LC 250 Hate = It’s REAL

[Nor Cal Cruiser]

I’d recommend no one assign any value to the “content creators” on social media. They exist to generate clicks and not provide accurate, logical, useful, or even correct information. Watch that stuff for entertainment value and/or to use it to confirm if it has any value (usually it does not), but don’t make your choice to purchase or regret your purchase based on it. Most (a great exception is Care Care Nut, and there are a few others like Ronny Dahl) are useless fools/tools and provide no value outside the echo chamber of their own pointless channel. Watch a soap opera, get a soap opera.

I love my 250 FE and have taken it through creeks and in mud, dirt, and snow, and at 30 degree lean and pitch angles (no rock crawling), and it has been fabulous. Entirely capable and fun to drive. It has its nits, among the legitimate ones are the stupidly small fuel tank, the severe lack of interior storage, the intrusive driver control tech, and impinged trunk storage because of the hybrid battery, but the disparagement from these content creating clowns for things like a fake lack of power (326 hp and 465 lb ft of torque is no lack of power) or effortlessness (say what and see above) are a joke.

Judge the car for yourself, know what you are buying, don’t be an idiot. Stop promoting these jackasses by reposting their nonsense. It doesn’t help anyone, it doesn’t matter, and it’s usually demonstrably incorrect.

 

[Nor Cal Cruiser]

You have to realize that YouTube is basically an extension of the Top Gear shtick but less humorous. It isn't meant to be objective or even factual. It is designed to get you to click, engage, share, like, etc. If all the reviews said "this is a pretty darn good vehicle, but it costs a lot of money", which is honestly true about most vehicles in this price range, they wouldn't get the engagement. So there's basically a set em up, knock em down strategy for content creators. Get the free trip to wherever from the manufacturer for the first drive, make a video that says only nice things, circle back 3 months later with a hot take about how bad it is. Neither video is particularly objective; they are tilted to get your engagement.

FWIW, while I'm taking a 2 year hiatus from BOF SUVs thanks to a ridiculously cheap BEV lease, I'd 100% be in a Land Cruiser otherwise. Love the look, the TNGA-F platform really focused on articulation and tire size (a problem with the 150 series 4Runner I had before) while maintaining a very daily drivable character. Visibility is great, full time 4WD, all the fun off road toys, and that instant torque for passing and generally being pleasant to drive. The LC truly is the jack of all trades. I was offroading with my brother back in November when I still has my 4Runner Pro. I was 100% jealous of his LC Premium while we were out there. Just something about it feels special compared to the 4Runner.

Is it the best value? Nah, that's probably a 6th gen SR5 4Runner with tires and an aftermarket locker. But who cares? Not everything has to be the best value. We're talking about $65k vehicles. They're never going to be a great value as long as you can get the same basic platform for $20k less. Buy the thing you like, turn off the dipshits on YouTube, go enjoy your ready for anything LC.

Check out Ben Hardy for this crap. He posts it daily, or several times a day, often with the same recycled click bait picture he’s used countless times before. This is not designed to be accurate or helpful; don’t fall for it.

 

[JustinHEMI]

When someone contributes to my buying of a vehicle, then I may care what they think. Outside of that, I don't care what others, especially "influencers," have to say about the LC250.

 

[DoMoCruiser24]

YouTube is quite similar to real life in that viewers really should take a moment to sift through all the bullshit for useful information to add to their own experiences to formulate a meaningful conclusion.

The LC 250 isn’t some perfect vehicle. It either fits your needs or it doesn’t (and that’s okay). It’s really that simple.

 

[TheMightyGoose]

All these influencers saying Toyota got it wrong. Thousands of owners saying Toyota got it right

 

[LandcruiserNut]

Calgon take me away from this site.

 

[lcat63]

At this point in life, the LC checks the boxes that are most important to me. There's always going to be something out there that does something better. But for me, there's just not much out there that does everything as well.

 

[TheMightyGoose]

So much noise around the LC250. Well, sales are showing Toyota got it right. So many people demanding a ‘real’ 4x4 with massive HP and huge tires and . Ford listened and gave the world the Bronco. The pundits rejoiced a new breed of 4x4 had arrived. A proper one. And yet, Ford dealer lots sit with massive inventories of unsold Broncos.

Toyota didn’t get caught up in the noise. They knew what true Land Cruiser enthusiasts and customers wanted. They gave us the LC250. And the pundits screamed it’s not a real Land Cruiser. Meanwhile all the new LC250 owners saying Toyota got it right.

There is a small minority of people who declare they have the correct opinion of what a Land Cruiser should be. Yet they didn’t buy their image when they had the chance. It’s like they just want to know it exists, even if they know they don’t really want to own it. I’m really glad Toyota knows what it’s doing. Because the true enthusiasts are the ones who are buying and using them. Not the ones who sit on the sideline and try to have the world fulfill their fantasies of what a real LC is.

 

[doraifurai]

Can’t we just enjoy the car?

 

[D-Train]

Don't entirely understand the pearl clutching from the OP? Are you worried about the resale value, ultimately? Do you think the current crop of 'influencers' will tank the resale value 10 years from now? Did you buy a LC250 as an investment, or non-depreciating asset?

As said above, they are generating clicks to make a living. No one watches videos entitled "TOYOTA TOTALLY KICKED ASS AND THE LC250 IS THE BEST VEHICLE EVER MADE!!!!!!' because that fits in with the current narrative of they DO make great vehicles. Counter narrative vid's get the clicks.. Are they trying to tank the future value of LC's? Doubtful. Are they mostly self serving pieces of doo doo who are not real journalist that don't care what the actual truth is.... you bet!

Drive your LC and enjoy. Don't let the internet tell you the earth is flat.

 

[flyingtrotter]

In the UK we have the diesel and it’s the engine that most reviews have highlighted as a negative - but the more prominent reviewers are people that spend most time reviewing performance cars so it’s hardly surprising that a 4 cylinder 2.8 diesel doesn’t performs like a 700-1200 bhp super car and is slower 0-60 than the new Ferrari SUV or 700 bhp Aston SUV

I do watch some of the international stuff but fundamentally the petrol hybrid is a very different vehicle

The reviewers that mean about the EU driven “safety” tech are a little annoying as that a feature of all new cars from 2024 - just learn how to switch it off if that’s your preference - same with learning how to use the off road tech - I do tend to switch if reviews by people that can’t be bothered to do it properly and then winge because having failed to set it up it doesn’t perform perfectly

 

[LAR]

Sitting in my car in front of a store yesterday, I had a walking out of the store stop and chat at the window to ask about how I liked the LC250.

We ended up chatting a couple of minutes as he was admiring it and talking about his old 4R that got him 350k miles before trading it in for the Wagoneer he was currently driving. He loved it.

While talking to him, another guy driving a Tesla Truck stopped to chat with the both of us to say how much he loved the LC250.

I’ve been stopped here and there since getting this truck by folks driving really nice and expensive vehicles in their own right. The 250 is timeless.

In ten years, it will be a vehicle that started a trend and in 30 years, I’m sure people will say, “I’d rather replace the battery of a 250 FE and drive that to 400k than get these crap LC2750s!”

@RCFTE - Unless you were looking for a quick flip, I think you’ve got yourself a winner.

As a side note - that was one heck of an interesting thread post. I teach about informational issues like the power of social media, and I love when people are able to point it out and explain it. Great write-up; you had me hooked.

 

[TheMightyGoose]

The Throttle House guys did a video on the LC250. It’s entertaining and very positive

 

[Seratti]

This type of negativity swirls around every new product these days. Cameras, cars, bikes, you name it. The LC isn't perfect, but for me, it's pretty dang close. I do wish it had better fuel efficiency and/or a bigger tank, and sometimes I question whether the hybrid battery is a net pro or a con, I'm not sure. I don't buy cars as investments or consider their resale value, I buy them to enjoy them.

By the way, I have a family member that is a Ford mechanic and he laughed out loud when I asked if Ford's reliability has improved over the years. He says he would never buy a Ford.

 

[shenderson]

Social media producers make money on hits. Hits get them ads and sponsors. People love some good drama. I try not to click anything I don’t want to give attention to. Negativity generates more attention than positivity unfortunately.

Also because of this instant gratification many don’t really process information well or research anything well enough to be logical. Anyone who is a professional at anything can watch a movie or tv show that touches on that subject and 9 times out of 10 is rolling their eyes in seconds. Accuracy doesn’t always pull people in. Unfortunately a lot of these social media folk are trying to make the car into something it’s not. It’s not a fuel efficient commute car. The Prime does that. It’s not a highway speed demon. It wasn’t built for that. Heck. I’d be curious how many LC owners are buying it because of the heritage of it being an off road beast. Initially that was what it was built for… not a status symbol. I’ve seen several social media reviews that lead with that topic and I can’t help but roll my eyes a little. I think Toyota getting out of the 100,000 dollar plus version of the Landcruiser is a cool attempt to return it towards its roots.

The world we live in is consumed and driven by social media. We just have to be able to wade through the weeds and do research. I hope people learn not to trust it. Personally I pass on most of it. I don’t have Facebook. I don’t do X or insta. Just don’t have time for that noise.

 

[dubel]

I've had mine for a month now and I've been really happy with it. I was weary of the hybrid system because I assumed it was more complex and less reliable than a gas only engine but the car nut guy makes a good argument for the reliability of Toyota Hybrids. If given the option I would have chosen the GX V6 TT (in LC body/styling) but the hybrid is growing on me. I prefer the subdued classic styling - the Lexus just doesn't fit my vibe. And I'm not going to feel bad about the hundreds of rock chips I will get on the Toyota.

Back to the OPs topic: I don't mind the haters. I agree and see what you describe on youtube and other sites, but I know what I want and Toyota did a great job with this one. I looked at the GX550, Bronco, F-150 Lightning, Cybertruck, Defender, Grenadier and the Land Cruiser wins on value, reliability, low maintenance, and just checked the most boxes for me. The LC is still going to hold its value better than the alternatives. The LC250 is expensive to buy new at MSRP, but not out of line. And if influencers manage to lower the resale value, then it will be that much easier to recommend a used one to my friends.

 

[icurnmedic]

Have owned every model since the fj80 came out.
I don’t “wheel” so can’t speak to that, but I like my new one as well or better overall than any of the previous 5.
To hell with these “influencer’s” opinion anyway.

 

[BluesCruise421]

I've come from owning primarily Hondas and Subaru's. Most of them have been lowered and built for the street. I've also been a motorcycle rider for the past 10 years or so on some decently quick bikes. I've never owned a live axle vehicle, let alone one with a low range. I've never owned a hybrid let alone one most people complain about. Here's my humble opinion on my LC. ITS JUST TO MUCH FUN TO STOP DRIVING. I don't care what I see on YouTube that says its not all that great. For everyone who likes this one, Lets go grab a bite to eat and go hit some trails. Cheers everyone