2024 Toyota Land Cruiser | Did We Make a Mistake? | Honest Owner Review

Hello and welcome to Ram Cruiser Overland. My name is Kyle and in this video I'll be giving you an honest review of our 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser. I'll be explaining why we chose it, what we like about it, what we don't like about it, and I'll address some of the controversy around this vehicle so stay tuned. Now I am definitely not a professional automotive reviewer but I have spent the last 15 years working various roles in the automotive repair industry and because of that I feel I have a pretty good frame of reference when it comes to critiquing vehicles. I've at least worked on or driven or been inside almost all cars sold in the U.S. for the past few decades. My girlfriend Judy and I added this 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser in black with premium package and java interior to our but it's hers but ours but hers but also mine. We started considering new cars for her back in 2023 and she had discerning criteria. It needed to be an SUV with room for five adults and our dogs but not too big. It needed to have leather seats for cleaning the inevitable dog hair. It needed to have memory seats for our full foot height and difference, cool styling, and it needed to be a hybrid. And why a hybrid you ask? Well we're good progressive people and in this house we believe in an equitable future for our children. We believe that we have a responsibility to our community to be good role models and when it comes to climate and the environment we feel we should be a part of the solution rather than the problem. To put it simply we're better than you. But prior to the 2024 Land Cruiser coming out there weren't really any hybrid SUVs on the market that my girlfriend liked. They were either too small, too ugly, or too unreliable. And so when the new Land Cruiser was announced as a hybrid we both got excited. And of course now there is going to be a hybrid 4Runner and we did wait for it to be revealed before deciding on this. And after seeing pictures of it we both still preferred the Land Cruiser. And so then came the choice of round or square headlights. To get all the features we required it would have to be at least a Land Cruiser trim or first edition. I gave her the option of both. She liked the square headlights so the Land Cruiser trim it was to be. Is it weird that Toyota offers different headlights based on the trim? Yes. And so with that decided we started asking around at our local dealerships. It took a few months before we could see one in person as most of them were already pre-ordered and paid for. But in August the dam finally broke loose and they started showing up in dealerships albeit selling pretty quickly. So we finally got to test drive one. Judy decided it is what she really wanted and now it was just a matter of choosing the color combination. From the very start of our search she wanted one in black. She likes black cars. I tried to steer her away from this because keeping a black car clean is a nightmare. And it has been. The blue and tan were a hard no for her and so we were going to compromise on the underground dark gray color. However after seeing one in black next to the underground even I had to admit the black really pops. So black it was. If I had any choice in what a Land Cruiser would come in I would like to see a forest green. But the one we test drove was black with a black leather interior and she really wanted the java interior which is a surprisingly hard color combo to find. We searched on auto trader and found there were only two black Toyota Land Cruisers with premium package and java leather interior in the entire state of Texas. The first dealership we called wanted $15,000 over MSRP which is a hard no. Thinking about the price of this Land Cruiser as is has Dave Ramsey quotes playing in my head. You're driving the college fund. And so we called the second listed one. We verified it was exactly what we wanted and priced at MSRP. So we got the paperwork started online and then drove 200 miles into east Texas to go pick up our Toyota Land Cruiser at 5 p.m. on a Saturday. Shout out to the good folks at Loving Toyota and Lufkin. They were super nice easy to work with and there was no BS. Now four months later do we still like our Land Cruiser? Yes. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But with my years of experience in the automotive industry I can tell you that every vehicle has compromises and this rig sure has a few. When the new Land Cruiser was revealed to be a turbo four-cylinder hybrid it definitely drew some ire from the fan base. But for me it meant the Land Cruiser would meet my girlfriend's criteria so I was excited about that. However I didn't really think I would necessarily enjoy the experience. I've driven plenty of larger vehicles with turbo fours and while they may have good power numbers on paper they usually feel like they're working hard to make any of that power. But I am pleasantly surprised to say that I think this I-Force Max powertrain is actually a highlight of this vehicle. It has an electric motor sandwiched between the engine and transmission that gives it instant torque off the line. And then the turbocharger spools very quickly. This power delivery is very linear and the hybrid system operates very smoothly. To me even smoother than the V6 I-Force Max. Of course you can still tell that it's a four-cylinder when you really get on it but I don't find it rough or annoying. Doug DiMiro whom I have immense respect for recently put out a scathing review of the Land Cruiser and said that it felt underpowered. I'm not sure what he felt but it feels more than adequate to me and I drive 600 horsepower AMGs like every week. This engine makes more torque than the Hemi V8 in my Ram and it feels like it. And compared to the old V6s and the 4Runner and the Tacoma this thing is an absolute rocket ship. So I would encourage you to at least drive it before you decide to hate it for being a four-cylinder. There is a downside though. This is supposed to be able to get an EPA rated 23 miles per gallon average and we can't even break 19. And it requires premium gas so don't expect any savings at the pump which you'll be visiting about every 300 miles with the small fuel tank. Exterior styling is of course subjective but I think it looks really handsome although admittedly I'm a sucker for retro inspired design. Our only real complaint is that the emblems are the same color as the rest of the vehicle so you can't even really see them except for the I-Force Max badge which is a bright chrome for some reason. We've had a few people ask us about this vehicle and it's been mistaken for a Range Rover, a Bronco, and an FJ Cruiser. Apparently not everyone's a car nerd. This overly murdered out stealth wealth issue kind of bothers my girlfriend and she wants to either plastidip the emblems or we've discussed putting a matte wrap on it. The inside of the Land Cruiser is a very nice place to be. This premium package has heated and ventilated leather seats and all the primary touch points are soft and luxurious. And if you're like me and you kind of man spread while driving you'll appreciate the padded knee rests. I've done a few longer road trips in this Land Cruiser and the overall ergonomics are very comfortable. There's also plenty of back seat room for adults and I can sit behind myself just fine. I've driven several current generation Tundras and Sequoias and I was actually pretty disappointed by the interior build quality. Everyone I've driven has loose console lids, glove boxes, cheap feeling plastics, rattles, and they overall feel more akin to what you'd expect in a General Motors product. Thankfully this Japanese built Land Cruiser feels old-school Toyota quality in all the best ways. We haven't experienced any creaks or rattles and fit and finish is noticeably better than the American-made models. I don't like having to say that but it's a hard truth. There is some wind noise at highway speeds but that's not really unexpected in a boxy SUV like this. And with the radio on at any volume you don't really notice it. Speaking of which this JBL stereo sounds better at least to me that a lot of other reviewers have reported. Granted we had to tweak the default levels a bit but it delivers a rich sound that doesn't distort when you turn it up. Is it Mercedes Burmeister good? No but we don't really feel like we're missing anything. I've seen some criticism that the door closing kind of feels cheap and I don't necessarily disagree with that. But outside of a G-Wagon I don't know any modern car that has a nice ker-chlunk while closing. While it still drives like an SUV the ride quality is better than you'd expect. It's not at all harsh, it doesn't bounce over rough roads, and visibility is also old school. You sit up high with a low window belt line so there's no large blind spots. But good window tint is a must because of this otherwise it's like being in a big greenhouse. But probably the biggest complaint I've heard about this car from the very first reviews is this rear cargo area. In other countries this can come with a third row but we don't get that because of the placement of the hybrid battery. This is fine by us because we don't need or want a third row. There's other vehicles available if you do. We would much rather have the extra cargo room for our dogs. Is it kind of silly that there's still amenities for a third row? Yes, but this allows our dogs to secure their beverages, charge their iPods, and have an AC vent blowing on them. The only real issue we have back here is having to routinely clean their fur from the intake for the rear HVC and the hybrid battery. But probably the biggest complaint I've heard about up until buying this is the load floor. It's elevated a few inches because of the battery and I've seen multiple reviews make it out to be a big hassle to get anything into the cargo area. Damn this high load floor! So when we first test drove the Land Cruiser I made sure to have Judy check out the rear cargo area because she's five foot two and this hasn't really been an issue for her. And our dogs have been able to jump in the back of it just fine. The separate back glass is nice for when you want to toss something in the back or put leashes on. Would we rather have a sliding back window like in a 4Runner? Probably. Would we rather have a barn door style tailgate? Also probably. Trying to catch three excited dogs while the lift gate slowly opens can be a little bit of a sport, but that's just most SUVs. So while overall we enjoy our Land Cruiser's driving experience and its interior, there are a few low points and mainly that's its weak interior storage. While it's unfair to compare it to my Ram, which may as well be a minivan with a bed, what new vehicle doesn't have a sunglass holder? The door pockets and glove box are small, the center console has next to no room for anything, but to be fair ours has the optional cool box which is great for keeping sody pops cold but is otherwise another takeaway. And while maybe this is the result of being a true world product, this is America and I need room for beaver nuggets and handguns. These sun visors also do little to shield me from the harsh Texas sun and I'd assume this is also a problem in say Saudi Arabia. My next complaint could be applicable to most Toyota vehicles. The infotainment is clunky to navigate and not very attractive. If you want to switch from playing music and carplay to the radio, it's several steps that could be very distracting while driving. It would be much better if they just left a fixed menu on the side while in carplay. And while it's great that they give you a volume knob, a tune knob would be welcome as well. If you're going to try and change FM radio stations while driving, well you better have them saved beforehand. Thankfully there's a plethora of driving aids to keep you going straight while you're distracted from trying to change the radio. The adaptive cruise and lane keep functions work great and are a true asset on long drives. Although I had to turn off a few aids because they were intrusive and annoying. With all the aids on, the cameras would pop on when stopped or would beep at you if you turned your head to look around the corner or drive with your hand at 12 o'clock. I literally calibrate driver aid systems for a living and even I would struggle to tell you what all these acronyms are. There's a lot of customization you can do with the digital cluster but it feels a little overkill. I can't really fault Toyota for this because it seems like most manufacturers are competing to make everything as complicated as possible. I just had to sit down one day and go through all the menus because trying to change anything while driving is super distracting. It also has a heads-up display which is cool if not a bit gimmicky and if your eyesight isn't exactly level with it you can barely see it and it's not adjustable either as far as I can tell. There's also a rear view mirror camera which I didn't care for at first but with all the dogs in the back standing up and blocking my view I've come around to it. The surround view cameras are of good quality and they could be a real help on the trail. And for the trails there's a lot of off-road goodies here worthy of the LandCruiser name. This is a full-time four-wheel drive with selectable high and low range. It's also equipped with a center and rear locking differential, disconnecting front sway bar, and multi-terrain select with crawl control. We've only had this off-road once and it wasn't much of a challenge so I'm hoping to play with these features more in the future. Just don't expect us to really push the limits of this vehicle. This is Judy's baby and it would be nice to have one vehicle that hasn't been ruined. But now I want to talk about the overall philosophy of this LandCruiser. A lot of journalists and Toyota fans seem to be annoyed that this thing even exists and I would think having a wide variety of off-road Toyota vehicles would be something to be celebrated. I've been into cars and off-roading since I was a kid and I've spent a lot of time in forums and now social media and I gotta throw out a bit of a hot take. I want to say that Toyota truck fanboys are possibly the most toxic online off-roading community there is. And yes Jeep people can be pretty cringy but they're mostly just harmless suburban moms that'll leave a duck on your cowl and clog up the trails taking too many selfies. There's an elitist mindset amongst Toyota fans and they'll be sure to let you know that this is not a real LandCruiser. Too bad it's not a real LandCruiser. Clown emoji. Laughing emoji. Four cylinder. Poop emoji. That's just a Prado. It's only a light duty mall crawler. Like okay bro thanks for taking a break from being in the UN security force to let us know that. And unless you're driving this or this or this I don't want to hear it. I've worked on plenty of 100 and 200 series and apart from their stupidly reliable V8s there's nothing special about them. And all current generation Toyota body on frame vehicles share the same platform. From underneath they're pretty much identical. If the 300 series LandCruiser was sold in the US it'd be at least a hundred thousand dollars and they'd probably only sell a few hundred a year. The idea that it's more deserving of the LandCruiser badge than this 250 is silly. If there's one LandCruiser sold today that's the true LandCruiser it's the 70 series. Everyone else is an imposter. And so with this LC250 being the only LandCruiser branded Toyota sold in the US does it even really make any sense when we've got the Lexus GX and the 4Runner? I don't know I mean we bought one. We did wait for the reveal of the new 4Runner before buying this and once we saw pictures of it we weren't a fan. Now I haven't seen it in person of course but it's the same looks as a new Tacoma and it's not for me. And so what about the GX550? Well there's criticism because the price of a loaded LandCruiser comes pretty priced to the close of a GX but we couldn't even find any to check out let alone one at MSRP. Most of the ones we saw online were 90 grand and it doesn't come in a hybrid which is a no starter for Judy. But between you and me I would totally cheat on this LandCruiser with a Noy Green Pearl over trail. And ultimately this is the vehicle Judy wanted. I already have my vehicles. And because this is her vehicle she will be choosing all the mods and accessories. I'll advise and help but it is her build. Already she wants different wheels and tires. We did swap out the center caps and it helps them look a little less like they belong on a Sienna. She also added some Amazon special interior protection bits to cut down on scratches and sticking dog hair. She's saying no to a lift kit but I think a little leveling kit, some different wheels and tires, rock sliders, and a roof rack and it'd be perfect. Aftermarket support for this vehicle is slowly growing so we're excited to see what comes out in the future. Meanwhile we're happy to enjoy it as is and I look forward to us having more adventures with it in the future. So stay tuned. It is a real LandCruiser. It is a real LandCruiser. The 250 is a real LandCruiser. It is a real LandCruiser.