1world1love
SILVER Star
I know this adds no valuable info, but WHY is this even a topic of convo on a Land Cruiser? On a Maybach maybe, but a 'rugged' world conquering SUV that built its reputation for sitting 20 years and then starting right up with a fresh battery?
Seatbelt ECU?! ABS ECU, traction control ECU, steering angle ECU, thousand dollar brake pumps.......Who dreams up such a thing? $1000 computers?! Crazy.
Does that add ruggedness, dependability, or reliability to their hallowed truck?
Build it tight, build it rugged, build it to last. That's what they used to do at least.
I so want to like the 200 series....it is tough to a point, and a perfect size......but a new, unnecessary gremlin each day pops up in this section. Such a letdown.
Of course these issues are going to pop up on this forum. This is a place where people who experience issues tend to go first. Most issues are easily resolved and don't require thousands of dollars. It's all about context, because what you don't see are the hundreds of thousands of owners worldwide who have no issues whatsoever for many hundreds of thousands of miles, and many in incredibly tough environments. They just aren't hopping on here posting "Things are still ok today".
Also, and this is not directed to you specifically, but I have seen this "not like they used to be" argument popping up occasionally, but cars of all makes and models, in general, are much more reliable today than at any time in the past. They are also safer and more efficient. This glorification of the old days is misplaced.
As far as "Build it tight, build it rugged, build it to last" - the 200 is built to tighter tolerances than probably any mass produced vehicle in history. It is literally engineered to run for 250k without any major repairs. That doesn't mean that repairs will never be needed, but expensive repairs are exceedingly rare on 200s.
And linuxgod is exactly right - many of the issues that get posted are not random failures, but are from accidents, poor maintenance, etc. Random failures do happen, and it really sucks when you are the one it happens to, but it happens no matter how well built something is and is not an indication that things aren't built as well as they used to be.
Just my two cents, but if I had to choose any vehicle in the world to load my family up in and head out 40 miles from nowhere, I'd take the 200 all day, any day, and wouldn't blink.