Don't let them have your 200 (2 Viewers)

[Hendlerj]

I own three 200s, and love all of them. I had been considering trading one of them for the 250 just to have the new, shiny thing.

I am on a trip and was able to rent a 250 for a five day test drive. Here is the verdict .

Do not trade a 200 for a 250. It is not comparable. It feels like trading a tank for a bicycle. The engine is very underpowered and always sounds like it's struggling. The whole thing feels light and tinny. It feels like a big Corolla.

The lack of a tailgate means that if you go skiing, you have to sit on a dirty bumper to boot up rather than on a nice clean tailgate.

I am so glad I did not make the trade.

 

[skrypj]

Its a $57000 truck in 2025 compared to a truck that cost $90000 10 years ago. Its not really comparable.

 

[Hendlerj]

Its a $57000 truck in 2025 compared to a truck that cost $90000 10 years ago. Its not really comparable.

The one I am driving is a First Edition, so it was probably closer to 75k, but I hear your point.

 

[Zill]

Keep Your 200

This past weekend, we decided to sell our 2024 heritage blue 250 FE and will continue enjoying our 2016 200 series. We put 9k miles on the 250, and thankfully didn’t lose our shirt on the deal. The First Edition held its value very well and we lost around 3k once all was said and done. The 250...

forum.ih8mud.com

I had the same conclusion. Here’s my write up, but I unfortunately bought the rolling disappointment and learned the hard way. Thankful I never dumped my 200 for it though.

 

[liv2bike]

Keep Your 200

This past weekend, we decided to sell our 2024 heritage blue 250 FE and will continue enjoying our 2016 200 series. We put 9k miles on the 250, and thankfully didn’t lose our shirt on the deal. The First Edition held its value very well and we lost around 3k once all was said and done. The 250...

forum.ih8mud.com

I had the same conclusion. Here’s my write up but I unfortunately bought the rolling disappointment and learned the hard way. Thankfully never dumped my 200 on it though.

Rolling disappoint. Sums it up nicely.

 

[liv2bike]

Its a $57000 truck in 2025 compared to a truck that cost $90000 10 years ago. Its not really comparable.

Let’s not forget the 250 tops out closer to $78k.

 

[bj70bc]

rolling disappointment

best review ever

 

[gasman4u]

Did one of the regular rental companies have one to rent? I haven’t seen them in the airports near me.

 

[TimCFJ40]

It sounds like you have a lot of mods on this one? If so, given the prices that similar trucks are going for, I'd look for a similar or lower mileage 2008-2011 for ~20k, swap your mods over, then sell the remains off to a salvage yard.

Did one of the regular rental companies have one to rent? I haven’t seen them in the airports near me.

Curious as well. I really like the 250 on paper, and I do like the look. Maybe a rental is what I need to cure the desire. A lot of the 250 hate sounds like the same stuff when the 80 series was replaced by the 100, and 100 replaced by the 200.

 

[Hothonda]

Slam the doors comparison & you'll have a preview of what's to come......

 

[OregonLC]

Lol. Most everybody hating on the 250 also didn't buy a new 200. It's therefore completely disingenuous to say that we want Toyota to build a 200 because we'd never buy it. What we really want is other people to buy new 200s so that we have a plentiful used marked of depreciated 200s. If you wanted the 250 to be a 200 you should have also bought a new 200. The 250 is the vehicle an efficient market provides.

 

[waydownsouth]

We traded our 200 on a '25LC 250 last month. The decision wasn't made on a whim. We are at 1400 miles now and I'm not regretting the trade. Do I miss the 200? Sure do. If $$ was of no concern I would have kept the 200 in addition the the 250. There are a few things that I'd change about the 250, mainly the fuel tank size, but that was already an issue with the stock 200 in USA trim.

HOWEVER, if I in the last 60~120 days I could have located a 2021 LC 200 with under 10k miles for <$70k, I would have surely went that route.

 

[MRego]

It has been beaten to disfigurement probably now. The 250 is a cliff down from the 200 because it is a Prado. Do not let Toyota fool you with the "new Land Cruiser" marketing BS. If you are coming from a 5th gen runner it won't be that much of a disappointment (assuming you do not buy the stripper 1958). I guess even if you are coming from a GX460, it won't feel great.

 

[gasman4u]

Lol. Most everybody hating on the 250 also didn't buy a new 200. It's therefore completely disingenuous to say that we want Toyota to build a 200 because we'd never buy it. What we really want is other people to buy new 200s so that we have a plentiful used marked of depreciated 200s. If you wanted the 250 to be a 200 you should have also bought a new 200. The 250 is the vehicle an efficient market provides.

Last sentence - you misspelled "distorted" when you wrote "efficient." (CAFE, etc)

 

[OregonLC]

Last sentence - you misspelled "distorted" when you wrote "efficient." (CAFE, etc)

Sure fuel econ comes into play. But CAFE isn't a hard limit. Ram, for example, chooses to pay $200M in CAFE fines each year so they can sell the truck the consumer wants. GM is similar at about $160M. There's nothing stopping Toyota from building the vehicle everyone wants to champion... except for the buyer.

I wonder what the world would be like if Toyota split into a car division and a truck division, similar to what was done with Ram. If you really unleashed the Toyota truck group they could be a force of nature. And with them built in SAT, you'd avoid the chicken tax on 3/4 and 1-Ton trucks?

 

[skrypj]

Let’s not forget the 250 tops out closer to $78k.

I don't think it does unless you added every single dealer add on trinket that they offer. If you add all the packages and swaybar discos and crap, it comes out to $70.5k and that is In 2025. I bought my 2014 F150 Lariat for $42k in early 2015 but the same truck now is $65k

But at the end of the day its based on a $57k truck.

 

[skrypj]

Sure fuel econ comes into play. But CAFE isn't a hard limit. Ram, for example, chooses to pay $200M in CAFE fines each year so they can sell the truck the consumer wants. GM is similar at about $160M. There's nothing stopping Toyota from building the vehicle everyone wants to champion... except for the buyer.

Or perhaps a 'woke' corporate culture. Toyota, for whatever reason, seems to bend toward the environmental crowd. I suppose if there's 'distorted' in the equation, this would be it.

I wonder what the world would be like if Toyota split into a car division and a truck division, similar to what was done with Ram. If you really unleashed the Toyota truck group they could be a force of nature. And with them built in SAT, you'd avoid the chicken tax on 3/4 and 1-Ton trucks?

Ram is now only offering a 3.0L inline 6 cylinder twin turbo.

I personally don't mind, I really loved my 3.5L Ecoboost, even with its flaws. It pulled my trailer like a locomotive. But I do think Toyota's iForce Max system is not a good system overall. The loss of interior space, added weight, increased cost, and increased complexity is not worth the meager improvement in MPG's its produced in the real world.

 

[OregonLC]

Ram is now only offering a 3.0L inline 6 cylinder twin turbo.

Fair point. Though the 6.4 Hemi is still the only gasser powerplant for the HD, the Hurricane is optional in the 1500. And the move away from the 5.7 was largely due to pressure from the Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares (hence fired from Stellantis) with his Euro mindset and lack of understanding of the American market. With Tim Kuniskis back, Ram is hinting of a Hemi 5.7 revival.

Further, the Hurricane doesn't gain much (if any) real world mileage, at least accoring to the early reviews. I think the issue was more that the pushrod 5.7 was at the edge of what they could acheive on emissions. And the Hurricane isn't downgrade on power, doesn't require a complicated hybrid system, and is an improvement on NVH - all factors missing from the 4 pot 250 mill. Having a sweet turbo'd I-6 in the 250 would have been a great choice and, IMO, would have honored the Land Cruiser name.

 

[Zill]

Fair point. Though the 6.4 Hemi is still the only gasser powerplant for the HD, the Hurricane is optional in the 1500. And the move away from the 5.7 was largely due to pressure from the Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares (hence fired from Stellantis) with his Euro mindset and lack of understanding of the American market. With Tim Kuniskis back, Ram is hinting of a Hemi 5.7 revival.

Further, the Hurricane doesn't gain much (if any) real world mileage, at least accoring to the early reviews. I think the issue was more that the pushrod 5.7 was at the edge of what they could acheive on emissions. And the Hurricane isn't downgrade on power, doen't require a complicated hybrid system, and is an improvement on NVH - all factors missing from the 4 pot 250 mill. Having a sweet turbo'd I-6 in the 250 would have been a great choice and, IMO, would have honored the Land Cruiser name.

Agreed, it baffles me that Toyota chose a V6 instead of an inline 6 design. They were kings of the inline 6 design with the 2JZ.

 

[OregonLC]

Agreed, it baffles me that Toyota chose a V6 instead of an inline 6 design. They were kings of the inline 6 design with the 2JZ.

I think it has to do with packaging. An I-6 is longer than a V8 and encroaches on the pedestrian impact protection zone. But there has to be a way to make it work. And it saves a cylinder head, a second turbo, keeps the hot side hot and the cold side cold, etc. All have benefits. Plus the homage to the 80 as you mentioned.