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Am I missing something? Hasn't it been the "Land Cruiser Prado" all along?
Saying the Prado isn't a LC or shouldn't have an LC badge is self-contradicting.
It's here if you want it, it's over at Lexus.
From 100 to 250?
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Saying the Prado isn't a LC or shouldn't have an LC badge is self-contradicting.
It’s not here. You can’t get KDSS on the LX 600. KDSS completely transforms the vehicle you’re driving. Have you ever driven a 4Runner with and without KDSS? Night and day difference…
It was nice to be able to drive a vehicle which the masses did not know about. That’s what made the LC special. Having an L badge on my vehicle is not my taste. It doesn’t have the same stealth wealth vibe to it, and you can’t park a car in a parking lot with the L badge without stressing as much as one with a T badge.
The new affordable LC Lite is going to make the Land Cruiser the new 4Runner where you see one on every corner… selling out and diluting the brand with mediocrity. Shame on Toyota for the quick cash grab and people should see it.
RIP to the true LC line in the States in MY 2021. It won’t be the same moving forward. They should have just let it die out and sold us the 4Runner because that’s what this new LC Lite is. Hell, even the new 4Runner may have the KDSS which is the superior suspension system.
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If I cared about that, then wouldn’t I be driving a Lexus?
The Land Cruiser used to stand for the top tier halo vehicle from Toyota, and it showed what they were capable of designing with very little cost cutting on the important bits. This new LC Lite is not this because it was designed around a relatively cheap price point to sell to the masses.
The Land Cruiser used to be a dream vehicle for people, and it was okay for them to be exclusive. That’s a huge part of the appeal.
Yes Toyota is in the business of making money, but you can have loss leaders that set your brand apart from the rest.
Just sell the 4Runner instead of dethroning your legendary name plate. OR put a Prado badge next to the Land Cruiser name in order to differentiate between the two products. There’s a reason why they put the Prado badge in markets where they sell both. They’re not the same product… Not doing so is slapping the face of many of your Land Cruiser enthusiasts and hurts brand loyalty.
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This post finally admits why the Land Cruiser 250 makes some Land Cruiser 200 owners so mad:
Loss of exclusivity.
The badge, for some, had come to symbolize a certain “stealth wealth” socioeconomic exclusivity.
Anger over Land Cruiser 250 — all the hollow, data-starved, and often exactly wrong bluster about mechanicals or capabilities—is really just anger over the loss of an exclusive status symbol.
Good riddance—may that go the way of the failed 200’s self-defeating luxury bloat.
Cheers to North America’s return of the Land Cruiser utility wagon.
And what exactly is wrong with having exclusive products which you want to attain in your life?
Many people work hard for their money to buy products that bring them joy, pride, and true gratification. It’s not a class thing, it’s the option of buying only the best engineered products that are designed to last for ~25 years, all while being able to fit in and not look flashy and ostentatious.
Let’s get real here. This battery tech is not built to last 25 years lol. There’s a reason why only the States are getting this powertrain.
I’m sorry, I should redact my previous statement about the Land Cruiser being a stealth wealth rig. The more I think about it, the more I despise that term because it’s not that to me. (It’s just what I have always heard)
I do not care about the luxury “bloat”. That’s not what the 200 series is about. Take a look underneath one of those rigs and you that will tell you everything you need to know about how that car was designed and developed. Stout with practically no compromise and made with Toyota’s pinnacle engineering standards. I simply want the best overbuilt tech from Toyota with or without the luxury bloat (that doesn’t matter) which money can buy.
The pics that have been posted in earlier threads show that the LC Lite has 4Runner sized components and not previous Land Cruiser sized components.
The previous land cruisers beef and heft in the components made it something really special.
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Honestly don’t think it’s a stealth anything. I see it more as a trusty revolver that you just know in your soul will always work when needed. Sure, semis have lots of benefits and there are legitimate reasons why they are much more popular but it’s comforting to know that there’s at least one basic less flashy go to in the arsenal.
To me that’s what the Land Cruiser badge means.
Around the world people buy them not to make a statement. Not to show off. Not to impress. They don’t pretend that it’s cutting edge anything. It’s just a reliable go to tool that damn well works and there should still be space in the universe for it, even if the market for them is not as big as it is for everything else.
And nobody is mad about anything. Nobody hates the vehicle. Nobody hates TT 4 Cyl Hybrids. It just should have been badged as something else, that's all.
To me that’s what the Land Cruiser badge means.
Around the world people buy them not to make a statement. Not to show off. Not to impress. They don’t pretend that it’s cutting edge anything. It’s just a reliable go to tool that damn well works and there should still be space in the universe for it, even if the market for them is not as big as it is for everything else.
And nobody is mad about anything. Nobody hates the vehicle. Nobody hates TT 4 Cyl Hybrids. It just should have been badged as something else, that's all.
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Would it have been acceptable if they called it a "Land Cruiser Prado" instead of a Land Cruiser? Seems to me that's all the 250 is - a continuation of the same Prado line they've been making since the 1990s. And again - the 250 is quantifiably stronger than the Prado 150. Same 9.5" rear diff as a 200, improved TNGAF platform shared with the 300, etc. And lastly - as I've stated above, no one was buying 200s anyway. It would be foolish for Toyota to continue such a low-volume vehicle that only a very small subset of the population wanted. If folks wanted a 300 to be brought here, they should have bought more 200s.
Based on your logic middle class people should not be allowed to enjoy Land Cruiser?
Same can be said for early gasoline engine tech. Battery are like wear item in engine. Your water pump does not last forever. Your spark plugs need to be replaced at 100K. Oil need to be changed.
You must be seeing wrong picture.
The rear diff, front diff and front suspension lower control arm looks exactly the same as 300 series.
The only difference is engine choice. There are no indicator at this point that the 3.5 twin turbo are more reliable than 2.4 single turbo.
The body of 300 series look bloaty to me. They also look too feminine. No offense just my personal preference.
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I never understood the Land Cruiser Prado thing either. Just go with Toyota Prado and be done with it. If it’s well-built then that will speak for itself and not one less Prado would have been sold. It’s as if they would have went with Land Cruiser 4Runner or Land Cruiser GX. There are zillions of words out there to use. Let Ford play the silly marketing game with the Bronco Sport but the Land Cruiser brand should have been left alone on it’s own.
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To me, yes it would have. By calling it just Land Cruiser, Toyota is claiming it is a continuation/successor of the 60/80/100/200 series which it definitively is not. But "Prado" is not a recognized name in the US, so they conveniently omitted that.
The basic concept being discussed is not that deep or complicated to elicit such a response but bless any heart that sincerely would draw such a conclusion.
I am not saying middle class people should not be able to enjoy the Land Cruiser brand. As I have said, it’s not a class thing. It’s just that having large beefy components costs money, and this LC Lite had to cut plenty of corners to get to a 55k price point.
The pics showing the knuckle and shocks on the LC Lite look like 4Runner sized components. Did you not see them? I can’t wait to get a caliper and measure them in size in person, and then compare the same components to the 200. The 200’s have some extreme heft to them and I am not seeing that in the LC Lite.
It should have the Prado name in it to differentiate it from your top of the line product.
The 9.5” rear may be updated, but the last gen Tundra had a 10.5” rear diff, but wasn’t built to the same degree as the 200.
It was okay for the Land Cruiser brand to not sell that well because it was their halo vehicle. It’s not like they spent a ton of R&D money bringing the 200 here lol.
Couldn't you apply this same logic to the LC badge? If the LC badge gets diluted by 250s, it just makes 200s even more stealth wealth.
I think Prado is in the name because people cross shopped with the station wagons. We never needed a suffix to differentiate the heavy duty series from the station wagons because they weren't cross shopped. So I think it makes sense to ditch "Prado" in this market where we don't sell the station wagon.
Which one?
LC 250 & GX550 Picture Thread
These vehicles will have a very long life cycle. I would not put it past them to offer e kdss on more models in the future. I find it very strange they developed e kdss to only offer it on one trim level of the Gx and one trim level lf the LC300. They surely have to offer them on more versions...
forum.ih8mud.com
This one shows it exactly the same as 300 series.
Post in thread 'LC 250 & GX550 Picture Thread' LC 250 & GX550 Picture Thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/lc-250-gx550-picture-thread.1315224/post-15136106
300 series and 200 series use 9.5"
Probably same 3.31 final gear too.
What specifically in the Tundra was not 200-series quality? Same engine, trans, front diff, and a bigger rear diff in the Tundra. I think the Tundra had bigger brakes as well....many have gone to 1,000,000 miles of hauling.
I guess I'm not fundamentally buying the "LC is built better" argument when the non-LC vehicles perform so well. Either way, Toyota is not bringing down the LC but brining up the lower-cost models - increases in strength/capability of the 250/Prado relative to the 150 and lowering the gap between the 300 to the point where it's nominal. I see that as a good thing, not a bad thing, and personally don't care if they call it a Land Cruiser or a Land Cruiser Prado. It's just a name.
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And yet they somehow manage to 'cross sell' every other model without issue or drama. Here in the US the 4R and 200 shared the showroom without confusion.
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