Much of this forum is about the off-road capabilities of the Land Cruiser. I've had my 1958 for 2 weeks driving around the challenging streets of Washington DC and thought I'd share my initial impressions. I'll cut to the chase first ... this thing is surprisingly great in the City.
Excellent acceleration ... merging / changing lanes on the white-knuckle freeways around here is not a problem. The Toyota safety system really comes in very handy in tight quarters. The visibility out of the car is fabulous, better than any vehicle I've ever owned. It's very quick off the line ... scooting across intersections isn't a problem. It's big ... tougher for people to run into you. Despite its size, it's not overly long - it's actually 2" shorter in length than a Honda Accord ... but 18" higher. The squared off front end and front parking assist really helps to make parking in tight spaces much easier. The truck sits very high, easy to see oncoming traffic including bikes and e-scooters.
The height is the biggest surprise to me. I previously had a 2021 Bronco with the Sasquatch package (35" tires) and these 2 vehicles are very close in height. Consequently, the only downside I see right now is that the back storage area is quite elevated due to the height plus the hybrid battery, but I'll gladly take this as a cost of having the extra visibility and a hybrid engine.
The wildcard here is that Toyota absolutely nailed the looks on the Land Cruiser. We live near a very popular historic market on Capitol Hill and get a lot of foot traffic from locals and tourists on our block. I've never had a vehicle that so many people stop and look at including many taking pictures. If I'm out in my front yard I'll talk to them, and it seems what the catches the eye of most people is the classic lines of the 2024 LC. This vehicle sticks out because it simply doesn't look like anything else on the road, and unlike say a Tesla Cyber truck, most people love the way it looks.
So my two cents worth from 2 weeks of city driving ... I do hope to get it on the back roads sometime soon. This truck is exactly what I was looking for, and for those of you currently stuck in QC limbo I'm confident that you'll find that the wait was worth it in the end.
Excellent acceleration ... merging / changing lanes on the white-knuckle freeways around here is not a problem. The Toyota safety system really comes in very handy in tight quarters. The visibility out of the car is fabulous, better than any vehicle I've ever owned. It's very quick off the line ... scooting across intersections isn't a problem. It's big ... tougher for people to run into you. Despite its size, it's not overly long - it's actually 2" shorter in length than a Honda Accord ... but 18" higher. The squared off front end and front parking assist really helps to make parking in tight spaces much easier. The truck sits very high, easy to see oncoming traffic including bikes and e-scooters.
The height is the biggest surprise to me. I previously had a 2021 Bronco with the Sasquatch package (35" tires) and these 2 vehicles are very close in height. Consequently, the only downside I see right now is that the back storage area is quite elevated due to the height plus the hybrid battery, but I'll gladly take this as a cost of having the extra visibility and a hybrid engine.
The wildcard here is that Toyota absolutely nailed the looks on the Land Cruiser. We live near a very popular historic market on Capitol Hill and get a lot of foot traffic from locals and tourists on our block. I've never had a vehicle that so many people stop and look at including many taking pictures. If I'm out in my front yard I'll talk to them, and it seems what the catches the eye of most people is the classic lines of the 2024 LC. This vehicle sticks out because it simply doesn't look like anything else on the road, and unlike say a Tesla Cyber truck, most people love the way it looks.
So my two cents worth from 2 weeks of city driving ... I do hope to get it on the back roads sometime soon. This truck is exactly what I was looking for, and for those of you currently stuck in QC limbo I'm confident that you'll find that the wait was worth it in the end.
