Thanks and Farewell for now; Bought Land Cruiser, Sold 4Runner Trail Premium
 

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....





:jk:

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.

:hail:

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.