I hope Toyota is watching the market becasue there are some major changes happening to large SUVs. Companies are moving to the use of aluminum and spaceframes to save weight. Range Rover, Mercedes, Audi. Then there is the "introduction" of diesel engines in the US.
I'm not saying that this is the direction Toyota needs to take the Land Cruiser but if they do not AT LEAST come to market with a diesel I'll have to look elsewhere. Selling so few Land Cruisers I don't see how Toyota can justify selling them here. There must be Toyota execs who like them for themselves.
We're awaiting the delivery of a Mercedes GL350 diesel. There was one simple reason. Diesel's 30 mpg on the highway (and the monster torque). The interior is beautiful too. The price difference was about 10K more than the 2013 or 2014 land cruiser and the residual on the diesel is awesome.
I don't anticipate the reliability of the Land Cruisers BUT I also won't keep it past 5 years unlike all my Land Cruisers of the past. I'm also not selling mine just moving them around the family.
I've kept the 1999 like new and just refurbished the suspension with new bushings, shocks and tires. My brother needs to "borrow it" for a year.
I'll take the 2011 LC for myself now. Let the fun begin!
Land Cruiser = under the radar luxury and unmatched off road rugidness & reliability
LX = Look at me and my chrome, I just dropped 100K and it's reliable too
GL350= I'd like to follow the Land Cruiser off road but I don't want to get dirty
Residuals are better on the GL diesel ? Here in Cleveland there are several examples of low mileage 2011s at dealers for less than $25k. The cheapest 200 series LC, a 2008 with 70k miles, is still $45 k. That's pretty rock solid.