I've been a faithful follower of the 200 forum for many years. I think I probably signed up for my Mud account when we got our 2013, back at the end of 2012.
Over the past eight years, we've had many adventures in our 200, mostly trips to Colorado.
These are such amazing trucks!
Over the past year or so, my wife and I have found ourselves jockeying for access to the 200.
Although the cruiser has been her daily driver, I have always seemed to have reasons why I needed to borrow it from her and let her drive my X5. She has never been good with that arrangement, and that has created cruiser-tension in my household.
About two months ago, the bimmer hit 49k miles, and I thought to myself, "Do you really want to have an out of warranty +50k mile BMW for another few years?"
The answer was no.
So with that, I started looking around for a suitable 2021. The fact that this is likely the last year that we'll see V8 Land Cruisers in the US was definitely weighing on my mind.
I started looking for non-Heritage, non-rear entertainment examples around my home in southern California. I started with a 50 mile radius, then quickly expanded to 100 miles, then even looked 400 miles out. I was coming up completely empty. Almost every non-Heritage LC in CA has the screens in the back, and that was a deal-breaker for me.
Finally, I found a silver 2021 non-Heritage without screens near Lake Havasu, so I immediately called the dealer to discuss a deal. My excitement was dashed within an hour of first talking to them, when they called back to tell me that the truck had just been sold.
Back to the drawing board.
I expanded my search radius further, and found myself looking at listings in Utah, Montana, and Colorado. Every dealer I contacted already had deposits for the trucks they had listed. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to find what I wanted.
Then, about two weeks ago, the Utah dealer called to let me know that the buyer holding the truck I wanted had backed out, and asked if I wanted to put a deposit down.
The rest is history. Packed up the wife and kids and dog (tightly) in the X5, and drove it to Karl Malone Toyota in Draper, UT.
10 hour drive from SoCal, but found what I was looking for!
The guys at Karl Malone Toyota took good care of me, and overall, I feel like I got a fair deal without any hassle. They were really helpful about my remote purchase, and provided lots of pics and communication throughout the process.
The trip back to California from Utah was considerably more comfortable. Everyone in the family was much happier. My daughter's comment was "This car just feels like home to me." I'd have to agree.
Fresh off the delivery truck...
Interior color I wanted, and the all weather mats throughout are
...
Drive home from Utah to California...
Mesquite, NV...
Safe back home...
Overall, it was worth it to me to do a road trip to get a 2021 while the getting is good.
Kinda fun to get a 750 mile shakedown drive right after purchase too.
Next up, I'm going to put the Bilstein 6112 / 5160 / HD spring setup on the new one, and move the OEM parts to the old one. After roughly 90k on the clock, new shocks / springs will make it feel new again.
Looking forward to having both of our cruisers for many more years to come.
Over the past eight years, we've had many adventures in our 200, mostly trips to Colorado.
These are such amazing trucks!
Over the past year or so, my wife and I have found ourselves jockeying for access to the 200.
Although the cruiser has been her daily driver, I have always seemed to have reasons why I needed to borrow it from her and let her drive my X5. She has never been good with that arrangement, and that has created cruiser-tension in my household.
About two months ago, the bimmer hit 49k miles, and I thought to myself, "Do you really want to have an out of warranty +50k mile BMW for another few years?"
The answer was no.
So with that, I started looking around for a suitable 2021. The fact that this is likely the last year that we'll see V8 Land Cruisers in the US was definitely weighing on my mind.
I started looking for non-Heritage, non-rear entertainment examples around my home in southern California. I started with a 50 mile radius, then quickly expanded to 100 miles, then even looked 400 miles out. I was coming up completely empty. Almost every non-Heritage LC in CA has the screens in the back, and that was a deal-breaker for me.
Finally, I found a silver 2021 non-Heritage without screens near Lake Havasu, so I immediately called the dealer to discuss a deal. My excitement was dashed within an hour of first talking to them, when they called back to tell me that the truck had just been sold.
Back to the drawing board.
I expanded my search radius further, and found myself looking at listings in Utah, Montana, and Colorado. Every dealer I contacted already had deposits for the trucks they had listed. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to find what I wanted.
Then, about two weeks ago, the Utah dealer called to let me know that the buyer holding the truck I wanted had backed out, and asked if I wanted to put a deposit down.
The rest is history. Packed up the wife and kids and dog (tightly) in the X5, and drove it to Karl Malone Toyota in Draper, UT.
10 hour drive from SoCal, but found what I was looking for!
The guys at Karl Malone Toyota took good care of me, and overall, I feel like I got a fair deal without any hassle. They were really helpful about my remote purchase, and provided lots of pics and communication throughout the process.
The trip back to California from Utah was considerably more comfortable. Everyone in the family was much happier. My daughter's comment was "This car just feels like home to me." I'd have to agree.
Fresh off the delivery truck...
Interior color I wanted, and the all weather mats throughout are
...Drive home from Utah to California...
Mesquite, NV...
Safe back home...
Overall, it was worth it to me to do a road trip to get a 2021 while the getting is good.
Kinda fun to get a 750 mile shakedown drive right after purchase too.
Next up, I'm going to put the Bilstein 6112 / 5160 / HD spring setup on the new one, and move the OEM parts to the old one. After roughly 90k on the clock, new shocks / springs will make it feel new again.
Looking forward to having both of our cruisers for many more years to come.
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