Article: Why the 200 Series? (1 Viewer)

[Heritage 2020]

Greetings All,

This writer captures why I enjoy my Land Cruiser HE (LCHE interesting abbreviation) more than any personal/family vehicle owned, and why I’ll daily drive on many adventures it until it dies (long live the V8)—or pass it on to my daughter’s family way down the road someday.

I’ll happily maintain it, fill it with gas, keep it rolling on BFG AT KO 2, 3, 4, etc,….

I appreciate descriptive writing, and thought to share. Enjoy.

2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition Counterpoint: The myth, the legend, the Land Cruiser

I sat down to watch Everyday Driver’s 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser review having just wrapped up a week of my own testing with the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition (LCHE). The timing couldn’t have been better, affording me the rare opportunity to compare my impressions to those voiced by...

www.everydaydriver.com

 

[Gr8Daneger]

I think that article pretty much sums up how we all feel about our 200’s. Too bad that magic is gone in the US unless you can swallow buying a Lexus.

 

[tacoduck]

1- stealth wealth. People buy these things and run them for 10+ years. Why? Cars are crappy investments
2- reliability. When my wife’s truck goes down, the entire family suffers. The 200 won’t ever leave her stranded, is easy to work on, and parts are plentiful. My buddy had a new Denali with the baby duramax. 5k miles, it goes into limp mode on a trip to fla. Top speed, 40 mph on I 95 1000 miles from home.
3- safety. Drive these things through a violent thunderstorm and you get it. 6000lbs, awd tank. I drove 1 through a hurricane once and it was confidence inspiring. You also see pics of these trucks rear ended and they do really well.
4- capability. Drives incredible on the highway, then drop it in 4 low and it keeps up with highly modified jeeps. Lady on the streets, freak in the sheets.
5- rarity. You don’t see a ton on the road. They are special. Can’t say the same with range rovers.

 

[dbbowen]

1- stealth wealth. People buy these things and run them for 10+ years. Why? Cars are crappy investments
2- reliability. When my wife’s truck goes down, the entire family suffers. The 200 won’t ever leave her stranded, is easy to work on, and parts are plentiful. My buddy had a new Denali with the baby duramax. 5k miles, it goes into limp mode on a trip to fla. Top speed, 40 mph on I 95 1000 miles from home.
3- safety. Drive these things through a violent thunderstorm and you get it. 6000lbs, awd tank. I drove 1 through a hurricane once and it was confidence inspiring. You also see pics of these trucks rear ended and they do really well.
4- capability. Drives incredible on the highway, then drop it in 4 low and it keeps up with highly modified jeeps. Lady on the streets, freak in the sheets.
5- rarity. You don’t see a ton on the road. They are special. Can’t say the same with range rovers.

99.9% of cars are crappy investments. When i was in high school my neighbor had a spotless 97 supra with targa top, manual, turbo. It had 50,000 miles on it in 2008. He said its going to be worth money some day and boy was he right lol. You cant buy that car for less than 100k now. Prices back then were sub 20K wonder if hes still got it

 

[bloc]

99.9% of cars are crappy investments. When i was in high school my neighbor had a spotless 97 supra with targa top, manual, turbo. It had 50,000 miles on it in 2008. He said its going to be worth money some day and boy was he right lol. You cant buy that car for less than 100k now. Prices back then were sub 20K wonder if hes still got it

It was still far more of a risk than investing the same money other ways. And potentially far less profitable. I forget whether it was Chris Harris or Henry Catchpole but someone made this point in a video recently.

 

[KLF]

99.9% of cars are crappy investments. When i was in high school my neighbor had a spotless 97 supra with targa top, manual, turbo. It had 50,000 miles on it in 2008. He said its going to be worth money some day and boy was he right lol. You cant buy that car for less than 100k now. Prices back then were sub 20K wonder if hes still got it

Proof that cars are a terrible investment.

$20K invested in the stock market would earn about 8% average, and at 27 years it would be worth ~$160K. He's probably spent quite a bit on maintenance on the car since new as well, which makes it even worse.

 

[dbbowen]

Proof that cars are a terrible investment.

$20K invested in the stock market would earn about 8% average, and at 27 years it would be worth ~$160K. He's probably spent quite a bit on maintenance on the car since new as well, which makes it even worse.

If you invested 20k in the S&P500 in 2008 it would be worth 88.8K right now. If he was to sell that supra right now he could get over 100K. He can also drive and have fun in the car. Too many variables to make a direct comparison between appreciating assets. Interest rates, economy etc.

The other factor is that lets say dude was about 45 in 2008. hes 60 now. At 27 years he will be 72 years old. 15 years of happiness is far more valuable imo compared to 160k over 27 years. Its all relative. He used to drive his little daughter around in it. 10/10 worth it. Either way, who knows if he even has it anymore. This s***s not that deep

 

[dbbowen]

It was still far more of a risk than investing the same money other ways. And potentially far less profitable. I forget whether it was Chris Harris or Henry Catchpole but someone made this point in a video recently.

I dont think he bought it as an investment, he bought it because he liked it and wanted to have it. Not everything has to be for financial gain. He had some air cooled 911 also. Again, this s*** is not that deep

 

[bloc]

Again, this s*** is not that deep

Who said it was? Oh, you implied it is, getting into the enjoyment of driving with his daughter.

Your post was about that car as an investment. Don’t get butthurt when people point out that isn’t necessarily the best one.

 

[dbbowen]

Who said it was? Oh, you implied it is, getting into the enjoyment of driving with his daughter.

Your post was about that car as an investment. Don’t get butthurt when people point out that isn’t necessarily the best one.

JFC

 

[liv2bike]

Not to take anything away from our 200's...but mine is currently down with a bent valve (as my thread has been documenting). Nothing is bulletproof and my situation is very rare. It's mechanical and $hit can/will happen. I will admit I had a false sense of security b/c it absolutely left us stranded. Thankfully it was in town. And not in the remote reaches of Canyonlands where we were last week. The Land Cruiser went down right before we left and I had planned on taking it to Moab. If we had been in the 200 when it went down, we would have been in a real bad way. Granted I am prepared for situations but not everyone is.

 

[Supra Turbo]

99.9% of cars are crappy investments. When i was in high school my neighbor had a spotless 97 supra with targa top, manual, turbo. It had 50,000 miles on it in 2008. He said its going to be worth money some day and boy was he right lol. You cant buy that car for less than 100k now. Prices back then were sub 20K wonder if hes still got it

You got it spot on. I still have one of my Supras after all these years. Original TT chassis, 6 speed manual. I get to enjoy it, and the fact that it appreciated so much is just icing on top. I think sometimes people take the "car is not an investment" too literally, comparing it to the stock market. I guess I do too when I say - you can't lay rubber down the freeway with a stock market...

The good 'ol days..

Hard to predict the future, but IMO the 200 series LC has some attributes going for it, if not to appreciate in value, then hold steady around a specific range, higher than many other SUVs.

 

[PhuckItImDone]

I'm not a smart man, or an investor, that said, what I've seen as far as cars is A. Get it, never use it, hide it, many years later you have rare thing some people may find attractive. B. Get it, use it, enjoy it, risk damage or other problems, many years later you have thing different people may find attractive.
I can't get with A just because I like using my toys, unfortunately I usually use them hard and take away the possible value later.

 

[2021 LC200]

Yep, that is why I bought a new 200 in late 2020 and plan to use it for 25+ years with some minor mods to make it even more attractive to me. Surely investing 9 out of 10 will get you ahead, but I have other money for that and just want to enjoy what the 200 has to offer in endless amounts.

 

[04UZJ100]

Where does the money go? Look underneath. The 200 has drivetrain and suspension components that are equal to or bigger than 1 ton trucks. The LCAs dwarf every other manufacturers as do the CVs, tie rods, assembly hardware etc.

 

[Cruisin911]

Vehicles should never be compared to the stock market as investments. There are some that will "invest" in vehicles but it's probably more akin to gambling. Example: Ive got 2 air cooled 911s that I bought before all the craze started back in the early 2000s. Are they worth more now? Absolutely, but that only matters if I intend to sell them. My daughters have already staked claims on them, including the 200.

 

[Madtiger]

Where does the money go? Look underneath. The 200 has drivetrain and suspension components that are equal to or bigger than 1 ton trucks. The LCAs dwarf every other manufacturers as do the CVs, tie rods, assembly hardware etc.

I don’t know…LCA is big enough…but it is stamped boxed. UCA is stamped steel folded. I would love to see forged arms on both. But Toyota does this on all their SUVs.

 

[skrypj]

Where does the money go? Look underneath. The 200 has drivetrain and suspension components that are equal to or bigger than 1 ton trucks. The LCAs dwarf every other manufacturers as do the CVs, tie rods, assembly hardware etc.

Stop. The drivetrain and suspension components in my 2014 F150 were as beefy as the LC. The frame rails on my F150 were a lot larger. Nothing about the LC is even close to what is in a 1 ton truck from the last 15 years. They have been using 10.5+" ring gears in the axles of 3/4 ton trucks since the early 2000's at least. The lightest weight F250 regular cab gas engine 4x4 is just as heavy as the heaviest 200 series, except the F250 has cloth seats and a vinyl floor and an aluminum body the cut 400-500 lbs vs a steel body. Even a moderately optioned crew cab will be north of 7000 lbs even with the light weight aluminum body.

Lets just say, hypothetically, you could drop a 6.7L Cummins or Powerstroke that makes 1000+ ft-lbs of torque at 1500 rpm into the 200 series without changing anything else. You honestly think the chassis and drivetrain would survive holding up an extra 800 lbs of engine over the front tires and then be able to hook up to a 14000 lb trailer and use those 1000 ft-lbs of torque without it turning to dust?

Take out all the fancy leather and sound deadening and they wouldn't weigh any more than any other 1/2 ton truck or SUV. In fact, my LX570 is lighter than my parents mid-trim Expedition.

The 200 series is a stout truck for what it is but some of you are delusional.

 

[Madtiger]

Stop. The drivetrain and suspension components in my 2014 F150 were as beefy as the LC. The frame rails on my F150 were a lot larger. Nothing about the LC is even close to what is in a 1 ton truck from the last 15 years. They have been using 10.5+" ring gears in the axles of 3/4 ton trucks since the early 2000's at least.

Take out all the fancy leather and sound deadening and they wouldn't weigh any more than any other 1/2 ton truck or SUV. In fact, my LX570 is lighter than my parents mid-trim Expedition.

I do agree about 1 ton…my brother’s new F250 parts are very beefy…huge!

But, your parent’s Expedition is bigger than LX/LC200. So, there is that in terms if weight,

 

[bloc]

Stop. The drivetrain and suspension components in my 2014 F150 were as beefy as the LC. The frame rails on my F150 were a lot larger. Nothing about the LC is even close to what is in a 1 ton truck from the last 15 years. They have been using 10.5+" ring gears in the axles of 3/4 ton trucks since the early 2000's at least. The lightest weight F250 regular cab gas engine 4x4 is just as heavy as the heaviest 200 series, except the F250 has cloth seats and a vinyl floor and an aluminum body the cut 400-500 lbs vs a steel body. Even a moderately optioned crew cab will be north of 7000 lbs even with the light weight aluminum body.

Lets just say, hypothetically, you could drop a 6.7L Cummins or Powerstroke that makes 1000+ ft-lbs of torque at 1500 rpm into the 200 series without changing anything else. You honestly think the chassis and drivetrain would survive holding up an extra 800 lbs of engine over the front tires and then be able to hook up to a 14000 lb trailer and use those 1000 ft-lbs of torque without it turning to dust?

Take out all the fancy leather and sound deadening and they wouldn't weigh any more than any other 1/2 ton truck or SUV. In fact, my LX570 is lighter than my parents mid-trim Expedition.

The 200 series is a stout truck for what it is but some of you are delusional.

I guess it depends on the individual parts. 200 front and rear shocks are significantly larger than those from a tundra, even though the front arms are shorter and the shock should see lower forces. The 1.5” wide front drive chain in the transfer case is usually reserved for 3/4 and 1-ton trucks, according to Brian jowett, who is something of an authority on this stuff. A 9.5” ring gear can theoretically be stronger than a 10.5 depending on metallurgy and design.

I haven’t been under enough to know for sure but would love to see some side-by-side comparisons of f-150 parts. Call me skeptical, especially considering the tundra is a direct competitor and the 200 is heavier duty than that. I know that the undercarriage of a bronco is.. pathetic.