Wishful Features that would convince you away from the GX or Defender or new 4runner

[j250fan]

I think the landcruiser would have been perfect if Toyota had done the following:

1. A slightly more powerful engine or a Diesel option.
2. Heated and ventilated rear outboard seats
3. Better battery location and ventilation of the battery
4. No requirement for premium fuel for optimum performance.
5. More storage options - why must you be forced to get a coolbox. No sunglasses holder.
6. Better steering wheel
7. Acoustic glass for all windows
8. Roll down rear window
9. Flat rear to sleep in
10. Better fuel economy
11. Slightly better 0-60.
12. Price: give us better hood opening mechanism
13. Foot controlled rear hatch
14. More premium sound system
15. Better ground clearance
16. Better tires from the factory
17. (added later) Bigger Fuel Tank
18. Smaller plastic hump for center rear passenger

 

[Impatient]

It all depends on what you want from a vehicle. The LC 250 is a Goldilocks vehicle to me. Good offroad, but not raptor good. Nice on the road, but not an X5 on it. Nice inside, but not pure luxury. Nice enough overall for a daily driver in a professional workplace, but not flashy. All those things with decent (but not great) gas mileage at a high (but not prohibitively so) price point.

Everything is a trade off. No vehicle is going to be perfect for every use case. If you want a fast suv, you’re going to want to look unibody. If you pay 100K+ for a vehicle, you’re probably not going to feel great about beating it up over landing. If you want to do Moab regularly then you should get a jeep wrangler and soup it up - but you won’t want to drive that everyday.

If you’re like me, and you want to be able to do the river road in big bend once a year, drive around the ranch, but still need to be able to take your wife to a nice dinner without feeling out of place, the Lc 250 as is is great.

The only thing I really wish is that they’d given us a couple more gallons of fuel capacity.

 

[TrailWhale]

My wishlist:

1. Stop yelling at me for using a bike rack!
2. PHEV, even if just a ~5-15mi range
3. No/less battery hump
4. Bigger fuel tank
5. 40/20/40 split rear seat
6. A bit more side to side knee room in the driver's seat

I recognize that 2, 3, and 4 are all at odds with each other, but hey, this is a wishlist!


Edit - I realize just making a wishlist was not the point of the post. oh well. a wishlist is what you got!

 

[LCMud]

I think the landcruiser would have been perfect if Toyota had done the following:

1. A slightly more powerful engine or a Diesel option.
2. Heated and ventilated rear outboard seats
3. Better battery location and ventilation of the battery
4. No requirement for premium fuel for optimum performance.
5. More storage options - why must you be forced to get a coolbox. No sunglasses holder.
6. Better steering wheel
7. Acoustic glass for all windows
8. Roll down rear window
9. Flat rear to sleep in
10. Better fuel economy
11. Slightly better 0-60.
12. Price: give us better hood opening mechanism
13. Foot controlled rear hatch
14. More premium sound system
15. Better ground clearance
16. Better tires from the factory

Well first off you should point out that the LC is drop dead gorgeous. Like they nailed it.
Now, I think the drivetrain is great. I was really surprised by the speed it gained (quickly to 90 mph) on the highway when needed. Looking at the design of the engine and the cradle bearings holding the crank this looks like a stout engine. I agree about the cool box, I’d rather put a console safe there for my pistols if needed. But I actually tried the cool box and what do you know it worked.
And actually, I think the steering wheel is fantastic! Small diameter (350 mm or so) relatively thin with high quality stitching. So much better than my old 4-runner which was clunky fat big. The LC is also small, and narrow. Really maneuverable in tight places.
Nothings perfect well maybe other than all domestic 1/2 ton pickups (F150, Silverado, Ram) , but I’ve got one of those too. They can do pretty much anything but they are long and wide, not compact like the LC.
And did I mention how good looking the LC is?

 

[LCNorth]

It all depends on what you want from a vehicle. The LC 250 is a Goldilocks vehicle to me. Good offroad, but not raptor good. Nice on the road, but not an X5 on it. Nice inside, but not pure luxury. Nice enough overall for a daily driver in a professional workplace, but not flashy. All those things with decent (but not great) gas mileage at a high (but not prohibitively so) price point.

Everything is a trade off. No vehicle is going to be perfect for every use case. If you want a fast suv, you’re going to want to look unibody. If you pay 100K+ for a vehicle, you’re probably not going to feel great about beating it up over landing. If you want to do Moab regularly then you should get a jeep wrangler and soup it up - but you won’t want to drive that everyday.

If you’re like me, and you want to be able to do the river road in big bend once a year, drive around the ranch, but still need to be able to take your wife to a nice dinner without feeling out of place, the Lc 250 as is is great.

The only thing I really wish is that they’d given us a couple more gallons of fuel capacity.

Nailed it.

 

[shwazz714]

Would love all those things you listed and 40/20/40 rear seats, but if you add all that the cars probably north of $100k. They didn’t sell many of these at that price point. I do wish they would one day offer the “premium” LC with all of those features but that’s very unlike Toyota so doubt it. I’ve got one and can say that all of the good things massively outweigh the things I wish it had. For reference I was cross shopping this with an x5, f150, and gx550. All of those vehicles do certain things better than the LC but nothing does it all as good imo.

 

[Don]

I prefer a split tailgate and the spare on the back. That would allow the battery to be dropped or underfloor storage in non-hybrids. The tire on the back also allows easier gas storage. Ii have not figured out where to put an extra four gallons.

 

[EOD Guy]

About the only thing I would have changed would be the Traction battery be located beneath the floor and the option to order a larger fuel tank.

 

[mrock]

If the LC250 had everything on your list, it would make you happy and a bunch of other owners mad. All vehicles have trade-offs. If you want a Defender, make sure you are never more than 50 miles from a dealer and have AAA towing.