Why do YOU have a 100 series?

[chrisratz]

Well for me it goes back almost 30 years. I was in college in socal, I was in the parking garage at the Sherman Oaks mall, and saw this beautiful silver 60 series parked there. I pointed it out to my buddy and said I really like that truck. He said duh of course, it's a Land Cruiser, and explained how it was basically the best car in the world. I wanted one for years, but they were always a little outside my budget or whatever. I finally got my hundy in 2007 and been loving it ever since.

 

[Coin]

I wanted something quieter and for comfortable for long trips, but needed storage and 4x4. I had a 2005 Tundra doublecab 4x4 that had been a great truck, but I really didn't need a pickup. I had had a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Jeep Grand Wagoneer when I was younger, and decided I wanted to go back to an SUV, just not a Jeep. What made me pick the LX was when I bought my wife a GX 470. We both instantly loved that car. After that, I never wanted to drive my Tundra, and knew an LX was the only answer. So now I have a GX and LX in the garage.

 

[Exiled]

I'm a Cruiserhead in the purest form. I started driving a Land Cruiser at 17 and have never NOT owned a Land Cruiser for 33 years. I've had many of them (40, 60 and 70 series) and after selling my beloved FJ62 after going too far on the modifications, I picked up my first 100 in 2007. By then, I was priced out of the 80 series (which were at the time in high demand and commanding premium prices) and needed something really comfortable and somewhat presentable as a daily driver. That led to another 100 purchased the following year (his and hers), and then another 100 for my oldest son and a 200 for my wife to replace the 100. The next one will be another 70 series since I'm now priced out of my first love, the 60 series, and likely priced out of the 40 series as well (my work and lifestyle don't support projects/major restorations so I'd either have to buy nice or pay to make nice).

I believe the 80 series is superior to the 100 only in ONE aspect, and that is rock-crawling. I live in Central TX where the rock crawling opportunities are limited, so all the other benefits of the 100 shine for me. I love the engine, the power to weight ratio, and because my 100s are early models, the relative simplicity.

I am in the search for one more 100, preferably 99-01, with a GRAY interior and from a rust-free state. Time to build the next project!

Here's a picture of the girls, The Melon (brown 100), Aretha (white 200) and Luna (white 100). I think we space for one more!

 

[Couvi]

A vehicle designed in the mid 90s that still feels relevant as a daily driver in 2020? Are there any others? This truck has hauled the family all over the South for 5 years, no hiccups, in comfort. What a ride.

 

[gwatts]

Because #100sinthehills obviously!

 

[RyanStl]

7 years ago my Mazda 3 died and I bought a '14 Subaru Crosstrek to replace it. I really liked the Crosstrek, and I picked it over the Forester for the smaller size. I drove it for two years, but I have a large family and at the time time lots of car seats. I thought my wife's Odyssey was the only three row vehicle we needed, as I don't normally use my car for the whole family; mainly commuting by myslef or one or two other kids. My wife was tired of moving car seats back and forth when I had to pick up certain kids, so we decided to sell the Crosstrek for a 3-row vehicle (more like wife demanded three rows). I also wanted to get out of car payments in order to get debt free.

The Land Cruiser is the only three row vehicle I would drive. They look great, are super reliable, and I have fond memories of seeing them around when I was younger. My budget was $10-12K, and I ended up with an '02 with 135K miles. Five years later, I couldn't be happier.

It was a little crazy selling a two-year old car (it was a '14 bought in '13) with lots of warranty left for a vehicle 13 years old. However, my buddy has had an 80 series for years and he steered me right. I considered an 80, but nothing was available in decent shape at the time. Now 100 series are very hard to find. I still check from time to time for s***s and grins. I didn't lose that much selling the Subaru because they have good resell value as well.

Btw, the Sequoia was my wife's dream car, but now she likes Land Cruisers better.

 

[jLB]

Because I drove an 80 series for 10 years, and when I was ready to replace it, they didn't make a 200 series (yet).

Then I bought a used one for my kid.

Then I bought another used LX as an old beater for a spare vehicle.

The 100 series meets my DD needs, and my recreational needs, for some odd reason I really haven't felt the need to "upgrade" it (yet).

 

[ikarus]

I thought I was buying an 80, the lemon lot told me it was a 97 but it was actually a 2001

 

[Clunky]

It's more than just a vehicle, it's a gateway to wonderful family adventures.

 

[tshandonay]

Owned two 80's in the past when I couldn't afford the gas or anything else and still regret selling them.

Have a 99 100 now and It just works all the time without obsessive unnecessary maintenance and baselining.

 

[NoTempoLimit]

I'm a Cruiserhead in the purest form...

No one buys MULTIPLES of a vehicle type that has not worked out for them. So when you see someone has THREE Landcruisers you can't get a higher recommendation.

BTW, I went apple-picking on Sunday with my wife and extended family. This is in Southern Maine. I saw a family show up in a well-traveled looking 80 series (I'd guess between '93 and '96). It had California plates. Don't know if they were recently relocated or just taking really long vacation. But it says something either way. It's 3300+ miles to CA.

And, of course, how many other early to mid-90's vehicles do you still regularly see on the road?

We'll be driving these 'Cruisers until the Nanny-State Fun Police Karens chase us off the roads in 15-20 years in their glorified electric golf carts.
Or maybe the'll just ban human driving.

Then we'll just go off-road.

 

[sacman]

I needed space and a suv but hated the minivan so in 2011 I bought a 2003 LX470 fully loaded from a Mercedes dealer in Bakerfiled with 89Kmiles. Despite being a fan of german cars (bmw, porsche and vw), there's no better family car for the money than the 100 series overall. The only downside is gas mileage but the upside in terms of comfort, reliability and versatility overshadows it easily. If I need to make a trip across the country today, it wont be a porsche, a bmw but this old faithful lexus..

 

[newbielx470]

I needed space and suv but hated the minivan so in 2011 I bought a 2003 LX470 fully loaded from a Mercedes dealer in Bakerfiled with 89Kmiles. Despite being a fan of german cars (bmw, porsche and vw), there's no better family car than the 100 series overall. The only downside is gas mileage but the upside in terms of comfort, reliability and versatility overshadows it easility. If I need to make a trip across the country today, it wont be a porsche, a bmw but this old faithful lexus..

I feel sorry for the previous owner who traded your LX470 for a Mercedes. Hopefully he/she went to a Lexus dealer a year later to trade the MBZ for another newer LX

 

[rc50cal]

I bought my '06 LX to have some adventures while my kids' grandparents are still around to have them and the kids are young enough to enjoy them. I have an electric "glorified golf cart" for all my other driving. PERFECT pair of vehicles!

 

[Qtonic]

As a kid I rode in a new 98 golden pearl LX a few times and I could tell it was special. There are many more modern reasons that I have since come to appreciate, but that likely has a big part in me now owning its twin and wanting to keep it as strong and reliable and admirable as long as I can so it can take care of me.

 

[95Fantasma80]

No one buys MULTIPLES of a vehicle type that has not worked out for them. So when you see someone has THREE Landcruisers you can't get a higher recommendation.

BTW, I went apple-picking on Sunday with my wife and extended family. This is in Southern Maine. I saw a family show up in a well-traveled looking 80 series (I'd guess between '93 and '96). It had California plates. Don't know if they were recently relocated or just taking really long vacation. But it says something either way. It's 3300+ miles to CA.

And, of course, how many other early to mid-90's vehicles do you still regularly see on the road?

We'll be driving these 'Cruisers until the Nanny-State Fun Police Karens chase us off the roads in 15-20 years in their glorified electric golf carts.
Or maybe the'll just ban human driving.

Then we'll just go off-road.

Hey, maybe we'll get an electric Land Cruiser one day! you never know.

 

[thebug44]

Why?
It was a awesome deal I couldn’t pass up.

Story?
Well I had a beater 98 Acura TL as a daily, super reliable, ended up giving it away to someone for free since they needed it more than me. So I ended up driving my sports car (c63 amg) throughout the summer but once the miles started racking up I decided it’s time to get a DD back. Decided I wanted an SUV this time and always wanted to purchase the GX470 (always loved this car for so many years) but prices were just too high and didn’t make sense for me. So started looking at Honda Pilots but then magically this 2000 LX470 one owner, Florida it’s whole life, all major maintenance done at Lexus dealer, 151k miles, and amazing price showed up on Craigslist. It was a sign honestly, I was not expecting to purchase the larger lx over the gx but for the price I couldn’t say no.

Long story short, I checked the car out and now I’m here. This car is strictly my DD. I won’t be modifying it since I modify my other car and not really into the the stuff the typical lx or lc owner does. But man I absolutely love this car. I am already used to terrible MPG from my other car but for the space and luxury of this car I am so happy with it. My wife is already trying to rob me for it lol.

I never knew how much of a difference the 98-00 lx was different than the later model years. For most, the earlier models is probably a deal breaker but for someone like me who is a noob about this platform, I am so in love.

here is something interesting I found in the documents I was given.

 

[Exiled]

I feel sorry for the previous owner who traded your LX470 for a Mercedes. Hopefully he/she went to a Lexus dealer a year later to trade the MBZ for another newer LX

We bought my wife's 2016 200 series in 2017 for a screaming deal at a Cadillac dealership where it had been traded in for a (gasp) Escalade XT after only 19,000 miles. I've often thought about what would possess the previous owner to do that, but since it was our good fortune that they did, I'm still grateful.

 

[Texsun84]

200 Series look like giant highlanders. Once I saw that it's been hard to get out of my head.

 

[riffman12]

mainly because I hate money and really enjoy spending time at gas stations