3 WORST and 4 BEST Toyota Cars You Should Buy or Avoid

Toyota sells over 10 million vehicles a year, more than almost any other automaker on this planet. And a significant number of those buyers, people who did the research, paid the premium, trusted the badge, end up owning the wrong Toyota. Not a bad brand. The wrong car within the brand. And that distinction costs them thousands of dollars, years of frustration, and every ounce of goodwill they walked into that dealership with. Here's what nobody in the automotive space will say directly. The Toyota badge does not protect you. The model you pick protects you. Pick correctly. And you are driving something nearly untouchable for a decade. Pick wrong, and the badge means absolutely nothing. We're going through three Toyotas that are genuinely painful to own, and four that are, in my honest opinion, some of the best vehicles available at any price point right now. Let's start with the ones you need to stay away from. Number three. And this one is going to upset people who have a poster of this car on their wall. The FJ Cruiser. I know. It's cool. It looks like a tank wore a Halloween costume as a jeep, and somehow it worked. The cult following on this thing is real. But here's what the cult doesn't put in the brochure. The rear visibility in an FJ Cruiser is genuinely dangerous. Not a little tricky. Not take some getting used to. Dangerous. Those tiny rear windows, the spare tire mounted dead center in your sight line. Parking this thing in a busy lot is an event. City driving makes you sweat. And here is the part that makes it worse. Toyota knew. They knew across the entire production run. And they never fixed it. That is not a personality quirk. That is an engineering decision that aged very badly. Then there's the fuel economy. 15, maybe 16 miles per gallon on a good day. Fine. It's a body-on-frame 4x4. I get it. But here's what gets overlooked every single time. The FJ was discontinued in 2014. Parts are getting harder to find. Specialists who actually know this platform are becoming rare. And the used price has been inflated by nostalgia. Which means you're overpaying going in and carrying real depreciation risk as that nostalgia slowly cools. The people who own them love them. But love is not a maintenance plan. Hold on though. Before worst number two, I need to plant something. The number one pick on the best list directly replaces everything people are actually chasing when they buy an FJ. Keep that in the back of your mind. Number two. And this one I have less sympathy for. Because the problems were visible from day one. And Toyota shipped it anyway. The CH-R looks great. The styling team clearly had a fantastic time. But the engineers? I think they lost a few critical arguments in that boardroom. And you feel every single one of those lost arguments the moment you actually drive this car. No AWD at all. In a crossover. In 2024, where the Honda HR-V has it, the Mazda CX-30 has it. The Subaru Crosstrek built its entire identity around it. Toyota looked at a vehicle marketed to adventurous young buyers and decided two wheels was enough. That decision isn't just baffling. It's embarrassing. The engine makes it worse. 144 horsepower. Zero to 60 somewhere around 9 seconds. A 2011 Honda Fit keeps pace with this thing. That is not an exaggeration. It's been tested. But here's what actually gets under my skin the most. That roofline. That swoopy, stylish, Instagram-ready roofline ate roughly 4 cubic feet of cargo space compared to a standard crossover. A standard checked luggage suitcase does not fit flat in the back. Try explaining that at the airport. Try explaining that on a road trip with three bags and a stroller. And when you go to sell it? Resale value lags behind almost every other Toyota in the lineup. You paid the badge premium going in. You will not get it back going out. The CH-R was designed to be photographed. Not owned. And there is a difference. And it's about $8,000 at trade-in time. Number 1. And this one is the worst Toyota to own right now. The Prius 5th. The wagon. 2012 to 2017. It's a hybrid. It's efficient. It's a Toyota. Yes. But here's what you need to hear before you buy one of these off a used lot. The hybrid battery on aging Prius 5th models is hitting the replacement window right now. We're talking $2,000 to $4,000 for a quality replacement. OEM or aftermarket, depending on who you trust. For a car, you may be paid $10,000 to $14,000 used. That single bill reshuffles all of your math. Every calculation you ran before buying it? Redo it. With that number in it. Discontinued in 2017. Wagon-specific body components. Interior trim pieces. None of it shared with the standard Prius lineup. You are in tail-end of lifecycle territory. And that territory gets lonelier and more expensive every single year. And the driving experience? It always felt like Toyota engineered it for people who had fully and finally given up on enjoying driving. Which, maybe that was the market. But it means anyone who ends up in one by default, rather than by deliberate choice, resents every mile. There are smarter ways to get hybrid efficiency and family space in 2024. The Prius 5th is not one of them. The math simply does not work anymore. All right. Three cars buried. Let's talk about the ones that actually earn the Toyota reputation. Because these are the reason people buy this brand for life and never look back. Starting at number four. The 12th generation Toyota Corolla Hybrid. Nobody talks about this car. That is the problem. And frankly, it's the opportunity. 50 plus miles per gallon in real mixed driving. Not on a closed test track. Not in ideal conditions. Real driving. The ride is smoother than it has any right to be at this price point. It's quiet in a way that feels expensive. It handles with more confidence than the badge suggests. And it comes in under $25,000 out the door in base trim. For anyone between 20 and 38, navigating first car finances, trying to cut monthly costs without driving something that makes you feel bad every morning, this car is almost unfairly good value. The numbers don't make sense until you own one and check your fuel receipts six months in. Nobody puts it on their dream board. But the people who buy it become quietly, relentlessly evangelical about it. You'll know them. They bring up the MPG unprompted. Every single time. Best number three, Toyota Tacoma. 20 consecutive years. Best selling midsize pickup in America. The 2024 redesign fixed the legitimate complaints people had been filing for a decade. Better ride, an interior that actually looks like something built in this century. Technology that finally caught up. But the bones that made this truck great? Untouched. Uncompromised. The resale value on a Tacoma is almost offensive compared to its competition. Buy one, drive it hard for five years, and sell it for more than what some people paid for their brand new trucks. That is not normal. That is a specific Toyota phenomenon the Tacoma owns more completely than any other vehicle in any segment. Off-road capability and TRD trims is the real thing. Not badge engineering. Not lifted suspension on a chassis that handles like a minivan. Real articulation. Real clearance. Engineered by people who tested it in conditions most owners will never encounter. And capable in every condition they will. 25 years old hauling camping gear. 50 years old hauling tools for a business. The Tacoma doesn't ask questions. It just works. Best number two, Toyota RAV4. Prime and precision matters here. Because there is a version of this vehicle that most people walk right past. Not the regular RAV4. Not the standard hybrid. The RAV4 Prime. The plug-in hybrid. And I think it is one of the most criminally underrated vehicles in Toyota's entire lineup right now. Here's why. 42 miles of pure electric range. Which means normal work commute, school runs, grocery trips, your typical weekly radius. You could realistically go weeks without stopping at a gas station. Not theoretically. Actually. And when you need fuel for a long trip, it's still a full hybrid. No compromise. No anxiety. You are simply covered. In every direction. A WD standard. 302 combined horsepower. More than you expect from a family SUV. And more than you need. And somehow, both of those facts are completely fine. Interior spacious. For a real family with real cargo. Safety tech comprehensive. And proven in the real world. The cost of ownership math on this vehicle, specifically if you're charging at home, is the kind of number that makes people go back and redo their entire monthly budget. Some owners report fuel costs dropping by 70% compared to their previous car. The RAV4 hybrid gets all the attention. The RAV4. Prime deserves significantly more of it. Best number one. Toyota Land Cruiser. 2024. Remember at the start I said one pick would explain exactly why the FJ Cruiser leaves people feeling short-changed? This is it. The 2024 Land Cruiser. Toyota killed it for the US market in 2021. Brought it back for 2024. Smaller than the old 200 series. Lighter. Starting around $57,000. And built with an engineering seriousness that does not show up in any spec sheet. You feel it the first time you sit in it. You're in something constructed to outlast you. Not impress you for the first three years. And quietly fall apart after. Twin turbo V6. Full time four wheel drive. Genuine terrain management. A body clearly designed by people who had actually taken vehicles into difficult places. Not just photograph them standing next to a mountain. Here's the fact that puts everything in context. The Land Cruiser has been operational in deserts, mountain ranges, and locations that do not appear on most maps for over 70 years. UN fleets use them. Aid organizations deploy them into active crisis zones. Remote mining operations depend on them for months at a time. Not because of a marketing campaign. Because when something breaks down far from any help, the cost of that failure is catastrophic. And the Land Cruiser simply does not give you that problem. The new generation delivers all of that in a package that costs less than a fully loaded Tahoe. And will almost certainly outlast it by a decade. Is it the cheapest thing on this list? No. But value and price are not the same number. If you want a vehicle you can drive for 20 years, hand to someone you care about and have them genuinely thank you for it. This is the one. No debate. Best Toyota available right now. It is not even close. Time to wrap up the video. Three cars to avoid. Four that are worth every dollar. No fluff, no brand deals steering the verdict. Just cars and facts. See you in the next one.