Difference between 200 and Sequoia

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Von Hayek

Von Hayek

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Hey guys, my brother needs a tow vehicle for his camping trailer and I'm trying to talk to him into a new Land Cruiser. He was looking at the Sequoia, which has a larger towing capacity and is $30,000 cheaper. He was asking me what you get for $30,000, and I wasn't much help. Other than locking diffs and being overbuilt, I really didn't have much for him. Can someone give me a more precise answer to pass along?
 
The 200LC is actually rated higher as a tow vehicle at 8200lbs. The Sequoia is 7200lbs. So your looking at a 1000 lb difference in favor of the Land Cruiser.

While the Sequoia is bigger and fits more people comfortably, it's payload capacity is about 150lbs less than the LC. It's a good people hauler, but not as good a gear hauler and tow vehicle.

If you have lots of kids, or generally big family 5-6 the Sequoia may be better suited to your needs. It's 3rd row seating is very spacious and there is a bigger cargo area (even though you can't load it up with as much heavy stuff).

If you want well stated luxury and bomb proof construction that will last 25 years go with the LC. The fit and finish on the Sequoia isn't nearly as nice. Have your brother compare the 2 at the lot. Actually, here's another point, there may not even be an LC at your local lot. It's a rare and coveted vehicle.

Then there is the offroad aspect. The Sequoia is recommended for very very light offroad use. The Land Cruiser however will blaze a trail from Alaska to Argentina without touching a paved road!
 
patrickfinley said:
The 200LC is actually rated higher as a tow vehicle at 8200lbs. The Sequoia is 7200lbs. So your looking at a 1000 lb difference in favor of the Land Cruiser.

While the Sequoia is bigger and fits more people comfortably, it's payload capacity is about 150lbs less than the LC. It's a good people hauler, but not as good a gear hauler and tow vehicle.

If you have lots of kids, or generally big family 5-6 the Sequoia may be better suited to your needs. It's 3rd row seating is very spacious and there is a bigger cargo area (even though you can't load it up with as much heavy stuff).

If you want well stated luxury and bomb proof construction that will last 25 years go with the LC. The fit and finish on the Sequoia isn't nearly as nice. Have your brother compare the 2 at the lot. Actually, here's another point, there may not even be an LC at your local lot. It's a rare and coveted vehicle.

Then there is the offroad aspect. The Sequoia is recommended for very very light offroad use. The Land Cruiser however will blaze a trail from Alaska to Argentina without touching a paved road!
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Excellent points. Thanks a bunch. It also seems like the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System would be a pricey feature as well. And looking online, you load up a Sequoia and gets pretty expensive as well.
 
For towing = Sequioa, wider, better rear end for towing, load leveling. LC has good payload, but too small wheelbase, width to make the difference
For people moving = Sequioa, this is a no brainer
For moving a total of four = tie
For design = tie
For personal use = Land Cruiser
For payload = Land Cruiser for fully loaded, Seqiuoa for lower trim such as SR5
For off-roading = Land Cruiser (but ground clearance and angles really suck)
For tail gate sitting = Land Cruiser
For loading in the rain = Sequioa
For what would worry me more if it broke down in the wild = tie
For on-road comfort = tie, edge goes to Sequioa
For macho men = Sequioa
For women = Land Cruiser (Taylor Swift included) :D
 
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When I test drove the Sequoia 3 years ago, I noticed the engine noise through the cabin was more noticeable during street driving. My LC met my needs. If I had bought a sequoia, I would be saying to my self why I didn't buy the LC. No regret in buying the LC. Sequoia never come back in my mind until I see discussion like this one.

Tucker 74, do you notice the engine noise difference? or it is just me. Thanks.
 
bjowett said:
How big is his trailer? Weight and length....
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It is a 7,000 lb. Airstream. The big problem he is running into is that the tongue weight is 800 lbs. Plus he want all the knick knacks that make driving with kids easier. Really limits your choices when you want to go Japanese, and particularly Toyota.

And another question, he asked me the difference between the Land Cruiser and the Lexus LX. I know that suspension/drive-train wise, the only difference between the FZJ80 and the LX450 was softer springs -- is that still the case? He is contemplating the LX and swapping springs.
 
The Sequoia is a far better tow vehicle. Wheelbase is king.

The LC is better at everything else. If towing 7000lb, however, I'd opt to install airbags as well either way.
 
JBHorne said:
The Sequoia is a far better tow vehicle. Wheelbase is king.
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Hey JBHorne,

So even though the LC is rated 1000 lbs higher you say the Sequoia is a better tow vehicle? I guess because it's more stable due to the wheelbase?
 
Von Hayek said:
It is a 7,000 lb. Airstream. The big problem he is running into is that the tongue weight is 800 lbs. Plus he want all the knick knacks that make driving with kids easier. Really limits your choices when you want to go Japanese, and particularly Toyota.

And another question, he asked me the difference between the Land Cruiser and the Lexus LX. I know that suspension/drive-train wise, the only difference between the FZJ80 and the LX450 was softer springs -- is that still the case? He is contemplating the LX and swapping springs.
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The Lexus 200LX towing capacity is even lower, 7000 lbs. I think it is due to the AHC. Remember the rule for towing, you should be towing something 25-30% less than the Max tow capacity of your vehicle. So if you're towing a 7000lb Airstream you probably want a vehicle with something more like a 9500lb tow capacity. I'm sure Airstream would be the best ones to contact. Or Colonial Airstream in NJ, they would be able to recommend minimum tow vehicles for their trailers.

Toyota recently re-rated their tow ratings and lowered them. So I'm not sure if the 25-30% rule would still apply with the new rating??

Anyway, the guys at Colonial could shed light on your brothers problem.
Colonial Airstream - Airstream's #1 Volume Airstream Dealership, New Jersey, RV, Travel Trailers, Motor Homes

Here are the Toyota tow options in 4x4:
2011 Tundra Double Cab 5.7 v8 4x4__9800lbs
2011 Tundra CrewMax 5.7 v8 4x4____9000lbs
2011 200 Land Cruiser 5.7 v8_______8200lbs
2011 Sequoia 5.7 v8 4x4___________7100lbs
2011 200 Lexus LX 5.7 v8__________7000lbs

All of the vehicles above have a Payload of approx 1400-1600lbs. So a tongue weight of 800lbs leaves 600-800lbs of payload (people, gear, etc).

Also, if he wanted just to tow, the 2wd versions of some of those vehicles are rated a little bit higher. Although 2wd on a truck just seems wrong to me.
 
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I've been curious about this myself so I went ahead and called Colonial. The salesman said you want to reserve 1000lbs from the new Toyota ratings. So a 200LC with an 8200lb rating can safely tow 7200lbs. That would put you in any Airstream up to 25' or 7300lbs GVWR.

He stated that electric auto leveling bags are not good for towing, they are constantly adjusting and cause sway. The manual inflating types are good. Perhaps that would help increase the Max payload issue.
 
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patrickfinley said:
I guess because it's more stable due to the wheelbase?
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Correct. If I were getting a vehicle that will be used to tow frequently the Sequoia is a better choice - people tend to look only at towing capacity but completely ignore the wheelbase factor. You have to factor in the weight and the length of the trailer that will be towed compared to the wheelbase of the tow vehicle. Also, the Sequoia has a wider track that should keep things more stable. Check out the Toyota Towing Guide (via Google) and Airforums for more information and tow vehicle suggestions.

That said, unless he's going to tow a really long Airstream, the LC will probably be sufficient (after all, I've seen cars pulling Airstreams - not that I would want to do that myself!). I looked at the Sequoia when shopping for my LC and was completely turned off by the size, materials, and build quality of the Sequoia. Plus the fact they once you got into the Platinum edition, you lost a seating space due to the second-row captains chairs. After over a year of ownership, I don't regret choosing the LC over the Sequoia. The Sequoia isn't bad, it's just the LC feels much more special.
 
pagemaster said:
I have news for you. The 2011 Sequioa and the 2008 Sequioa are not different mechnically. The reason for the lower test rating is the way the vehicles are now tested.

For example. In Canada, the Sequoia is rated at 8800 lbs for the top line model.

I believe the difference is that the tests in the US cannot be done while vehicle is unloaded. It has to have real world averages.

It is very possible based on this day, that the Land Cruiser is safer and performs better according the SAE specks than the Sequioa, thus the LC gets the higher rating.
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There is another article floating around here somewhere explaining the differences (I think maybe in that link comparison posted earlier). The rating system changed between model years, nothing mechanical. If I recall it had something to do with 60mph highway passing test on a graded incline. I don't tow, so not sure.
 
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