First off, thank you all for making this forum such a great resource. It has been a part of my daily readings for the last 5 years!

While my read-to-post ratio is probably 1000:1, whenever I did need specific info, you all were there to provide great feedback! Thank you again!

As this is most likely last official 5th Gen post, I thought I'd share my likes/dislikes with owning the 4R, and a bit of comparision to my new LC200.

Likes:

• 70k trouble free miles! Not a single issue. Only 1-off scheduled maintenance item was the Tanaka airbag recall. My guess is at 170k my answer would be the same!
• Great double duty vehicle! Daily driving is 10x my old wrangler, and offroad it held it own just fine for the trails I would take my kids on!
• Nusoft seats are amazing! Family, dogs, fishing, muck, you name it. They still look new! Never get that result out of cloth or leather!
• Radflow Suspension! Best suspension I've owned! Amazing at speed and at a crawl!
• KDSS is great! Don't listen to the downers! Its onroad handling pays for itself and its offroad is great. 33s, 2.5" lift and zero kdss lean!

Dislikes:

• Power Delivery! Not the engine, not necessarily even the 5spd, just the mapping and overall wide gaps in gearing is just so underwhelming, even at 99% sea-level driving.
• Lift to fit 33s?!? And still needed to trim and tuck. Glad at least I didn't have to do the BM Chop!
• Stock shocks/sprints! Nose dive on braking was ridiculous! KDSS hid many more issues I'm sure.
• Everyone and their mom drives one now! I know, 100k sales a year is nothing but great for it/brand, but seeing 20 on the road every 5 miles get a bit mundane.

*** Basically, 3 of my 4 dislikes are ridiculous themselves. Most people with stock tires, a pedal commander, or heck even the supercharger will zero out any dislikes ever!



As for the Land Cruiser, these are my reasons/comparisions:

• V8 and 8speed! Even though the power and weight seems comparable (~110hp+ and ~1,100lbs+), the seat feel is night and day. The power band is just awesome!
• Just a tad more space for family and stuff. The jump seat actually gets a bit of use!
• 33s with no modifications!
• Headlights that actually put light on the road to actually see at night! What a concept!!!
• Daily driving is 5x the T4R. Drivetrain, seats, amenities, comfort, safety are all just a bit better.
• Sales and Marketing departments kept whispering "Land Cruiser"... "Laaaand....Crusier"... "LAND CRUISER!!!"

There are of course a few dislikes too:

• Not as much up-front storage (coolbox is great, but miss the center cargo)
• Too easy to mistake the fuel gauge for the rpm gauge as they move at the same speed!
• Just wide enough to ensure that any trail will pinstripe it to death! Feels like I could get pin striping just going out of the garage!
• Bit too pretty...so far... to throw it onto some trails!

If anyone is on the fence between 4R and LC, I recommend always test driving. I don't think there is a simple X>Y answer, and I don't necessarily believe that LC > 4R in every/all cases.

I probably drove 8 different LCs, both 6spd and 8spd, and various mid-life-cycles (2008-2011, 2012-2013, 2014-2016, 2016+) and they all drove different and offered unique price-to-feature options.

And if I was to do it all over again on the 4Runner, I think I would have done all the modifications exactly the same, except perhaps on Day 1 vs most of them at the 40k mile mark. And if I were to keep it long term, I would have CBI'd the rear and Demello'd (aluminum) the front!

In closing, I would recommend a 4Runner to almost anyone (as I would a LC too!).

Thank you again for making this such a great forum!

If this is going to be your last post, you're going to need to post a pic of your LC!

What year Cruiser did you end up buying, what color inside and out? Thank you you very much for the info.

Maybe I missed it - brand new?

Either way, congratulations! Most here would make that step if they could, I think. Enjoy!

nice

+2 for the pic

"If anyone is on the fence between 4R and LC, I recommend always test driving."

I did. I was looking at 2 new 2016s, one for me and one for my wife. They had two on the lot and they looked good. After a test drive I immediately bought a new red Trail Premium with KDSS for me and my wife picked out a new Avalon Touring.

It was certainly easier writing the check for the two we bought, but two Land Cruisers wouldn't have hurt too badly either. I just decided that if I wanted to drive a big boat I'd actually buy a real boat. I have a boat, but that's beside the point.

We're on Ocracoke Island this week and having a blast driving on the beach. As usual. Now she wants a house here. Last week it was a house at Virginia Beach. Last week she went there for the weekend and got stuck in traffic over and over again.

this post is worthless without photos.

Your also comparing apples to oranges.
A Land Cruiser is nowhere in the same price range as a 4 runner.

A Land Cruiser should be compared to a Lexus LX570.

The price of a new Land Cruiser is like 2 brand new 4 Runners.

2 Pro's, 3 SR5's....







But you're right.

lol.

Factoring out price, is it an absolute no brainer to get the LC over the 4Runner?

Yea, the LC is damn nice.

I like them, a bit too big for me, as in it would create an inconvenience type too big, not that I have an issue with the size.

Of course, if you’re fine with a larger vehicle. Although, if we’re factoring out price I’ll take an AMG G63.

I'm too peasant to own a land cruiser........so i can only envy those that own one.



But seriously, one day I will find my way into one..even if I have to sell a kidney.

trail and pro have rear locker which is better than center locker. I rather have 4.5 I-6 with front and rear lockers over the current one.