: I just want a big ass powerful engine, 4X4, and no bullshit. Most technology is viewed with skepticism and grumbling on my part. I'm in my 40's but have the cranky attitude of an 80 year old. I look forward to yelling at kids to get off my grass, and regaling people with tales of the good old days because it will annoy them and secretly amuse me that they are annoyed.

So with those admissions out of the way I will get into the decision to purchase a 2024 Land Cruiser.

This started when Toyota and Lexus introduced the 250 series Land Cruiser and the GX550. I thought maybe it would make a good daily driver for me in 2025 or 2026, I would at least give them a chance. My leaning was towards the GX550 because it has a twin turbo V6 and the 10 speed.

Then in August my mom's 2021 RX350 had a wheel bearing start growling, she lives with us, and we are around 250 miles from the nearest Lexus dealership, we'll call it a 5 hour drive. Lexus wasn't about to pay a Toyota dealer 50 miles away to do warranty work and wanted her to either get the vehicle to the dealer or they would flat bed it within 72 hours of normal business days to the dealer. Needles to say that has made everyone in this household reconsider the practicality of owning a daily driven vehicle that doesn't have relatively close warranty and service support. So a GX550 was ruled out. Depressing me because frankly I was underwhelmed with the Land Cruiser on paper.

Fast forward two weeks from the wheel bearing fiasco wherein my mom drives the car to the Lexus dealership in Lincoln, NE which is 8 hours away but we were going on vacation and it was on the way and my brother and his family live there. The Lexus dealer service department doesn't take her seriously and does nothing. So she drives it that two weeks of vacation, and we drive our 2015 Chevrolet SS in case the damn driver side rear wheel on the Lexus falls off because that is the one a local mechanic diagnosed as going out. She schedules another service appointment at the end of our vacation in Lincoln. They finally fix it the second time. Shitty service department, avoid them at all costs; they are shitbirds.

On the way back to Lincoln, I get into a fender bender in the SS. Tear up the front bumper cover, parking sensors, and a DRL, headlight, and foglight.

Two months later my insurance company gives up on sourcing collision repair parts that don't exist in North America. Unwilling to risk ordering parts from Australian sources and trying to get them here, they finally total loss the car. I elected to not buy it back, because if parts are this hard to find now how much harder will they be to find in the future?

The hunt for a new daily driver for my wife begins in earnest. We test drove a Toyota Crown Platinum with the Hybrid Max, and a Toyota Crown Signia with whatever godawful hybrid CVT horseshit is in that poor wagon. The build quality is excellent but they're both boring as shit to drive and the wagon needs a lot more power, it should have the Hybrid Max T24A-FTS electric motor and 6 speed of the Crown sedan. Both of these vehicles need significant upgrades to the rubber under them. Terminal understeer, very little lateral grip.

We were also able to test drive a Toyota drive event Toyota Land Cruiser 1958 trim. Even with cloth seats and a small screen and hard plastics in the interior it was instantly our favorite. My reservations about the T24A-FTS hyrbid and 8 speed combo were easily put to bed. The combo has tons of low end and midrange torque, it's not fast compared to the 415hp sport sedan it's replacing but it's not a penalty box either. Kind of diesel like in power delivery, just no real need to rev much past 4000 RPM, the 8 speed smoothly and deftly surfs the 465ft-lbs of torque on offer and it just does what it is supposed to. Alas there is a 6-9 month wait at our local dealer on Land Cruiser trim Land Cruisers which is what we wanted because the 1958 cloth seats, a 7 year old boy, and a Rottweiler don't get along.

We then test drove a Mazda CX-90 and the wife liked it second best, very nice handling and a lovely turbo inline six engine. Plus they are readily available. So we started looking for a CX-90 Turbo S Premium Plus. I managed to find one down in the Denver area that was CPO with only 5K miles on it and it would save us over $10K off new. OK fine, not my cup of tea but it's for the wife not me. However the salesman can't seem to get down to business and can't seem to answer the damn phone. Giving me time to look around, and the motivation to do so.

Low and behold Team Toyota in Scottsbluff, NE was showing a 2024 Land Cruiser trim with premium package and some stuff I didn't want on it in stock. Nothing ventured nothing gained I called their sales department and got in touch with a salesman who actually wanted to sell a damn vehicle. He told me there were already people on it, but he'd ask his sales manager. I told him I was quite serious about buying it. 20 minutes later he calls back with his sales manager on the line, he called his list and put them on the spot, time to crap or get off the pot; I guess they all got off the toilet. I told my wife this is what it is, this is the color you hate the most, but it's in stock, and it's ours if we want it: yes or no. She said yes (which is good because I pretty much committed with a non refundable deposit).

So now we own a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser with the Premium Package, 20" wheels (that I don't care for at all), and some other stuff that the port added on because money grab. It's Trail Dust with a Grayscape roof over black leather.

 

After taking delivery we got the dubious pleasure of driving the 2 hours and change home back to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Of course we got to do this in the dark because the delivery process takes quite awhile on a new vehicle because of all the technology features that have to be set up.

I am happy to report that despite all the infotainment functions and instrument screen complications the basic controls for the important stuff are all still physical buttons and they are logically placed and easy to use. No bullshit or gimmicks for the most part. Good.

Ride quality is very good maybe a touch flinty over some road imperfections, the 18" wheels and tires on the 1958 trim we test drove gave a more compliant ride than the 20"s on ours. This may have been exacerbated by the tire pressures being a smidge high on all 4 tires, I readjusted them this evening and drove around a bit and it helped but 18"s will still ride a little better and provide a more robust sidewall.

Seat comfort in the front seats is outstanding, and they have plenty of adjustment. The rear seats seem OK, but I don't spend much time back there and 7 year old boys aren't overly sensitive about such things. Legroom is adequate but not expansive like the Sequoia we test drove many months ago. The cargo area is useful, it's shaped like a box, and no 3rd row of seats exists so it can be a proper cargo area with a rubber floor mat. My son does already appreciate that the HVAC vents are in the ceiling and blow warm or cool air on him better than the console vents on the SS. Plus it has a rear climate control so we can set or he can set the temp, fan speed, and airflow.

Materials in the Land Cruiser trim are a big step up over the 1958 trim, it's essentially a different vehicle in almost every surface you see or touch. Gone are the hard plastics, instead soft touch materials of very nice finish. The infotainment and instrument screens are both larger.

The Premium Package nets the JBL audio system which is considerably better than the basic audio system, you also get a cool box in the center console which I'm not convinced is worthwhile but will give it a chance. Also included with the Premium Package is a head up display which is a pain in the butt to get adjusted but once it is it's pretty damn good. Seats are leather instead of Softex, which is a bummer because I like the Softex. You also get a sunroof, which I could care less about. You also get some driver aids beyond the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 that I can't comment on because I haven't used any of them yet. Also included is a digital rear view mirror which is outstanding, and a Qi wireless charger that actually works. Despite some crap I don't care about I will allow that the Premium Package is worth it to get the HUD, JBL, and digital rear view mirror.

We drove home on very very dark two lane highways with deer and elk moving around, and we saw both on or near the road. Fortunately the Land Cruiser grade triple beam LED projector headlights are excellent. Extra credit to Toyota for equipping the truck with Rigid fog lights. Some fog lights on some vehicles (too many) seem to do jack crap other than add to cosmetics, but these rigid fog lights put out some damn light, and have a very wide throw putting lumens into the ditches to spot critters. Excellent.

Here is an example of the high beams at work, wife driving while I take photos:



A cheap party trick, the fog lights can change color at the push of a button. White or yellow.

 

Typical grumpy railroader, huh? Haha.

Land Cruiser looks pretty nice. I kinda like that color.

 

For anyone who is curious the cool box can still be used as a center console it’s just smaller than a non cool box. Deep enough to take a blaster in a holster with probably up to a 5” barrel if needed.





Please note I’m not condoning storing a gun in the center console, but if your carry gun is digging into you or the seats on a long trip and you need a place to put it while you drive this will work.

 

I adore the color, my wife is not fond of it.

Then again she likes pop country music, and married me….so clearly she has no taste at all.

 

As an added bonus to our nocturnal transit back to the Black Hills we got a break in the overcast when we swapped drivers, and got to see the Aurora Borealis.

 

Ha, I said the same, but mostly about the crazy new prices (didn't want to contribute to the lunacy) ... would still be in my 16 dinosoar, if didn't run into the exact model bought.


So don't beat yourself up too much and congrats !!

 

Some other observations about driving the Land Cruiser with some explanations.

1.) Steering is fairly accurate and the steering effort is appropriate to the vehicle. Seems to track well and is predictable, the steering and suspension don't seem to be overly upset by bumps etc.

2.) Visibility is great. So much better than the Sequoia and Tundra. Very airy greenhouse like cabin, with low door sills and small A pillars that don't block your view. The hood has pronounced contours over the front tires letting you know exactly where you are on the road and where your front tires are.

3.) The lane keep assist is actually pretty damn good, I usually hate this feature in my mom's RX350 but that is a prior generation version and is not as smooth. I was running on about 4 hours of sleep the day we took delivery because the RR managed to give me a really long stay in the away terminal hotel and a long crappy trip home. Gotta admit it was nice to be able to let the lane keep assist babysit the steering while my tired eyes looked out for critters in the ditch. The only reason I ended up driving was because I was out spotting my wife 4 to 1 on critters and she asked if I would take over since I was spotting them way before her or at all in some cases. She also commented that she felt more at ease with the lane keep assist running during her stint.

4.) Braking performance seems to be pretty decent and any worries I had about it being non-linear due to the hybrid system are no longer a concern, it is predictable and well sorted enough that I don't notice any regenerative braking.

5.) The T24A-FTS iForceMax in this rig is much better than I expected it to be. The power delivery is so much better than I anticipated, and it will get with the program when asked to. It's not as quick as the V35A-FTS in a GX550 or the iForceMax in a Sequoia or Tundra, but by no means is it slow or laggardly. It reminds me a great deal of the kind of effortless but not overwhelming power the old 4th Gen 4Runner V8 has, lots of torque, no drama, no need to thrash it. It can sound a little gruff though, and I suspect an aftermarket exhaust would not only be pointless but sound like complete ass. On our drive home we averaged about 23.6 MPG and it's not broken in yet, for reference we were driving about 65 to 70 MPH. On the Land Cruiser forum other owners are reporting that the hybrid starts to kick in more and mileage and performance improve a bit after 1000 miles. The theory is that Toyota may have programed the hybrid system to be less active until the gasoline engine and the transmission have had a chance to break in before full power becomes available. I suspect Tacoma buyers who opt for the iForceMax will be quite pleased, this thing craps all over the 2GR-FKS and it's not even close.

 

My aunt drives one and I see them around town these days. We needed something bigger or else would have thought more about it. Hopefully your motor lasts with no issues and its smooth sailing. Any discount on price? I'm starting to see them discounted slightly near me. After the first couple months of release this summer, they have started to pile up. One near me has 7 and is a smaller dealer relative to city dealers.

 

Inventory around here is still very very tight for any trim. Payed MSRP, but at least there were no markups or dealer added nonsense.

If we had the luxury of time we probably could have done better, but it was close and available and we had a time crunch.

 

I used to laugh about people paying MSRP, but as we all know, that's the story for popular cars still. And I've had to do it twice over the last 3 years. The discounts around here aren't much, so its not like you left 5k on the hood by buying that over shopping around. More like 500-2k max. Hope you guys can keep enjoying it for as long as you want to keep it!

 

Congrats

We test drove one and concur on each of your observations

 

How did she get her driver's license being that blind?

 

I just looked at these this week and I thought they didn't represent the LandCruiser brand well. I have owned 3 Cruisers and I immediately was not impressed. The 1958 trim is horribly cheesy and cheap. It was an instant no even if it was good for keeping things simple. The upper trim model that the OP bought is the only way to go. BUT... in person the colors they offer on this model are equally terrible. I honestly said to the salesman... " No wonder you have 6 of these on the lot, the colors are heinous! " He replied with a shrug.
I loved the previous years, but this "tough" styling and excrement color choices have turned me away for now. I hope the OP has good luck with it and wish you many years of happy cruising!

 

Congrats on the new Land Cruiser! I appreciate the write up on the purchase and initial ownership impression. I hope you get many years of reliable use out of the vehicle.

 

Thanks for taking the time you spent delivering this very detailed feedback on the new LC platform. As my wife's sequoia ages, we keep looking for options and the new gx 550 and this LC are some of her first choices.

 

The 1958 trim is very basic, and wasn’t for us. If it had nicer door cards, and the larger screens and JBL available it would solve a lot of that trim level’s issues I think.

Color palette is of course subjective. More traditional LC buyers are probably best served with black, pearl white, and the meteor shower (silver). Meteor Shower was our number one choice because light plays on it very well and it’s a more subtle and restrained color, in keeping with the concept of “stealth wealth”.

The two heritage color combos with two tone roofs are throw back homages to much older FJ’s. There is an old FJ40 sitting in a field in Upton, WY I pass at work everyday that is painted pretty close to the mustard yellow color of Trail Dust and it has a white roof. I think the Trail Dust and Grayscape combo look better in person than in photos. Same for the Heritage Blue and Grayscape, the one of those I’ve seen in person was a bit darker blue than photos.





I have to point out the colors are nearly identical…. Just sayin’.

Styling is what it is, I like it much more than the previous 200 series truck. If the 300 series were sold here I’d prefer that over this 250 series but we don’t get the 300 unless it has a Lexus badge and for me that is a non starter. I think the public agrees the styling looks great, Toyota has probably sold more Land Cruiser 250’s in 6 months of 2024 than all of 2020 and 2021 combined when the 200 was last sold.

 

I briefly considered the Ineos but nearest dealer is in Denver and that kind of put a damper on it. Plus I question the long term viability and support of the brand.

As I just discovered if you keep cars long term it’s probably a wise decision to make sure the company making them are in it for the long haul.

If I had the garage space, skills, and time (and extra vehicles in the fleet) I would have bought the SS back and sourced the needed parts to put her back together again. That just doesn’t describe my current situation in life though.

 

Love it! I got the 1958 back in July-good enough for me because my wife gets the expensive car lol.
After almost 3k miles I’m averaging 25.8MPG

 

Sweet. I don’t know what we will get to for mileage once it’s had more time to get broken in. The 20” wheels are heavier than your 18”s and the tires are a bit taller and wider, and of course heavier. We shall see.

Next Sunday I head down to Denver and pick up five stripped First Edition 18” wheels a guy took off his FE trim. So I’ll have two sets of wheels and tires all said and done including matching spares. My plan is to put a set of reasonably balanced all terrain tires on the 18”s that are severe snow service rated for late fall/winter/early spring, and run the stock 20”s through late spring/summer/early fall. Once the stock 20” tires wear out or I get sick of them I will put dedicated winter tires on the 20” wheels.

 

This LC250 or the GX550 will be a noticeable upgrade to your Wife’s Sequoia in the build quality and materials department. Not casting negativity towards the Sequoia but this Japanese built LC is just a step above US built Toyotas. The plastics and other materials are just nicer, at least in the LC trim. Very Lexus like in execution, which makes sense because the LC250 and GX550 are built on the same assembly line at Tahara, although the LC250 has an additional plant at the Hino Trucks plant in Hamura. Mine is a Hamura built truck, but the parts are all from the same suppliers.

If she no longer needs the raw space of the Sequoia the LC/GX will probably be a good fit. She’ll get all the updated tech if that is important, nicer interiors, and frankly more useful power while retaining true full time 4 Wheel Drive with a TORSEN center differential. Plus the Land Cruiser in all trims get a locking rear axle, and the LC top trim also gets a disconnecting front stabilizer bar so you can get some serious articulation if needed.

A note on the power, I live at around 3500 feet of elevation. I also own a Tundra with a 3UR-FE. The iForceMax in the Land Cruiser feels quite a bit more powerful at low and midrange RPM’s where you actually drive. Getting 465ft-lbs of grunt at about 1700 RPM really does make a difference.

 

Basically a lot of reasons we're looking for the upgrade. The 04 sequoia will likely stay in the fam though and go to our 15 year old who turns 16 next spring.

 

For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet The Car Care Nut has a detailed technical review:

https://youtu.be/kcNlKJCzudg?si=HkyjY2MI3vWGfIH-

 

Not to keep nerding out and getting into levels of detail that no one cares about, this evening after swimming laps and making my 7 year old son swim with me to earn bedtime stories (I am a cruel and unyielding father); I decided to explore the back of the Land Cruiser, specifically the cargo area. There have been some concerns online about the hybrid battery taking up too much space, making the load floor too high, and of course robbing us of a 3rd row of seats that would be suitable only for undersized toddlers.

So I decided to open up all the covers that don’t involve tools to remove them, and see what was under them. I also folded the rear bench seat all the way forward to judge how many inflatable dates could fit back there for a P-Diddler style freak-a-thon.

Here is what I found:

1.) The compartment immediately behind the back seats actually has a useful amount of space and this is where your tire tools live. I will probably add a non-marring dead blow hammer to this compartment for knocking wheels off rotor hats if they get galvanic corrosion and don’t want to come off. Maybe some other emergency road side stuff too, not a convenient access storage area but good for infrequently used items that a guy or gal should have. Probably put jumper cables here as well.



2.) Next a survey of the very back reveals three storage cubbies located around the hybrid battery box. An excellent place to stick a quart of oil, ice scraper, or whatever odds and ends you might want like auto glass cleaner and a couple of microfiber towels. The side compartments aren’t huge but can probably accommodate a cargo net when you’re not using it, bungee cords, etc.

 

I also discovered where the 12v battery lives. Once the cover and storage tray are removed access should be pretty strait forward.

Above it the bottle jack is secured.

 

Here it is all put back together and another shot of the difference in floor height between the stowed forward back seat at the cargo load floor.

 

Looking under the bumper we find a full size spare on a matching alloy wheel. Very Lexus like.

I strongly approve.

 

For those who haven’t seen it, the rear glass opens up separately from the cargo hatch, allowing access in a tighter space.

 

This is the most detailed write up ever. I almost put the deposit on a LC trim last month but decided to hold for a bit. I fell in love with one they had on the lot. The powertrain was great and I really liked the seating position and overall interior space.