Toyota Land Cruiser: The Off-Road Icon Is Back! But Is It Better?

Описание: Let’s test drive and review the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser!

The Land Cruiser is an off-road icon, and its history goes hand-in-hand with the history of Toyota in America: Toyota formed Toyota USA in late 1957, and American sales began in 1958. That year, the company sold 288 cars; 287 of those sales were Toyopet Crown sedans, and one (yes, one!) was a Land Cruiser. Can you imagine being the only person in an entire country with a certain car? The modern restoration on that would be wild.

The 2024 Land Cruiser is a new model, and in America, it comes with a hybrid-only powertrain. The truck has a turbocharged, 2.4-liter, four-cylinder hybrid engine that makes 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, and that power goes through an eight-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. (It’s 4-wheel-drive, not all-wheel-drive.)

The Land Cruiser was on the market for 60 years, but in late 2020, Toyota told Americans its reign was over on our shores. Naturally, we freaked out, and we started buying Land Cruisers at much higher rates than before. The Land Cruiser then came back for 2024.

The new Land Cruiser rides on Toyota’s TNGA-F body-on-frame truck platform, which it shares with its twin, the Lexus GX, as well as SUVs and pickup trucks like the Toyota Sequoia, 4Runner, and Tundra. Body-on-frame vehicles usually trade some on-road comfort for off-roading suspension flex and prowess, and Toyota’s trucks aren’t immune to that tradeoff.

Toyota only lets you spec 2025 Land Cruisers online now, and for 2025, there are two models for sale: the Land Cruiser 1958 (throwback to that first sales year, one sale and all) and the normal Land Cruiser. The 1958 is the base model, which starts at about $57,000 and has circular throwback headlights. The catch with the 1958 is that it’s available in only three exterior colors: white, black, and gray.

The normal Land Cruiser is the top and most expensive model, and it has a base price of about $63,000. It has more modern rectangular headlights like the car in this video, and it has some other paint options, like Heritage Blue and Trail Dust, which is a sandy color.

I enjoyed my week driving the Land Cruiser. Where I had problems understanding the car was off-road: From the factory, the Land Cruiser’s body and underbody doesn’t have a ton of protection. A lot of owners will get aftermarket protection for their cars, but for people who want that from the get-go, it’s not there. In terms of protecting the car, the concept doesn’t line up with the execution. (The exhaust tip and rear tow-hitch cover also hang low, making that a contact point while off-roading.)

All of that made me worry about taking the Land Cruiser on easy off-road excursions, despite the car having all the hardware, software, and suspension chops I needed to take on the trails. From the factory, the Land Cruiser feels more like it’s meant for road trips and camper excursions, despite being far more capable than that. I worried about peeling the panels off like a can out there, and I think owners will feel the same way before putting aftermarket protection on it — if you mess something up, it’s not the cheapest off-roader on the market, so the fix will cost you.

The Land Cruiser is a good, comfortable, capable off-roader, and I’m glad we have it in America again. I just wish it had a bit more protection for when it does need to go off-road.

Thanks for watching my YouTube channel. Enjoy the drive (and the video)!

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