Article: Why the 200 Series? (2 Viewers)

[ryanCA]

You.. ummm.. adopting..?

cant afford you

 

[Supra Turbo]

cant afford you

Darn, well it was worth a try. Back to my old Toyotas....

 

[ryanCA]

Darn, well it was worth a try. Back to my old Toyotas....

that are worth more than my life

 

[RT Cruiser]

With regard to the 200-series, and landcruisers in general built over different timeframes, I feel a little bit like the dude from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but for me it comes down to one word: Quality.

I've owned a lot of Toyotas (SR5 truck, Supra, 4 Runner, Celica, Corolla, MR2, Lexus ES 250). I've owned Hondas, 2 Subarus, Chevy and Buick station wagons, and a Nissan Maxima. My first car, and the one I regret the most selling, was my 1978 Pontiac Trans Am Smokey & Bandit Edition. If I'm correct, I received about 15 speeding tickets in that monster.

Now we have a 2008 Land Cruiser, 2008 Honda CRV, and 2017 Lexus RX 350.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Cruiser! We bought it out of Cedar Falls, IA, 3.5 years ago and it had 225,500 miles on it. It's the best color - salsa red. 75,000 miles later, this thing has taken us over many 4x4 trails, 18 states, the ice cold weather in Michigan on the Canadian border down to the blistery heat in Texas. We can pack this thing fully loaded inside and it does not impact the mpg. This is a beast. It's incredibly stable no matter the situation.

All of us wonder about what was going on in the Toyota engineering dept when certain things were designed. But, overall the quality is phenomenal. Sure, I would prefer to have a handle, on a metal rod, with a metal connector that goes from the cabin to the differentials. I would prefer the front differential have a metal handle in the driver's footwell, to the right... and the rear differential locker connected to a metal handle in the passenger's foot well, to the left. I wish in the driver's footwell, there were two pedals to the left, one of top of the other: separate parking brakes for front and rear. I wish there was a heads-up display on the window, adjustable, to give me several options where to place it and have the options as to what could be shown in each one. I wish the driver's display was adjustable, up and down... along with the customary metered items to have the option to add electronic ones such as engine oil temp, tranny temp, etc. I wish the front seats had longer cushions, or the option to extend them. I wish the climate controls were physical knobs.... I wish the map display was gone... I wish we had the option to easily install an aftermarket radio like an Alpine unit with an equalizer.

Regardless... quality, reliability, functionality, spaciousness, and all the similar other adjectives fit here. The front suspension components (tie rods, UCAs, etc) on my rig are rusted and need to be replaced. By God's grace, the beast continues to drive straight with no major issues.

Plus, this forum is tops. If you look and ask hard enough, you'll get the answer you need. Jedi masters here like @bloc , @TeCKis300 , @linuxgod , @ryanCA , @Taco2Cruiser have taken their time and wisdom to help me more than I can count. Forgive me if I forgot someone. I'm the guy that sprayed tranny fluid and steering fluid everywhere, that did not consider to look at the 4 Hi/4Lo switch in Gunnison a few weeks ago when it was stuck in 4 Lo, the guy that put too much grease in the spider joints, who didn't install the serpentine belt correctly and witnessed a new belt torn asunder in it's first minute of life, who has asked question after question about suspensions, and so on. This forum has been huge for me.

We have the best SUV ever built.
We have the best forum.

We're soon to experience a gathering of Land Cruisers in Silverton such as when the US Navy brings all their firepower together. Almost every Jeep driver in the area will look in amazement.

@ryanCA let them fight over your other vehicles. I hope you keep your Cruiser until your final years in life. You can be "that guy" on the highway doing 50mph with the right turn blinker on the entire time. I'll pass you doing 55mph... with my left-turn blinker on. I'll be in the beautiful salsa red.

 

[ryanCA]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Cruiser!
We have the best SUV ever built.
@ryanCA let them fight over your other vehicles. I hope you keep your Cruiser until your final years in life. You can be "that guy" on the highway doing 50mph with the right turn blinker on the entire time. I'll pass you doing 55mph... with my left-turn blinker on. I'll be in the beautiful salsa red.

Heck ya brother! One of the best posts. Preach on! Pour the kool aide, I will swallow it all

I am already the guy doing 55 mph up a grade in my 60 series

I have been a Cruiser guy 45 years. Been on this forum, 20 years.

Going to die in my cruiser. When the kids leave, wife leaves, no job, no house, Cruiser will still be here

 

[RT Cruiser]

Heck ya brother! One of the best posts. Preach on! Pour the kool aide, I will swallow it all

I am already the guy doing 55 mph up a grade in my 60 series

I have been a Cruiser guy 45 years. Been on this forum, 20 years.

Going to die in my cruiser. When the kids leave, wife leaves, no job, no house, Cruiser will still be here

Thank you for the kind words.

You have helped me in the past and I am thankful. And I'll drink the Cruiser-Kool-Aide next to ya!

My 8-yo son wants our 2008 Cruiser. Even though it needs a ton of work, interior stuff, rust stuff on the bottom... he probably loves it more than me.

When we are in our elder years, we will still be on this forum being tempted by the next thing to put on our rigs... and I'll still be asking people like you how to do it .

I appreciate your Cruiser comradery. It would be awesome if you could make it to Silverton in July.

 

[tacoduck]

I've owned a lot of Toyotas (SR5 truck, Supra, 4 Runner, Celica, Corolla, MR2, Lexus ES 250). I've owned Hondas, 2 Subarus, Chevy and Buick station wagons, and a Nissan Maxima. My first car, and the one I regret the most selling, was my 1978 Pontiac Trans Am Smokey & Bandit Edition. If I'm correct, I received about 15 speeding tickets in that monster.

Now we have a 2008 Land Cruiser, 2008 Honda CRV, and 2017 Lexus RX 350.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Cruiser! We bought it out of Cedar Falls, IA, 3.5 years ago and it had 225,500 miles on it. It's the best color - salsa red. 75,000 miles later, this thing has taken us over many 4x4 trails, 18 states, the ice cold weather in Michigan on the Canadian border down to the blistery heat in Texas. We can pack this thing fully loaded inside and it does not impact the mpg. This is a beast. It's incredibly stable no matter the situation.

All of us wonder about what was going on in the Toyota engineering dept when certain things were designed. But, overall the quality is phenomenal. Sure, I would prefer to have a handle, on a metal rod, with a metal connector that goes from the cabin to the differentials. I would prefer the front differential have a metal handle in the driver's footwell, to the right... and the rear differential locker connected to a metal handle in the passenger's foot well, to the left. I wish in the driver's footwell, there were two pedals to the left, one of top of the other: separate parking brakes for front and rear. I wish there was a heads-up display on the window, adjustable, to give me several options where to place it and have the options as to what could be shown in each one. I wish the driver's display was adjustable, up and down... along with the customary metered items to have the option to add electronic ones such as engine oil temp, tranny temp, etc. I wish the front seats had longer cushions, or the option to extend them. I wish the climate controls were physical knobs.... I wish the map display was gone... I wish we had the option to easily install an aftermarket radio like an Alpine unit with an equalizer.

Regardless... quality, reliability, functionality, spaciousness, and all the similar other adjectives fit here. The front suspension components (tie rods, UCAs, etc) on my rig are rusted and need to be replaced. By God's grace, the beast continues to drive straight with no major issues.

Plus, this forum is tops. If you look and ask hard enough, you'll get the answer you need. Jedi masters here like @bloc , @TeCKis300 , @linuxgod , @ryanCA , @Taco2Cruiser have taken their time and wisdom to help me more than I can count. Forgive me if I forgot someone. I'm the guy that sprayed tranny fluid and steering fluid everywhere, that did not consider to look at the 4 Hi/4Lo switch in Gunnison a few weeks ago when it was stuck in 4 Lo, the guy that put too much grease in the spider joints, who didn't install the serpentine belt correctly and witnessed a new belt torn asunder in it's first minute of life, who has asked question after question about suspensions, and so on. This forum has been huge for me.

We have the best SUV ever built.
We have the best forum.

We're soon to experience a gathering of Land Cruisers in Silverton such as when the US Navy brings all their firepower together. Almost every Jeep driver in the area will look in amazement.

@ryanCA let them fight over your other vehicles. I hope you keep your Cruiser until your final years in life. You can be "that guy" on the highway doing 50mph with the right turn blinker on the entire time. I'll pass you doing 55mph... with my left-turn blinker on. I'll be in the beautiful salsa red.

So much this. I’m now a 2 owner lx570 family. The 200 does so many things well. They hold their value, ride great on the highway, drive incredible off-road, and are for the most part drama free. Those conservative Toyota engineers don’t compromise, and for the most part I really appreciate the product they create. I wish I had a larger gas tank and better gas mileage, but those engineers won’t compromise reliability for gas mileage. I adore Toyota vehicles.

 

[ryanCA]

Thank you for the kind words.

You have helped me in the past and I am thankful. And I'll drink the Cruiser-Kool-Aide next to ya!

My 8-yo son wants our 2008 Cruiser. Even though it needs a ton of work, interior stuff, rust stuff on the bottom... he probably loves it more than me.

When we are in our elder years, we will still be on this forum being tempted by the next thing to put on our rigs... and I'll still be asking people like you how to do it .

I appreciate your Cruiser comradery. It would be awesome if you could make it to Silverton in July.

THank you.

Many people have helped me over the years here and they continue to do so. I have bought cruisers here. Never sold one. They seem to accumulate at my house. People here have been my family and it has been wonderful.

I really am trying to make it to Silverton. With kids, summer breaks, etc, always a tough one to juggle the schedule.

Appreciate the brotherhood, yours and all of ih8mud. I hope to meet you sometime.

Anytime you are in So Cal - look me up. We can bond over our 08s.

Funny thing in my house - aside from me, my wife likes to offroad the most (FJC is her fave and my 08 cruiser).

Lastly, in this world of constant negativity etc, I really appreciate your positive posts. Keep it up!!!

--------
I have told this story before on the other side of the forum, but to give a glimpse of great Cruiser ownership. I was in my white 62. About half a mile away there is a white 62 and a 08-10 Cruiser in driveway. I never see them move. They are driven and clean, I just never run into them.

After 3 years, I stopped by in my Blue 60 and knocked on the door. Gentleman (80s) came out, and just started drooling on the blue one. I said I am the guy with the white 62 just like his twin. He says, my wife has been seeing you for years and not sure where you lived. (this was week of X mas).

Gentleman was the first US Peace Core to Indonesia. Received medals from kennedy, wrote a book etc. Takes me inside (remember i don't know them), gives me hot chocolate. Wife asks about my family. One hour we are talking, she in this time, gives present bags for my kids for X mas. He takes me to his 62 (he bought new in 1989),a nd shows me the one dent, says he got in a school parking lot and he is still annoyed by it after 20 years, but never fixed it.

We have remained friends, and I stop by once a month. He doesn't drive much. We usually sit on the tailgate of my Blue 60 (his favorite) and just talk travels etc.

Few months back he passed away. His son (mid 50s lives in NYC) called me, said his dad wanted me to have his white cruiser. I fell out of my chair. I said I couldn't do that, but I am happy to clean it up, sell it for them, and give them all the proceeds of course, no charge for me. I spent about 2 months elbow grease getting it ready. Sold it one of the big auction sites. The wife thought it was worth 5K or so (old cruiser). I had the buyer fly in, I picked them up from airport, met them at the house, with $43,000 check.

The cruiser now lives in a underground garage in NYC making a new family happy.

I have never been given anything. Always earned it. To see this family offer me their dad's 62 free of charge, just man, made me teary eyed. To get $43K for the truck and to see the wife so happy, the son wrote me a very long email thanking me. They need the $, and as I much as I want the cruiser, they can use the money more.

The wife came over for Easter weekend with some stuff for my kids, and mentioned that she is taking the whole cruiser money and putting it her grandkid's college fund. What a great way to spend it.


I have many of these stories. The wisdom, friendship, I received from this gentleman is something I can never repay back.


Are cruisers perfect? Of course not. People come here and talk about Sequoias and their Lightnings and whatever.

But I have been all over Aus/NZ/Asia/Africa and have many cruiser "familly/buddies" and what brought us together is the Cruiser... what kept us together is the genuine love for the Cruiser, the outdoors...


Real Toyota Land Cruiser people are just built different......

 

[bloc]

THank you.

Many people have helped me over the years here and they continue to do so. I have bought cruisers here. Never sold one. They seem to accumulate at my house. People here have been my family and it has been wonderful.

I really am trying to make it to Silverton. With kids, summer breaks, etc, always a tough one to juggle the schedule.

Appreciate the brotherhood, yours and all of ih8mud. I hope to meet you sometime.

Anytime you are in So Cal - look me up. We can bond over our 08s.

Funny thing in my house - aside from me, my wife likes to offroad the most (FJC is her fave and my 08 cruiser).

Lastly, in this world of constant negativity etc, I really appreciate your positive posts. Keep it up!!!

--------
I have told this story before on the other side of the forum, but to give a glimpse of great Cruiser ownership. I was in my white 62. About half a mile away there is a white 62 and a 08-10 Cruiser in driveway. I never see them move. They are driven and clean, I just never run into them.

After 3 years, I stopped by in my Blue 60 and knocked on the door. Gentleman (80s) came out, and just started drooling on the blue one. I said I am the guy with the white 62 just like his twin. He says, my wife has been seeing you for years and not sure where you lived. (this was week of X mas).

Gentleman was the first US Peace Core to Indonesia. Received medals from kennedy, wrote a book etc. Takes me inside (remember i don't know them), gives me hot chocolate. Wife asks about my family. One hour we are talking, she in this time, gives present bags for my kids for X mas. He takes me to his 62 (he bought new in 1989),a nd shows me the one dent, says he got in a school parking lot and he is still annoyed by it after 20 years, but never fixed it.

We have remained friends, and I stop by once a month. He doesn't drive much. We usually sit on the tailgate of my Blue 60 (his favorite) and just talk travels etc.

Few months back he passed away. His son (mid 50s lives in NYC) called me, said his dad wanted me to have his white cruiser. I fell out of my chair. I said I couldn't do that, but I am happy to clean it up, sell it for them, and give them all the proceeds of course, no charge for me. I spent about 2 months elbow grease getting it ready. Sold it one of the big auction sites. The wife thought it was worth 5K or so (old cruiser). I had the buyer fly in, I picked them up from airport, met them at the house, with $43,000 check.

The cruiser now lives in a underground garage in NYC making a new family happy.

I have never been given anything. Always earned it. To see this family offer me their dad's 62 free of charge, just man, made me teary eyed. To get $43K for the truck and to see the wife so happy, the son wrote me a very long email thanking me. They need the $, and as I much as I want the cruiser, they can use the money more.

The wife came over for Easter weekend with some stuff for my kids, and mentioned that she is taking the whole cruiser money and putting it her grandkid's college fund. What a great way to spend it.


I have many of these stories. The wisdom, friendship, I received from this gentleman is something I can never repay back.


Are cruisers perfect? Of course not. People come here and talk about Sequoias and their Lightnings and whatever.

But I have been all over Aus/NZ/Asia/Africa and have many cruiser "familly/buddies" and what brought us together is the Cruiser... what kept us together is the genuine love for the Cruiser, the outdoors...


Real Toyota Land Cruiser people are just built different......

Good stuff. We need community now just as much as ever.

And please get to Silverton area. Every cruiser & its owner needs to see that place at least once.

 

[RT Cruiser]

THank you.

Many people have helped me over the years here and they continue to do so. I have bought cruisers here. Never sold one. They seem to accumulate at my house. People here have been my family and it has been wonderful.

I really am trying to make it to Silverton. With kids, summer breaks, etc, always a tough one to juggle the schedule.

Appreciate the brotherhood, yours and all of ih8mud. I hope to meet you sometime.

Anytime you are in So Cal - look me up. We can bond over our 08s.

Funny thing in my house - aside from me, my wife likes to offroad the most (FJC is her fave and my 08 cruiser).

Lastly, in this world of constant negativity etc, I really appreciate your positive posts. Keep it up!!!

--------
I have told this story before on the other side of the forum, but to give a glimpse of great Cruiser ownership. I was in my white 62. About half a mile away there is a white 62 and a 08-10 Cruiser in driveway. I never see them move. They are driven and clean, I just never run into them.

After 3 years, I stopped by in my Blue 60 and knocked on the door. Gentleman (80s) came out, and just started drooling on the blue one. I said I am the guy with the white 62 just like his twin. He says, my wife has been seeing you for years and not sure where you lived. (this was week of X mas).

Gentleman was the first US Peace Core to Indonesia. Received medals from kennedy, wrote a book etc. Takes me inside (remember i don't know them), gives me hot chocolate. Wife asks about my family. One hour we are talking, she in this time, gives present bags for my kids for X mas. He takes me to his 62 (he bought new in 1989),a nd shows me the one dent, says he got in a school parking lot and he is still annoyed by it after 20 years, but never fixed it.

We have remained friends, and I stop by once a month. He doesn't drive much. We usually sit on the tailgate of my Blue 60 (his favorite) and just talk travels etc.

Few months back he passed away. His son (mid 50s lives in NYC) called me, said his dad wanted me to have his white cruiser. I fell out of my chair. I said I couldn't do that, but I am happy to clean it up, sell it for them, and give them all the proceeds of course, no charge for me. I spent about 2 months elbow grease getting it ready. Sold it one of the big auction sites. The wife thought it was worth 5K or so (old cruiser). I had the buyer fly in, I picked them up from airport, met them at the house, with $43,000 check.

The cruiser now lives in a underground garage in NYC making a new family happy.

I have never been given anything. Always earned it. To see this family offer me their dad's 62 free of charge, just man, made me teary eyed. To get $43K for the truck and to see the wife so happy, the son wrote me a very long email thanking me. They need the $, and as I much as I want the cruiser, they can use the money more.

The wife came over for Easter weekend with some stuff for my kids, and mentioned that she is taking the whole cruiser money and putting it her grandkid's college fund. What a great way to spend it.

I have many of these stories. The wisdom, friendship, I received from this gentleman is something I can never repay back.

Are cruisers perfect? Of course not. People come here and talk about Sequoias and their Lightnings and whatever.

But I have been all over Aus/NZ/Asia/Africa and have many cruiser "familly/buddies" and what brought us together is the Cruiser... what kept us together is the genuine love for the Cruiser, the outdoors...

Real Toyota Land Cruiser people are just built different......

I got teary-eyed reading this. This is the most inspiring post I've read on this forum. It warms my heart to know there are still lots of very good people out there, especially you. In a world where most everyone is looking out for their own and trying to get a step up on others to make more money, get more social followers, to get more power, whatever... you and that family demonstrated the goodness we should have for each other.

Not to hijack this thread, I want to nominate what you said for the forum leaders to consider your statement to be used as our motto:
"Real Toyota Land Cruiser people are just built differently" or something similar like "Real Land Cruiser people are built differently... and the quality shows."

 

[Sandroad]

I’m glad I came back on this thread. I’d given up on it when it strayed into posts about the S&P 500 and about comparing frame thickness of pickup trucks. Good to see the positive vibes in these last few posts, reconnecting to the original post.