My impression after 2000 miles (and first real road trip)…

[Midwest Duo]

We have an LC LC Premium with the 20” wheels. No mods.
Edit: Specified area of storage for LC that I feel is lacking.

We’ve been getting around 20 mpg with mixed urban/freeway.

Just returned from a 1350 mile road trip, mostly interstate, from Sacramento Valley up I-5 to Depoe Bay, Oregon and back. The vehicle was smooth up and down the hills, and handled very well in the wind and the rain. We felt confident on the foggy wet coastal roads. Whenever we needed power to get around a slower vehicle on a climb it was there. The seating is super comfortable for long road trips.

Mileage wasn’t super great when setting cruise control at anything above 70 mph. My wife’s foot is much lighter than mine on the interstate and she stayed at 65 mph. The estimated mpg number displayed started looking closer to what was promised by Toyota. People have been crabbing about the small gas tank, and I get it, but this was not an issue for us.

Front Passenger Area (console) storage is a problem and I’m not sure how we’re going to solve that. Not happy about it but then I didn’t buy this for the storage capacity. Would just LOVE it if the cool box could be removed and replaced with real storage space (without voiding any part of the warranty).

Haven’t done any off-roading yet. Probably not going to be a thing for us (likely just fire roads in the Sierra Nevada) so there are no plans to change wheels, especially seeing how many complaints I’m seeing about mileage when swapping out the street tires.

Nervous about the break squealing thing I’ve been reading about. Wondered if we were going to come home from Oregon with this problem having parked our LC outside in the blowing rain and fog for several days. No issues this morning backing up. Phew!

We love this vehicle. We have no regrets.

 

[LCOceans]

I bought one of the trays from BGeorger here on this forum and I will say that small little tray that fits at the top of the cooler box is worth every penny! Holds wallet, keys, flashlight, etc. All the small things that you have no place to put anywhere now have a place.

 

[Midwest Duo]

I bought one of the trays from BGeorger here on this forum and I will say that small little tray that fits at the top of the cooler box is worth every penny! Holds wallet, keys, flashlight, etc. All the small things that you have no place to put anywhere now have a place.

I bought one as well and I do appreciate having it. However, when my wife was driving, and she had her phone on the quick charger, there wasn’t a convenient place for me to set my phone down. We settled on the passenger door pull. It’s just odd to me but I’m sure we’ll just get used to it. The cool box doesn’t do much for us and wouldn’t be missed.

 

[chris_in_phx]

I got a rooftop cargo box for extra gear. Thule motion 3 XL. Has 18L of space i believe

 

[Midwest Duo]

I got a rooftop cargo box for extra gear. Thule motion 3 XL. Has 18L of space i believe

I wasn’t clear enough in my post and have since edited it. The issue is with the interior front console lacking a place(s) to set sunglasses, smartphones, etc.

I love driving it, and it’s very comfortable… until you have a passenger and realize there is no where to put basic stuff that is handy for the next time you need it.

Others have purchase solutions that will work for them but I’m not sure they’ll work for me. We’ll get used to it.

 

[Marinna]

I wasn’t clear enough in my post and have since edited it. The issue is with the interior front console lacking a place(s) to set sunglasses, smartphones, etc.

I love driving it, and it’s very comfortable… until you have a passenger and realize there is no where to put basic stuff that is handy for the next time you need it.

Others have purchase solutions that will work for them but I’m not sure they’ll work for me. We’ll get used to it.

I bought a seat gap filler to put my small stuff in it, also somebody posted an idea to use a Yeti sidekick pouch on the passenger side of central console. That should be enough as temporary placeholder.

I do not mind the gas mileage given my last SUV had 17 mpg and previous gen LC was only 13-14 mpg.

However I do mind for the short cruising rage. It gives me a bit range anxiety. Right now I can drive about 350 miles until I really have to refuel. Don’t want to use the last 2 gallon of emergency gas to risk long term damage of the gas pump. On a roadtrip in the middle of nowhere I usually add additional safety tolerance between refueling. That would make my range to be only 300 miles. It is effectively the same as Tesla as well as my 18 years old SUV. I don’t really consider that is appropriate, and I haven’t even swapped out the stock tire or adding additional weight to the roof rack. I couldn’t understand why Toyota couldn’t find additional space to add another 2-3 gallon to the tank. A 400 miles cruising range should be a no-brainer for a “cruiser” these days.

 

[Nor Cal Cruiser]

I bought one of the trays from BGeorger here on this forum and I will say that small little tray that fits at the top of the cooler box is worth every penny! Holds wallet, keys, flashlight, etc. All the small things that you have no place to put anywhere now have a place.

Do you have a link for that product? I cannot find anything on Google.

 

[Altitude]

We have an LC LC Premium with the 20” wheels. No mods.
Edit: Specified area of storage for LC that I feel is lacking.

We’ve been getting around 20 mpg with mixed urban/freeway.

Just returned from a 1350 mile road trip, mostly interstate, from Sacramento Valley up I-5 to Depoe Bay, Oregon and back. The vehicle was smooth up and down the hills, and handled very well in the wind and the rain. We felt confident on the foggy wet coastal roads. Whenever we needed power to get around a slower vehicle on a climb it was there. The seating is super comfortable for long road trips.

Mileage wasn’t super great when setting cruise control at anything above 70 mph. My wife’s foot is much lighter than mine on the interstate and she stayed at 65 mph. The estimated mpg number displayed started looking closer to what was promised by Toyota. People have been crabbing about the small gas tank, and I get it, but this was not an issue for us.

Front Passenger Area (console) storage is a problem and I’m not sure how we’re going to solve that. Not happy about it but then I didn’t buy this for the storage capacity. Would just LOVE it if the cool box could be removed and replaced with real storage space (without voiding any part of the warranty).

Haven’t done any off-roading yet. Probably not going to be a thing for us (likely just fire roads in the Sierra Nevada) so there are no plans to change wheels, especially seeing how many complaints I’m seeing about mileage when swapping out the street tires.

Nervous about the break squealing thing I’ve been reading about. Wondered if we were going to come home from Oregon with this problem having parked our LC outside in the blowing rain and fog for several days. No issues this morning backing up. Phew!

We love this vehicle. We have no regrets.

I just drove from Denver to Kansas City and back for a college visit - that’s about 1000 miles. Did it in my Tahoe as I await delivery of my LC. But I’ve done dozens of long trips in that truck and I post this because of the comments you made about the tires.

I put a set of Wildpeaks on the Tahoe last winter with the goal of snow performance in the Colorado mountains. They delivered well enough on that end, though frankly the Michelin Defenders I had before were not bad and the improvement is at most incremental. But what I noticed on this long highway trip was the price I paid in terms of road noise and mileage. I got 18 MPG on this trip and the truck averaged about 22 with the Defenders. And the Falkens were undeniably louder. Not disruptively so, but enough that I noticed and that we were talking a little louder. Finally, the Falkens seem to have a stiffer sidewall (both are E load rated) and the 80MPH highway ride is a bit stiff by comparison.

My off-road behavior is similar to yours, mainly fire roads leading to hike trailheads. Pretty sure I don’t need a dedicated AT tire. What I think I might do with the LC, when it arrives, is keep the 20” wheels, drive on the OEM tires, and replace those with Defenders down the line as those are indeed excellent tires. Then for winter, I’ll buy a set of 18” Tacoma wheels, which can be found on eBay for around $700. Blizzaks will go on those for my trips to the ski hill.

I’ll give up the aesthetic appeal of AT tires on a vehicle like this. But I think this tire combination will fit my use pattern better. I suppose I’d recommend anyone consider their own use patterns before investing $1500 in knobby tires. Some of us absolutely need them., but many of us don’t and it’s fair to consider the trade-offs.

 

[Midwest Duo]

Do you have a link for that product? I cannot find anything on Google.

Bgeorger is the handle of a fellow LC owner on this forum. He makes them.

 

[LCOceans]

Do you have a link for that product? I cannot find anything on Google.

The member here, BGeorger, works in fabrication and will make one for you if you reach out to him.

 

[Midwest Duo]

Here is a link to something useful for storage around the center console by Ed Martin Toyota.

 

[Alpha Puppy]

In addition to the cool box storage tray, I installed this "hidden" storage that docks at the top of the cool box lid. This is where my wallet lives in long trips.

More info about said storage can be found in this post

 

[Dr Bob]

We have an LC LC Premium with the 20” wheels. No mods.
Edit: Specified area of storage for LC that I feel is lacking.

We’ve been getting around 20 mpg with mixed urban/freeway.

Just returned from a 1350 mile road trip, mostly interstate, from Sacramento Valley up I-5 to Depoe Bay, Oregon and back. The vehicle was smooth up and down the hills, and handled very well in the wind and the rain. We felt confident on the foggy wet coastal roads. Whenever we needed power to get around a slower vehicle on a climb it was there. The seating is super comfortable for long road trips.

Mileage wasn’t super great when setting cruise control at anything above 70 mph. My wife’s foot is much lighter than mine on the interstate and she stayed at 65 mph. The estimated mpg number displayed started looking closer to what was promised by Toyota. People have been crabbing about the small gas tank, and I get it, but this was not an issue for us.

Front Passenger Area (console) storage is a problem and I’m not sure how we’re going to solve that. Not happy about it but then I didn’t buy this for the storage capacity. Would just LOVE it if the cool box could be removed and replaced with real storage space (without voiding any part of the warranty).

Haven’t done any off-roading yet. Probably not going to be a thing for us (likely just fire roads in the Sierra Nevada) so there are no plans to change wheels, especially seeing how many complaints I’m seeing about mileage when swapping out the street tires.

Nervous about the break squealing thing I’ve been reading about. Wondered if we were going to come home from Oregon with this problem having parked our LC outside in the blowing rain and fog for several days. No issues this morning backing up. Phew!

We love this vehicle. We have no regrets.

I have a GX 550. Same problem but I solved most of my issue for about $15 from Temu shopping site. I put a couple of Velcro stickers on back and am very happy with the storage for small items like glasses pens parking tickets etc.

 

[Dr Bob]

Well made and $15 for the pair including tax and shipping!

 

[twowheelgal]

I bought one of the trays from BGeorger here on this forum and I will say that small little tray that fits at the top of the cooler box is worth every penny! Holds wallet, keys, flashlight, etc. All the small things that you have no place to put anywhere now have a place.

Did the same. It helps.

 

[kdgattis]

We have an LC LC Premium with the 20” wheels. No mods.
Edit: Specified area of storage for LC that I feel is lacking.

We’ve been getting around 20 mpg with mixed urban/freeway.

Just returned from a 1350 mile road trip, mostly interstate, from Sacramento Valley up I-5 to Depoe Bay, Oregon and back. The vehicle was smooth up and down the hills, and handled very well in the wind and the rain. We felt confident on the foggy wet coastal roads. Whenever we needed power to get around a slower vehicle on a climb it was there. The seating is super comfortable for long road trips.

Mileage wasn’t super great when setting cruise control at anything above 70 mph. My wife’s foot is much lighter than mine on the interstate and she stayed at 65 mph. The estimated mpg number displayed started looking closer to what was promised by Toyota. People have been crabbing about the small gas tank, and I get it, but this was not an issue for us.

Front Passenger Area (console) storage is a problem and I’m not sure how we’re going to solve that. Not happy about it but then I didn’t buy this for the storage capacity. Would just LOVE it if the cool box could be removed and replaced with real storage space (without voiding any part of the warranty).

Haven’t done any off-roading yet. Probably not going to be a thing for us (likely just fire roads in the Sierra Nevada) so there are no plans to change wheels, especially seeing how many complaints I’m seeing about mileage when swapping out the street tires.

Nervous about the break squealing thing I’ve been reading about. Wondered if we were going to come home from Oregon with this problem having parked our LC outside in the blowing rain and fog for several days. No issues this morning backing up. Phew!

We love this vehicle. We have no regrets.

This guy makes a bin for the cooking storage bin bgefrger.1086

 

[Dangler]

I agree that the cool box is a waste of space. I’ll never use it for its intended purpose and would much rather have the storage. I got one of the trays from @bgeorger and it’s very useful.