What’s your take on this review of the LC

[Winchester44]

What is your take on this review of the Land Cruiser? I love this auto blog, but found this review to be uninformed and misleading based on my personal experiences with the platforms discussed.

2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Review: It’s Just Not the Same

Unless you’re talking about the Lexus GX, in which case it is the same. Wait, no, it’s worse.

www.thedrive.com

 

[Thx_1158]

The problem is that the dealer networks are nuts with pricing. I wanted a GX but I wasn’t going to pay additional 5 to 10k for it IF I can get on a list. The pricing on the LC was bonkers for a while as well and I had to work with several dealers to get on the list for 2025 and UNDER MSRP. To me his price comparison is not valid in the “real world” . I’d also like to know what GX he is comparing the LC to, as there is no way an overtrail+ is $ 200 less than the LC premium.

I also disagree with his take on the power plant. I was pleasantly surprised with the feel and power oh the hybrid. I’ve only got 550 miles on it but I really like it. There are a few things I don’t like such as storage space up front and a few quirks with the infotainment system, but to each there own.

 

[Skidaddl]

What is your take on this review of the Land Cruiser? I love this auto blog, but found this review to be uninformed and misleading based on my personal experiences with the platforms discussed.

2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Review: It’s Just Not the Same

Unless you’re talking about the Lexus GX, in which case it is the same. Wait, no, it’s worse.

www.thedrive.com

He has some good points, but they are highly subjective. Let's not forget the last Land Cruiser was selling at a rate of about a dozen a year (OK, I'm exaggerating), so something needed to change. And if it's price, that means a bunch of other stuff also needs to change.

But look at a review like this one, for example, and you'll find the worth of this guy's opinion:

 

[gxsandiego]

Agree, I think the review of the Land Cruiser vs Defender, G-Class & Grenadier tells the story. Everything else is pretty subjective. I think the complaints about the power train are unfair. I have a GX and I have to drive it like I have an egg under my foot to get the 17 mpg. The hybrid delivers power and economy.

 

[MJE]

That blog is usually a pretty good one, but I don’t always agree with their conclusions in articles, including this one. The main point of his article, like so many others I’ve seen, seems to be it’s not a “real” Land Cruiser. Which isn’t actually accurate looking at the world market, where what we now have as the LC is a Prado. The role the LC used to fill is now filled in NA by the Sequoia. If anybody bought the previous LC I’m sure they’d still be selling it here.

But then many of these auto writers aren’t the target market for the previous LC, nor the current LC/GX. That doesn’t necessarily make his analysis wrong, as many shoppers this year compared the LC & GX, coming away choosing the GX. But neither does it make someone’s choice for the LC over the GX an incorrect one. It all depends on what you value in your choice. There’s a hundred reasons not mentioned in this article & others that might factor into an individuals decision beyond price to go one way or the other.

 

[Glimmertwin]

My husband keeps telling me to stop reading these sorts of articles, that no one else can make decisions as to what you should like.

I am tired of hearing it’s not a real Land Cruiser. If the creator of the Toyota Land Cruiser says here’s our new Land Cruiser, it’s absurd for anyone to argue. Toyota didn’t call and ask their opinion before they made it.

In general, no one vehicle is going to be perfect for everyone. Get what works for you. I’ve been excited for this new LC since it was announced last year and the best part? I didn’t have to pay $90K for a pretty capable, almost retro looking vehicle, that I’ve always admired.

I feel like a lot of car bloggers and “journalists” are writing articles with specific people in mind and struggle to find things they don’t like about vehicles they think their target audience won’t like anyway. If you think you’re cool because you drive a Land Rover, nothing else will ever be good enough for you except a Land Rover and you’ll make excuses for its shortcomings and brag about its good points. It’s just the way humans are.

I don’t get all the crying about plastic armrests, and in three years of owning a 4Runner with MTS, 360 cameras, soft touch interior, and blah blah blah, getting into my 1958 still feels a little more roomy and comfortable. And, if I may say, slightly higher-end than the 4Runner.

 

[gxsandiego]

My thoughts exactly

 

[MJE]

My husband keeps telling me to stop reading these sorts of articles, that no one else can make decisions as to what you should like.

I am tired of hearing it’s not a real Land Cruiser. If the creator of the Toyota Land Cruiser says here’s our new Land Cruiser, it’s absurd for anyone to argue. Toyota didn’t call and ask their opinion before they made it.

In general, no one vehicle is going to be perfect for everyone. Get what works for you. I’ve been excited for this new LC since it was announced last year and the best part? I didn’t have to pay $90K for a pretty capable, almost retro looking vehicle, that I’ve always admired.

I feel like a lot of car bloggers and “journalists” are writing articles with specific people in mind and struggle to find things they don’t like about vehicles they think their target audience won’t like anyway. If you think you’re cool because you drive a Land Rover, nothing else will ever be good enough for you except a Land Rover and you’ll make excuses for its shortcomings and brag about its good points. It’s just the way humans are.

I don’t get all the crying about plastic armrests, and in three years of owning a 4Runner with MTS, 360 cameras, soft touch interior, and blah blah blah, getting into my 1958 still feels a little more roomy and comfortable. And, if I may say, slightly higher-end than the 4Runner.

I could definitely agree. The articles always need to have some kind of a balance of positive vs. negative. The negatives have to be out there, but minimized enough that they’ll keep getting access to press cars, they can’t be so egregious as to get the outlet cut out of that circuit.

They also have to be somewhat contrarian, as some seemingly dissenting opinions generate views & clicks. A unique take on a vehicle. But can’t be so contrarian as to alienate either fans of the car who stumbled on the article or the blog’s core readers who may not be interested in the car.

This all to me is the tough balance of writing these articles. Actually writing truthful opinions about a car is the easy part. So much AI work out there now is just clickbait garbage. But I wonder if as AI gets better at assimilating content if we won’t see many more of these articles written by AI. Just assimilate the common positives & negatives into a general consensus article positioned to generate views & clicks.

 

[Altitude]

My husband keeps telling me to stop reading these sorts of articles, that no one else can make decisions as to what you should like.

I am tired of hearing it’s not a real Land Cruiser. If the creator of the Toyota Land Cruiser says here’s our new Land Cruiser, it’s absurd for anyone to argue. Toyota didn’t call and ask their opinion before they made it.

In general, no one vehicle is going to be perfect for everyone. Get what works for you. I’ve been excited for this new LC since it was announced last year and the best part? I didn’t have to pay $90K for a pretty capable, almost retro looking vehicle, that I’ve always admired.

I feel like a lot of car bloggers and “journalists” are writing articles with specific people in mind and struggle to find things they don’t like about vehicles they think their target audience won’t like anyway. If you think you’re cool because you drive a Land Rover, nothing else will ever be good enough for you except a Land Rover and you’ll make excuses for its shortcomings and brag about its good points. It’s just the way humans are.

I don’t get all the crying about plastic armrests, and in three years of owning a 4Runner with MTS, 360 cameras, soft touch interior, and blah blah blah, getting into my 1958 still feels a little more roomy and comfortable. And, if I may say, slightly higher-end than the 4Runner.

Nothing to add.