Is it worth coming back for more.... (1 Viewer)

[a990dna]

The 200 has come along way with mods, the silver with monochrome ARB and 33's with 3-4" lift looks awesome. I was wondering if the 200 is worth a second try owning a Toyota Land Cruiser?

My 2005 was Lemon'd... big ordeal, I went to the dark side since then, but after seeing some of the pics in here this 200 has caught my eye.

I'd like to hear the good and bad...

seats... are they better than the 100?.. let's say comfort-wise after 3 hours of driving.

rattles... was the rear seat rattle fixed?

service.. do they still treat you like you bought a Camry?

 

[JBHorne]

The 200 has come along way with mods, the silver with monochrome ARB and 33's with 3-4" lift looks awesome. I was wondering if the 200 is worth a second try owning a Toyota Land Cruiser?

My 2005 was Lemon'd... big ordeal, I went to the dark side since then, but after seeing some of the pics in here this 200 has caught my eye.

I'd like to hear the good and bad...

seats... are they better than the 100?.. let's say comfort-wise after 3 hours of driving.

rattles... was the rear seat rattle fixed?

service.. do they still treat you like you bought a Camry?

I love mine (mine's the silver one with matching ARB and 33's). Everyone else here loves there's.

I would not hold an oddity LC against all other models. Now if it was Ford, it wouldn't be a lemon....just a Ford (I had a lemon ford and so did another hundred thousand others according to NHTSA).

I think the 200 is quite comfy. I read that a few people complained that the seats are not deep enough, but even at 6'1", I like them. They are not sporty bucket seats, but then again this truck is not designed to hug corners at 60+ MPH.

As for service, I have opened numerous complaints with Toyota HQ regarding the fact that I purchased a vehicle over $70K and get the same treatment as someone who spent $5K on a certified used vehicle with a warranty. It sucks...right now my LC is in the shop until Friday having the navigation and HVAC system looked over and since this is not a "safety" concern, they will not provide a rental car. A few minute call to customer care fixed that and I'm getting a rental car reembursement.

I also have a LX330 from Lexus, and even for a 30-minute oil change I get a rental car (another 330), full gas tank, and a detail car wash! You can't beat the service at Lexus of Tucson.

I can't hold that against the Toyota dealership, but I don't like it. According to Toyota, the reason is because the LX570 has these amenities built into the cost when you purchase it. The LC200 does not. Which in essence is true since the 570 costs 12K more (I believe). I would have bought it but I am sure glad I didn't. I would have scraped the AHC quickly along with the 20" rims and not have gained much (plus no ARB or other toys).

OK, done rambling. Get a 200

 

[uzj100]

Yes. Think of the 5.7 and a supercharger is coming out.

 

[JBHorne]

Yes. Think of the 5.7 and a supercharger is coming out.

Eh, don't get everyone's hopes up about the supercharger...nothing is official yet. TRD doesn't even know if there is going to be one. There are hood clearance issues and so forth.

Speaking of which: does any one have a "real" update on this?

 

[mark71]

agree with JB's comments.

this is my first LC, but i absolutely love it. as far as seats go, i just finished a road trip where on several days i spent 8-12 hours driving. figured out that if i really spent some time experimenting with the seat adjustment, specifically the seat tilt and front seat support, i could find a very comfortable position. BTW, i'm 6'4", 210lbs.

nothing rattles, but yes, toyota doesn't care that you spent a small fortune on this vehicle. screw them...it's worth it to own such a well engineered vehicle.

 

[a990dna]

Thanks for the feedback...

The seats... I think I figured out what made them different and uncomfortable.... at least on the 100. The lower seat cushion is too short, I'm 5'10" and found it didn't extend far enough to provide adequate support for my legs. I don't think it was designed for long-legged Americans.

I always thought the 100 was like sitting on a bus bench... any changes on the 200?

Other than the Lemon-law anomaly, seat issue, a few rattles and the Camry-like service, I was happy with the Land Cruiser -- it would have been paid off by now.

JB, cool setup you have there!

 

[007-FJC]

Why was your 100 a lemon in the first place?

 

[a990dna]

Why was your 100 a lemon in the first place?

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/108598-my-new-2005-lc-frame-problem.html

 

[mark71]

i read the thread, and after that hassle, i understand your feelings.

so what happened to the Jeep?

 

[a990dna]

i read the thread, and after that hassle, i understand your feelings.

so what happened to the Jeep?

I still have it (them) .... my SRT8 has about 2000 miles on it. Not like my other Race Hemi car I sold, but quicker than a 1970 Street Hemi car or LS6 Chevelle. I can already tell I'm going to get tired of it.

I bought a Land Cruiser to get away from inferior quality and service.

 

[pagemaster]

.
I can't hold that against the Toyota dealership, but I don't like it. According to Toyota, the reason is because the LX570 has these amenities built into the cost when you purchase it. The LC200 does not. Which in essence is true since the 570 costs 12K more (I believe). I would have bought it but I am sure glad I didn't. I would have s****ed the AHC quickly along with the 20" rims and not have gained much (plus no ARB or other toys).

There is no reason why the Toyota dealer should treat a Land Cruiser owner any different than a Yaris owner. Everybody should be treated the same. With that said, the pampering that goes on at a Lexus dealer is paid for by the customer which is built into the MSRP and service costs. Nowadays most of the new Toyota dealers can rival older Lexus dealers for amentities, service and perks, design etc etc. I have seen some Toyota dealers that put some of the older Lexus dealers to shame.

 

[pagemaster]

As for service, I have opened numerous complaints with Toyota HQ regarding the fact that I purchased a vehicle over $70K and get the same treatment as someone who spent $5K on a certified used vehicle with a warranty..

Very few people know about this. Before Lexus started selling the LX450 Toyota once took care of a free 1800km vehicle inspection on the old 80 series Land Cruiser. Just like they do now on new Lexus models Toyota did the same for Land Cruiser 80 series owners.

It sucks...right now my LC is in the shop until Friday having the navigation and HVAC system looked over and since this is not a "safety" concern, they will not provide a rental car

Sorry to hear about this but what happened?

 

[OGBeno]

the old 80 series Land Cruiser.

Old?

There is no such thing as "old" in the LC world.

 

[JBHorne]

Sorry to hear about this but what happened?

I'm tired but here are the quick details. My navigation wonders all the freaking time in broad daylight. It looses it's GPS signal completely. I know how to access the LAN system menus and its there I figure out that it rarely detects sats. The service department and none of the techs no s*** about navigation and how it works other than that it does. I try to talk to them like intellectuals, stating that the computer drops out of 3D hybrid mode and relies on gyro and sensor parameters, which does not work all the time. It is supposed to only kick in when the system looses sat signals, which should only happen when driving around tall buildings or in covered areas. Mine looses sats all the time. Something is definately wrong.

Also, my A/C system resets to 75 deg every time I get in the vehicle with the fans off. This is NOT normal operation. When you leave the A/C set to 72 deg and A/C on HIGH and return to the vehicle a few hours later, it should still be that way. Mine used to but no longer does.

Well get this: Toyota sent an FTS to examine my LC and the royal idiot wrote this ticket off as "normal operation"!!! I have a call into the general manager on Tuesday and boy is Toyota gonna hear about this! I'm livid to say the least. They had the truck for 4 days and all they took care of was the freaking oil change.

I guess what I am most livid about is the fact that the FTS is an idiot. I don't let idiots touch my truck. Did I mention that this is NOT an intermitent issue? It's very repeatable. Happens every time. None of the other techs agreed with him either, and neither did my service rep. But supposedly once the FTS says it's normal, the dealership can't touch it.

Oh, and my LAN system was spitting codes:

o  NAVI
    01-  DC    440-  4E-  1
    01-  E3       -  00-  F
o  EMV
    01-  D5    19F-  1B-  F
    01-  DB    1F1-  0E-  F
    01-  DA    178-  F9-  1

So get this...the idiot reset the LAN system and wiped those codes and never wrote that in his log! So when I went to pick up the supposedly "completed" truck, two new codes were in there!!! New codes were present and they were releasing the vehicle as nothing wrong!

So yeah, maybe I am a little ticked. Need more beer


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[a990dna]

It's unfortunate the Land Cruiser is treated like a regular Toyota. When someone spends over $70K on a vehicle, I expect first class service... Toyota should make an exception and allow Lexus dealers to accept warranty work on a Land Cruiser. If they offered a special Land Cruiser extended warranty serviceable by Lexus, I wouldn't be so reluctant to buy another one.

I can handle anomalies and defects... what I can't handle is the ongoing disrespect the dealer's and Toyota have for people -- they basically insult our intellegence.

Whatever you do, make sure each RO is well documented going in and coming out... remember, Toyota acts on returned warranty work. Anything brought back for the same thing, the second time, is reviewed by Toyota -- they hold the dealer accountable for poor repair work. They don't want buy-backs anymore than we do.

This system of accountability can be manipulated by the dealer (and Toyota) through the RO process... the only document that supports legal action if required. They know that -- so should you.

JB - every time I see your LC, I want to trade in my Jeep.

 

[BManning`]

A bit off-subject, but is your hemi Jeep exclusively street or do you ever take it off-road?

I ask because a buddy of mine has a current-gen hemi GC (not the SRT8 though) and is wildly disappointed in its trail ability.

Of course, his 3 previous vehicles were 2 Wranglers and a 1st gen GC, so his trail-worthy measuring stick is pretty big.

Get the 200...if I had the $$ I'd be off to the dealer tomorrow!

 

[a990dna]

It’s exclusively for street, no way can a SRT be taken off-road.... if it wasn't for the fun factor and 6.1 Hemi, I wouldn't have bought a Jeep GCSRT8. I'll probably keep the SRT for awhile to see where the market goes -- as of January 2009, they only produced 700 units. I think 2009 is the end of the road for the GCSRT8 and inventory is far and few between. I'd be surprised if they build one in 2010.

I bought my SRT new fully loaded for $6K under MSRP...

There's a huge difference how solid a Toyota LC feels, compared to Jeep GC -- on-road or off-road. Toyota has come along way with the Land Cruiser... not much around that competes in its space.

However, for some reason the Land Cruiser is always about $10K more than I'm willing to pay for a vehicle -- and calls for serious negotiations when I do get enough courage to fork out that much money. I bought my 2005 new for $8K under MSRP.

My friends tell me I'm cheap -- I'd rather be viewed as being more on the shrewd side of life.

 

[JBHorne]

I got my 200 at invoice...not a penny more. When gas was $4 a gallon everyone thought I was nuts.

You can get deals like that if you look.

As for the GC-SRT8...I actually was about to get one if I didn't like offroading so much. Who the heck would buy one for offroading? It's not even "trail rated" by Jeep. Large wheels, lowered, body kit, etc. It doesn't even have a trailer hitch. Between not having the hitch and the impossibility of installing one, combined with it only available with black interior (no good in 100+ weather!), I opted not to get one. That 6.1L Hemi sure kicks some ass though! FYI -- have you seen the Hennasy upgrades? Yum.....

 

[bajacruiser]

LC 200 worth it

I own both a 100 and a 200. While i love my 100 it fits like a custom taylored suit and has never let me down. I must say that in many ways the 200 is better. It has goobs of power, the breaks are twice as good as the 100. The interior design and finish is far superior. And most importantly, as I discovered this last weekend, the safety features, like belt tightening, are awesome.

I must say LC's are built like brick s*** house. Should have seen the guy s car that rearended me. I just wish I had a aftermarket rear bumper, then I would not need to take it into the shop. If I had been the 100 I think I would be seeing my chiropractor, in the 200 bearly felt a thing.

 

[1loudLX]

I'd get a 200 to replace the 100. I'm hoping to get into one next summer, keep the LX as the fun/bug-out truck