Well, this afternoon I headed down to the local Toyota dealer to check out the new LC on the lot. I was down a couple weeks ago, but they had only received one unit and the dealership's owner bought it, so there was nothing to look at. Saw the silver one on the lot about 10 days ago....still there today so I went to give it the once-over. I think it's a nice truck, but it doesn't seem $72,000 nice. I like the additional storage features sprinkled around the vehicle. It looks like they've got all passenger areas well protected from impact with plenty of airbags. Interior is clean, neat, and crisp. I'm sure it's a solid truck, much like it's predecessors, I only hope we'll be able to special order without sunroof, leather, coolbox and other fluff down the road. With respect to the exterior design, the word that comes to mind is "bla". When I had an 80 and looked at the 100, I thought it was a really nice looking truck. Nice lines. Nicely shaped wheel arches. Nice looking front facia. I wasn't happy with the "pussy" rear bumper, but the plasticized rear bumper was the way bumper design was going across the board, but compared to the 80 rear bumper, it was definitely tupperware-looking. But it was scupted and flowed with the lines so the truck looked nice to me. The 200 is just sort of "bla" from every angle. I like the smooth doors without the plastic strip down the middle...it looks cleaner like on the 80-series, however I do like the door-ding protection the strip on the 100-series provides. I think the 200's have an optional moulded door-ding strip, but at the price they're charging, there shouldn't be a surcharge for that option. Unless it grows on me, I may be skipping the 200 and plan on buying a 300. If my 100 tanks and I have to buy another Land Cruiser, I'd find it VERY hard to get comfortable writing a $72,000 check for a 200-series. It'll be interesting to see how a year or two of depreciation effects market prices.
I find it interesting that I live in a city of 2.9 million people, the area I live in has a median annual income of approximately $95,000, and I haven't seen ONE 200-series on the road. Perhaps a $72,000 Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough sell....too early to say. Personally, I'd like to see an upmarket Lexus truck with all the bells-and-whistles for those who want to pay up for all the fluff, and a cloth-interior, non-sunroof, basic bare-bones utilitarian cruiser for the rest of us. They make them for the rest of the world, so why make it so difficult to get THAT type of cruiser here? If the grand marketing plan is to differentiate the LC from the Lexus, then strip the fluff out of the LC, dial the price out of the stratosphere, and bring in the diesel engines to maximize fuel economy. I hope Toyota gets a clue before I need to replace my '98 otherwise I may have to take my loyalty elswhere.
you actually read it?
These vehicles are made for NEW buyers (not wheelers buying an old one).