This forum was extremely useful to me in the course of my recent investigation of SUVs. In appreciation of the numerous helpful posts including those of previous buyers' buying experiences, here's mine. Hopefully, this information will be useful for others.
I was looking for a very high quality, capable, durable and discreet vehicle. A friend who has owned three (Lexus) LX470s spoke very highly of them, and I somehow found out that the LX470 was based on the LC and that the LC therefore also had to exist.
I test drove the Lexus LX570 but the "bling" put me off. I didn't care for the flashy wheels or the excessive chrome (e.g. around the tail lights) and in general felt the LC was a better-looking vehicle. I live in a prosperous area where fancy cars are a dime a dozen, but I often visit areas in which such vehicles never are seen. If the LC looks to most people like just another Toyota SUV - preferably a mid-market used one - then I would be very pleased.
Finding a Land Cruiser was difficult. The internet listed numerous dealers that supposedly had them, but when I called the dealers it quickly emerged that they did not have those vehicles. More surprisingly, many of the dealers' employees had no idea what a Land Cruiser was, and apparently had never seen (or noticed) one in their lives. When I finally reached somebody who was somewhat informed, they would tell me that no LC was available, and that the only way of getting one would be by making a special order, leaving a large deposit, and waiting 3 - 6 months. And paying full MSRP, of course.
The used market was not much better. Very few used LCs were available within a reasonable distance, and those usually disappeared from the market quite quickly. I did speak with one dealer who had recently sold an '08 which had languished on the lot for over a month because they originally asked for too much for a 3 y.o. vehicle ($58K), but they finally sold it for about $51K. I noted that an out-of-state Carmax (whose pricing is not negotiable) had a very nice 10K mile used 2010 available for $66K, but that disappeared from the web within a matter of days. (All of these vehicles had the upgrade package).
Then I got lucky. I checked e-Bay motors, and a dealer was auctioning off a brand new (2011) LC. Less than three days left on the auction. A buy-now price of around 76K (fully loaded). My preferred color/interior (white/sand beige). Even better, they were 30 miles up the road from me. To minimize the opportunities for shenanigans, I drove up there on Monday morning unannounced with a check, asked to see the LC (not there yet), and having established to my satisfaction that the vehicle actually existed and would arrive within a week, I agreed to pay them full price and left them a substantial deposit. The deal was finalized yesterday when the LC arrived; I have it now.
It will be interesting to see what the market for these vehicles will be like over the next year. Time will tell whether I turn out to be the one sucker who bought at MSRP when everyone else was getting $5K or $10K off, or whether MSRP and perhaps even above-MSRP pricing is an enduring market reality. It would have been very interesting to see how the auction would have ended up, but I didn't want to risk losing this vehicle and having to wait many months for another opportunity.
In any case, I plan to keep the LC for a long time, and it opens up rural and off-road opportunities which I haven't had since the last time I owned an SUV the early 1990's. I had a Nissan Pathfinder in 1991 - 1993, but have only owned cars since then.
I was looking for a very high quality, capable, durable and discreet vehicle. A friend who has owned three (Lexus) LX470s spoke very highly of them, and I somehow found out that the LX470 was based on the LC and that the LC therefore also had to exist.
I test drove the Lexus LX570 but the "bling" put me off. I didn't care for the flashy wheels or the excessive chrome (e.g. around the tail lights) and in general felt the LC was a better-looking vehicle. I live in a prosperous area where fancy cars are a dime a dozen, but I often visit areas in which such vehicles never are seen. If the LC looks to most people like just another Toyota SUV - preferably a mid-market used one - then I would be very pleased.
Finding a Land Cruiser was difficult. The internet listed numerous dealers that supposedly had them, but when I called the dealers it quickly emerged that they did not have those vehicles. More surprisingly, many of the dealers' employees had no idea what a Land Cruiser was, and apparently had never seen (or noticed) one in their lives. When I finally reached somebody who was somewhat informed, they would tell me that no LC was available, and that the only way of getting one would be by making a special order, leaving a large deposit, and waiting 3 - 6 months. And paying full MSRP, of course.
The used market was not much better. Very few used LCs were available within a reasonable distance, and those usually disappeared from the market quite quickly. I did speak with one dealer who had recently sold an '08 which had languished on the lot for over a month because they originally asked for too much for a 3 y.o. vehicle ($58K), but they finally sold it for about $51K. I noted that an out-of-state Carmax (whose pricing is not negotiable) had a very nice 10K mile used 2010 available for $66K, but that disappeared from the web within a matter of days. (All of these vehicles had the upgrade package).
Then I got lucky. I checked e-Bay motors, and a dealer was auctioning off a brand new (2011) LC. Less than three days left on the auction. A buy-now price of around 76K (fully loaded). My preferred color/interior (white/sand beige). Even better, they were 30 miles up the road from me. To minimize the opportunities for shenanigans, I drove up there on Monday morning unannounced with a check, asked to see the LC (not there yet), and having established to my satisfaction that the vehicle actually existed and would arrive within a week, I agreed to pay them full price and left them a substantial deposit. The deal was finalized yesterday when the LC arrived; I have it now.
It will be interesting to see what the market for these vehicles will be like over the next year. Time will tell whether I turn out to be the one sucker who bought at MSRP when everyone else was getting $5K or $10K off, or whether MSRP and perhaps even above-MSRP pricing is an enduring market reality. It would have been very interesting to see how the auction would have ended up, but I didn't want to risk losing this vehicle and having to wait many months for another opportunity.
In any case, I plan to keep the LC for a long time, and it opens up rural and off-road opportunities which I haven't had since the last time I owned an SUV the early 1990's. I had a Nissan Pathfinder in 1991 - 1993, but have only owned cars since then.
