2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Look (POV) - Both Trims + Startup

Hey crew, I've got the key to that all-new Toyota Land Cruiser and we are not going to take it for a drive today but I can't wait to do that both on and off-road. Today we're going to just take a preview look at the new Land Cruiser which is probably one of the biggest reveals of the decade and that's because they only come out with them every once a decade. The Land Cruiser took a hiatus for about three years after the 200 Series went into retirement and this is what it's come back as. Just to frame it up for you guys, the last we've known of the Land Cruiser, for about 30 years now, it has been a parallel to the Lexus LX. A full-size, body-on-frame, off-road oriented but comfortable luxurious vehicle. Now this new Land Cruiser is really kind of the global market Prado brought to the U.S. It is a parallel to the Lexus GX, not the LX and that is a huge departure. It's basically going to be the new 4Runner and that means I'm a new 4Runner to debut certainly anytime soon. Some important details to share with you because of that new framing, the Land Cruiser as you can probably very well tell is smaller than the 200 Series. It is 4.4 inches narrower and 1.2 inches shorter than the 200 Series. It also, another big departure here, is not powered by a V8 as much as we would like. It instead has a 2.4 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder. This is the first time I'm popping the hood. This is also the first time I've seen a Land Cruiser. We didn't get to even look at it in press release. So we've got a 2.4 liter turbo 4-cylinder with an electric motor sandwiched between the engine and transmission and that combination gives us 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. Yeah, it's got more torque than the 200 Series but less power. The previous generation had 381 horsepower. And the styling is a big difference. I have an 80 Series and so I've got the transition from the 60 Series' blockiness to a more rounded design. This has returned to blockiness much like the new Lexus GX and I really like it. I do love the look. It feels like I'm looking at a new 60 Series and that goes for the headlight shape. So the 60, the FJ60, had round headlights. This in the 1958 edition. So there are three trim levels for the Land Cruiser to start things off. We have the entry-level 1958 edition. That's what we're looking at here. I'll show you either the first edition or I'll show you the mid-level Land Cruiser edition. So the FJ60 had round headlights. These have these LEDs and the 62 had a rectangular headlight shape. In the Land Cruiser edition you have a rectangular headlight shape and below that we've got some fog lights and then a Toyota Heritage-style grille with a lettering like that. At the side it's a set of 18-inch dark gray painted wheels wrapped in some all-season tires. The new Land Cruiser is 8.7 inches of ground clearance. It's got shorter front overhangs than the 200 Series. Of course, permanent four-wheel drive with a two-speed transfer case like all Land Cruisers before. It can tow 6,000 pounds. The i-Force Maxx powertrain that I just detailed, the 2.4 turbo four with a hybrid, is the only powertrain they're going to offer. Now this view here is something that was teased and this is showing much more of a headlight or taillight width than I was expecting. And the teaser kind of makes it look like you're just looking at straight up and down. Even dips over here into a different shape. Land Cruiser is spelled out. This button is going to pop the back glass. So that is retained being able to open the back glass. But what is not is the tailgate. And if you saw the new LX, which by now it's been on sale for a couple of years, you were kind of anticipating this that they're not going to have a tailgate. It's just a full-on lift back. That is another big, big difference between this and the 200 Series. And the shelf up here is pretty darn high. So if you're loading in cargo, not just gonna have to lift it over the bumper, you're also gonna have to lift it another, I want to say, six inches to get up here. And you've got your cargo cover. It's only going to be a two-row SUV. That's another big departure. With the smaller dimensions, you're also losing out on the third row of seats. And so let's take a look at the interior right now. Looking at fabric seats. This makes me very happy because my 80 Series has fabric seats. And I actually sought out the fabric seats of my 80 Series instead of getting one with leather. So to get fabric seats is standard. It's pretty nice. You're probably looking at this going, man, uh, you're not getting a ton of content here. USB-Cs. But it's not as big of a vehicle. It doesn't seat as many people. And that's an 8-inch touchscreen is standard. What's it getting priced at? Toyota is saying mid $50,000 territory. And that is a big dip down from the 200 Series that was in the $80,000 territory. $55,000-ish is gonna be a whole new audience of people that are now gonna be looking at this vehicle as an entry point to the Lane Cruiser brand. There is some underbody protection. And we'll see some other cool stuff on the first edition. In the front, you do get a leather-wrapped steering wheel as standard. And your two-speed transfer case is here. You've got a center locking differential and a limited slip rear differential in the Lane Cruiser. I mentioned it's an 8-inch touchscreen is standard. Probably power on the vehicle right now. So you can see some of that. Digital gauge cluster, also standard. This is injection molding right here. Some hard plastic there. Your touchscreen does have a volume knob, important. You can upgrade to a 12.3-inch screen that we'll see in the first edition model. I like all these buttons here for your climate control settings. Glad those are touchscreens. Three more USB-C ports there. You can also get a wireless charging pad. This one doesn't have it as standard. Looking inside, pretty deep storage in there. You can also get a digital rearview mirror. This one doesn't have it. No sunroof here as well. Hop into the seat. Grab handle to get in. Nice and easy. Seat is very comfortable. Drive mode selectors here as well. Visibility also, I didn't show you that. Very good. That D-pillar back there, yeah, a bit of a blind spot. Kind of overlaps with the headrest though. And I can imagine that blind spot monitoring is standard on this vehicle because the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 system is fully standard on it. I like the feeling of the steering wheel as well. It's just the perfect size. Some gloss black. You know I'm not a huge fan of that stuff, but they kept it to a minimum just here. This is all kind of textured plastic. For a pre-production, this feels really good. Up here, we've got your lighting. Need to start it since I've got the key and they say it's okay. Modesty of a turbo four-cylinder to start us off. Let's go see what idle sounds like from outside. This is your only exhaust port here. Man, it's so mellow. It's a big departure from the V8 Thunder. Head to the back now. Another grab handle. And that seat was further forward than I would probably sit at six feet tall. I'm gonna say maybe two inches, so subtract two inches from what we're looking at here, but I still would have knee room. There are foot pockets to slide my feet under and there's good thigh support. Headroom is excellent, so got plenty of that. That's gonna get the thumbs up from me. And in the middle, we've got air vents. I already mentioned the USB-C's down there and a DC outlet. That driveshaft dump is not actually a big issue. You can slide over pretty easy and I would have enough room on either side for two more full-size adults to squeeze in. There's an armrest as well with cup holders. So yeah, this definitely could work for five full-size adults, at least in a pinch. Four, comfortably five, as needed. And we saw the storage space looks pretty decent in the back. Not a power-operated tailgate on this version right here. Pre-production model here, so if there's anything loose, just keep that in mind. AC power outlet back here, 2400 watts. That's significant. It's a different vehicle. This is definitely a different vehicle than the Land Cruiser we've known up until now. Once again, it feels more like the global market Prado has been brought to the U.S., but I'm really into it. It also kind of seems to replace like the FJ Cruiser as well. So no 4Runner, at least not for now. And the Land Cruiser has changed, but if you want that comfortable mobile, that may be the Lexus LX for you. If you want something with three rows, that's going to be the Toyota Sequoia, the TRD Pro being the beefiest version of that one. But this is going to be something off-road focused, much more attainable at that $55,000 price point. Let's go take a look at the first edition now. While we're doing some waiting, I should point out that, yeah, we're surrounded by Land Cruisers of all shapes and sizes and generations because we're here at the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum just outside of Salt Lake City. This is wild, guys. This is a place I've wanted to visit for a while, and the fact that they have the new Land Cruiser debuting here, it's really cool. I'm really, really happy. And now we can see the Land Cruiser trim of the new Land Cruiser, which, yes, is a little bit confusing. This one is painted in what they call Heritage Blue. It's a powder blue color with a white contrasting roof. Reminds me a little bit of the Calvary Blue that they had on the Tacoma, but this, they say, is a unique color to the Land Cruiser. And you know I like my blues, so I'm really into this. Looking at the face, a big difference here is those headlights. I didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. Now seeing it in person, the round headlights, I prefer to these horizontal ones that have the three LEDs across. Beneath those, we upgrade to RIDGID Industries fog lights, which go from white to a yellowish color. And recessed under here are some tow hooks. Still have that Toyota Heritage grille with the lettering. And at the side, these are better wheel designs. Still 18 inches. I prefer them over the 1958 edition, but I think they're missing an opportunity to put steelies on the entry-level Land Cruiser. This matte black finish wrapped in Michelin LTX Trail, light-duty, all-terrain, 33-inch tires. And here we find some side steps. The first edition trim, which is going to sit above the Land Cruiser trim, and they're limiting to 5,000 units, will add rock sliders, true sliders you can sit the whole weight of the vehicle on. I did not yet mention that the Land Cruiser is riding on Toyota's new global market truck platform, just like the new Tacoma. So it's a ladder frame chassis. And at the rear is a multi-link setup with coil springs. And up front is a double wishbone suspension with twin tube shocks. It's going to be rugged. It's going to be capable. Also noticing now more of a roundedness to the rear end that I didn't really see before. And popping open the tailgate to look inside the trunk, this is a power operating, I said tailgate, it's a liftback. I'm going to miss the tailgate. So useful in my 80 series. I also didn't really describe why this is so high. The batteries from the hybrid system are here in the floor. They did this to kind of retain the flat shelf to keep it coming all the way across, but you do have some storage over here, over here. I showed you this spot here. And even up front, you can pull this up for extra storage. This piece here, not going to move. Batteries are underneath. Also didn't point out the fact that there are cup holders and USB-C ports on both sides where a third row would be. But here in the U.S., they're not shipping the Lane Cruiser with a third row. Global market, it's probably going to come with a third row, but not here in the U.S. So we just get cup holders for, I would say tailgating, but there's no tailgate for sitting back in your trunk area. It is a big shelf there, so you could sit on the tailgate as well. Let me show you the turn signals and lights. So here are the DRLs and the full headlights, the Rigid Industries lights in yellow or white, and then here are the taillights. And now the turn signals. Honestly, I like all these lighting signatures. They all look pretty cool. Let's look inside the Lane Cruiser trim. Oh, all right. It's like a brownish maroon for these leatherette seats with perforations and contrast. It's kind of an interesting contrast with the blue of the exterior. And the seat backs look like they recline. Pull this tab. They go back pretty far. That's nice. And if I pull this all the way, folds down and up. All right. So here's the Global Market Lane Cruiser with a third-row seating access, but for us in the U.S., it just folds all the way up like my 80 Series. And then folds flat like that for storage. Doesn't create a flat floor. This is going to be raised up compared to the lower flat floor of the trunk. On the doors, got some injection molding here. Actually, this isn't injection molding. This is leatherette. Yeah, nicely padded. More leatherette here for your armrest. Contrast stitching. This is harder plastic down low. Get a JBL sound system on this trim. Side step would help for kiddos getting up and in. Not sure they'll be able to reach the grab handle, but I can. That's what matters. The seat is still upright here. Let me pull it back a bit. This is closer to where I'd have my seat at six feet, and the knee room is still solid. You get a third zone of climate here. Let me put the vehicle in accessory mode. Two taps of the start-stop. It's a bigger digital gauge cluster for sure than the 1958 edition, and there's your digital rearview mirror. 12-inch screen, pre-production just now slowly coming to life there. But here in the back, there's that third zone of climate. Still got your two USB-Cs and the DC outlet. Lane Cruiser spelled out here. Didn't note that before. Let's take a look up front. These front seats are heated and ventilated with power adjustments. Some all-weather floor mats. Here are your fog lights. Control that. There's your lift back opening. Your release for your fuel door. Light controls there. Power adjusting steering column on this one. Front doors. We got two positions of memory for the driver's seats. Four one-touch windows. I think they're one touch. Yep, just a single touch. Same kind of spot here with padding. Still harder plastics there. All really the same controls here, but this is now the wireless charging pad. Oh, multi-terrain select. I didn't see that on the 1958 edition. Downhill assist with crawl control. The passenger side. This is nice injection molding here. Not hard plastic with an accent. This feels like a ribbed cord. Very nice sunroof situation. Vanity pulls over and has an extension. It doesn't slide. These little extensions, like they block some of the sun, but not nearly as well as just being able to slide it. And then we have a power sunroof in the Land Cruiser trim. It's going to bring in a lot more light into this cabin. It feels very functional, but it also has tons of convenience features. This now is in leatherette. What's this do? Oh, you still get a volume knob. Nice. Still get a volume knob even with the 12.3 inch screen. That makes this better for me. No. Oh, it does have a head-up display as well. Sweet. And that is our preview of the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser. I've had less than an hour with this truck. This one and the one outside, the 1958. So I'm still processing my full impressions, but I think it's good. It's just so different from what I was expecting. I was expecting the Global Market 300, and this is not it. This is the Global Market Prado. This is the Lexus GX Parallel. It's smaller. It's narrower. It's going to attack trails in an entirely different way than the 200 series did, and it's going to be so much more affordable. Mid $50,000 price territory. I know I said $55,000 earlier. We don't actually know the starting price, but mid $50,000 for that 1958 edition outside is a very exciting proposition, opening the door up to so many new Land Cruiser owners. And for me, I prefer that 1958 edition outside. I prefer the cloth seats, just the hardware, the 8-inch screen. I don't need any of the frills that this Land Cruiser trim offers. I might need this paint job because I love the powder blue. But what do you guys think? Are you excited about this new era of Land Cruiser, this new size of Land Cruiser? Are you excited about the price point, or are you a little disappointed? Did you want a three-row, bigger, body-on-frame SUV like the 200 series was? Let me know in the comments, and I can't wait to bring you guys the drive next.