2024 Land Cruiser or 2019-2023 Cayenne

[socallc]

For those of you who have owned or driven both 2024 Land Cruiser LC/FE trim and 2019-2023 Cayenne S / E-hybrid, would you provide your opinions on how they compare? Driving experience, comfort, size, maintenance, cargo space, etc. What would you recommend for doing 95% on road driving, daily driver 10k miles/year, and occasionally camping trips / dirt / snow road driving?

 

[TakaraLC]

These are totally different vehicles. It is nearly impossible to make a fair comparison.

But a very basic comparison would be that Cayenne would perform much better on road and LC would perform much better off-road. LC would be more reliable and cheaper/easier to maintain.

 

[bgeorger]

I am coming from a fully loaded 22 X7. They are very different vehicles, but I adore the LC. It has a ruggedness to it and all the same tech features of the BMW. The ride is a little rougher, but I believe that adds to the charm of the vehicle. As far a power goes the LC feels every bit as powerful in most situations.

 

[Broken VW Owner]

EDIT: I've only driven the 24 not the 19-23 model years but most of this is applicable.

I've had the luxury of driving both for several days (well the cayenne was a non-s and non-hybrid). I think the LC is a better value and better experience. However, If you value traveling at 80-95MPH over long journeys the LC is probably not the best fit as its not as comfortable at those speeds. The LC is a box on top of a brick whereas the Porsche is designed for high speed stability and handling. The Toyota feels more comfortable day to day but if you drive fast that will negate the comfort.

With Porsche you're paying for the brand, customization, dealer experience, and German engineering whereas with the Toyota you're paying for a truck, that will hopefully be reliable, and the off road bells and whistles. The Porsche will depreciate much faster and be more expensive to service, expect to be bent over when you trade it in...

If, when you go out on trips, you find yourself needing to bring everything and everyone its hard to beat the LC since it has so much more room. The load heigh of the LC is not ergonomic so if you need to put something really heavy in the back it could be tricky but its tall enough that you can fit a lot of crap in the back.

The differences that stood out to me the most were the visibility, interior, and the options/tech. The Cayenne seemed like it had terrible visibility, the hood is so tall and the visibility out the sides was not great. I relied on the cameras to park it. I much prefer the LC with its big side windows even though it also has a tall hood and large blind spots.

The interior of the Porsche is excellent but on par with the LC with premium pkg. The Porsche has touchscreens for everything and they are annoying, like there's an apple track-pad like interface with haptic feedback for the AC/seats which is weird. also, THERE IS TOO MUCH PIANO BLACK PLASTIC. The tech is similar but you'll pay an arm and a leg to get all the bells and whistles on the Porsch. Porsche probably has a better sound system but it should for how much more it costs.

If you drive fast, take corners fast, like lighting money on fire, and want brand cache get a porsche or any other unibody SUV.

 

[socallc]

EDIT: I've only driven the 24 not the 19-23 model years but most of this is applicable.

I've had the luxury of driving both for several days (well the cayenne was a non-s and non-hybrid). I think the LC is a better value and better experience. However, If you value traveling at 80-95MPH over long journeys the LC is probably not the best fit as its not as comfortable at those speeds. The LC is a box on top of a brick whereas the Porsche is designed for high speed stability and handling. The Toyota feels more comfortable day to day but if you drive fast that will negate the comfort.

With Porsche you're paying for the brand, customization, dealer experience, and German engineering whereas with the Toyota you're paying for a truck, that will hopefully be reliable, and the off road bells and whistles. The Porsche will depreciate much faster and be more expensive to service, expect to be bent over when you trade it in...

If, when you go out on trips, you find yourself needing to bring everything and everyone its hard to beat the LC since it has so much more room. The load heigh of the LC is not ergonomic so if you need to put something really heavy in the back it could be tricky but its tall enough that you can fit a lot of crap in the back.

The differences that stood out to me the most were the visibility, interior, and the options/tech. The Cayenne seemed like it had terrible visibility, the hood is so tall and the visibility out the sides was not great. I relied on the cameras to park it. I much prefer the LC with its big side windows even though it also has a tall hood and large blind spots.

The interior of the Porsche is excellent but on par with the LC with premium pkg. The Porsche has touchscreens for everything and they are annoying, like there's an apple track-pad like interface with haptic feedback for the AC/seats which is weird. also, THERE IS TOO MUCH PIANO BLACK PLASTIC. The tech is similar but you'll pay an arm and a leg to get all the bells and whistles on the Porsch. Porsche probably has a better sound system but it should for how much more it costs.

If you drive fast, take corners fast, like lighting money on fire, and want brand cache get a porsche or any other unibody SUV.

Thanks for the comparison. Sounds like a fair assessment. The maintenance costs of the Cayenne is definitely a concern. As far as reliability, it is too early to say the new LC’s is better. With the price of a new LC about the same as a used cayenne without CPO, that’s my dilemma which SUV should I go for.

 

[RUN-8]

If maintenance costs on the Cayenne are a concern you can’t afford it. Hate to be blunt, but there it is.

Any luxury brand German made vehicle requires a bank account with a minimum of $5,000 at all times once out of warranty to cover things that will inevitably break. Otherwise you’ll end up in a bind if you can’t afford to do that.

You might buy that Porsche for $65K or whatever but every time you get it serviced or fixed outside of warranty you’re paying for parts and service on a $90-$100K vehicle.

If you want a perpetual car payment and plan to get rid of it after warranty is up then go for it. I’m a cheap SOB and keep cars and trucks until they’re untenable to maintain and keep in good working order, Toyota’s allow that to go on with good maintenance for well over a decade judging by my experience so far. I also don’t give a rat’s ass about brand cachet or other keeping up with the Jones’ idiocy, that’s the type of dumb shit poor people fall for.

 

[lmwong]

I was in the same boat as you last week; Land Cruiser or Cayenne? I am replacing a V8 LR4 that I sunk WAY too much money into to keep it running for 12 years. I love it...when it's working. So looking at a replacement, naturally, I looked at a Disco 5 inline 6, thinking Land Rover surely have solved their reliability problems by now. I joined a facebook group of Disco 5 owners and I was discouraged to find things have not changed.

I am a Porsche fanboy. I have a 928S. I thought CPO 21-23 Cayenne Hybrid was the answer (19-20s are not the same, they have the smaller battery). The electric only mode and 40+ MPGe was really enticing. I drove it. I loved it, especially with air suspension. The cargo capacity was much smaller than I wanted, especially with a dog, but you make concessions for a Porsche, right?! Then I thought about where am I going to take it for repairs? It would have to be the Porsche dealership $$$$. The hybrid battery is warrantied for 8y/100,000 mi and then what? Do you sell it before warranty ended? Who would take that risk? It would be worth a fraction of what you paid for. To replace the battery is $10-20,000 alone. And 8 years from now, who knows what EV/hybrid tech would exist. I didn't want another money pit.

I drove across the street and saw the Land Cruiser in person for the first time. It was very similar to my LR4 in size. It drove well and had a surprising amount of power. The hybrid gave it commendable gas mileage for a 4x4, way better than my LR4. All this with Toyota reliability and ease of maintenance. This video by The Car Care Nut absolutely sold me. Watch it. I just put a deposit on a LC today and can't wait to receive it.

That was my thought process. I hope that helps.

 

[D-Train]

What folks said above is all accurate. Having owned many used BMW's over the years I can say 'There is nothing more expensive than a cheap german car.' One of my favorites was an X5 4.8is. It was an absolute beast.. both in speed and ride quality, but also in consuming gas and maintenance dollars and time. We enjoyed driving it, but there was a cost associated with it.

The other advice I will pass along is some I've gotten. If you want to own/drive a nice German car, buy it new, and when the warranty expires, sell or trade-in and buy another new one. End of story. Will you eat a ton of depreciation. Sure. You'll also avoid surprise repairs that can cost almost as much as the car. Case in point. My father-in-law had a Cayenne Turbo S from new. A month before the warranty expired, one of the head bolts broke. The dealer said it was a ~$15K repair. Had it been a 'worse-case' repair, it would have required a new engine. He got lucky. He drove it for another 6 months, then traded it in for a new Macan.

I know the new LC is not a 'proven' quantity at this point, but based on the fact the 'Prado' is not new, nor is the engine/hybrid system, I'm thinking it will be as reliable as any other Toyota out there. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[socallc]

I was in the same boat as you last week; Land Cruiser or Cayenne? I am replacing a V8 LR4 that I sunk WAY too much money into to keep it running for 12 years. I love it...when it's working. So looking at a replacement, naturally, I looked at a Disco 5 inline 6, thinking Land Rover surely have solved their reliability problems by now. I joined a facebook group of Disco 5 owners and I was discouraged to find things have not changed.

I am a Porsche fanboy. I have a 928S. I thought CPO 21-23 Cayenne Hybrid was the answer (19-20s are not the same, they have the smaller battery). The electric only mode and 40+ MPGe was really enticing. I drove it. I loved it, especially with air suspension. The cargo capacity was much smaller than I wanted, especially with a dog, but you make concessions for a Porsche, right?! Then I thought about where am I going to take it for repairs? It would have to be the Porsche dealership $$$$. The hybrid battery is warrantied for 8y/100,000 mi and then what? Do you sell it before warranty ended? Who would take that risk? It would be worth a fraction of what you paid for. To replace the battery is $10-20,000 alone. And 8 years from now, who knows what EV/hybrid tech would exist. I didn't want another money pit.

I drove across the street and saw the Land Cruiser in person for the first time. It was very similar to my LR4 in size. It drove well and had a surprising amount of power. The hybrid gave it commendable gas mileage for a 4x4, way better than my LR4. All this with Toyota reliability and ease of maintenance. This video by The Car Care Nut absolutely sold me. Watch it. I just put a deposit on a LC today and can't wait to receive it.

That was my thought process. I hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps.

 

[socallc]

What folks said above is all accurate. Having owned many used BMW's over the years I can say 'There is nothing more expensive than a cheap german car.' One of my favorites was an X5 4.8is. It was an absolute beast.. both in speed and ride quality, but also in consuming gas and maintenance dollars and time. We enjoyed driving it, but there was a cost associated with it.

The other advice I will pass along is some I've gotten. If you want to own/drive a nice German car, buy it new, and when the warranty expires, sell or trade-in and buy another new one. End of story. Will you eat a ton of depreciation. Sure. You'll also avoid surprise repairs that can cost almost as much as the car. Case in point. My father-in-law had a Cayenne Turbo S from new. A month before the warranty expired, one of the head bolts broke. The dealer said it was a ~$15K repair. Had it been a 'worse-case' repair, it would have required a new engine. He got lucky. He drove it for another 6 months, then traded it in for a new Macan.

I know the new LC is not a 'proven' quantity at this point, but based on the fact the 'Prado' is not new, nor is the engine/hybrid system, I'm thinking it will be as reliable as any other Toyota out there. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Thank you for sharing. I can’t afford a new Cayenne. Can’t afford the depreciation either. Unfortunately a used one is my only option to own a Cayenne.

 

[socallc]

Still debating what to get. Hopefully will clear up with more feedbacks from LC owners on the reliability of their LCs.

 

[HarvLC]

I briefly had a ‘22 Cayenne. Intended to keep it and sell my ‘02 LC that I had owned since new. The Cayenne was extremely nice and that was part of the issue for me; I ultimately didn’t want something that nice as my daily, utility vehicle. Also, the Cayenne is a large vehicle and that detracted from its handling as a “Porsche”. It caused me to question why I hadn’t instead bought a 911 or Cayman. I also took a 2-day Porsche school and after spending that track time in a 911 GTS, it was glaringly obvious that my Cayenne was not a sports car when I drove it home from the Barber track!

Ultimately, I traded the Cayenne for barely-used ‘21 Cayman GTS and I’ve now just sold the old LC and bought a 1958.

If considering the LX600, I can better understand the dilemma of “if I’m going to pay that much for an SUV, why not buy something that doesn’t drive like a truck”? And that is one of several reasons that I was immediately attracted to the 1958 grade. I don’t want a loaded-up SUV. And I don’t want an SUV that allegedly drives like a sports car. The Cayenne is nice. But it’s not a 911 or Cayman by any stretch of the imagination.

Lastly, Porsches are not easy to own. There are days when you just prefer to not be in a Porsche! When you have the space & budget to have it as a 2nd car, such concern is lessened but I still find it hard to not overly worry about it. I never had that problem w my old LC and don’t expect to have it with this new ‘58

 

[LCMud]

For those of you who have owned or driven both 2024 Land Cruiser LC/FE trim and 2019-2023 Cayenne S / E-hybrid, would you provide your opinions on how they compare? Driving experience, comfort, size, maintenance, cargo space, etc. What would you recommend for doing 95% on road driving, daily driver 10k miles/year, and occasionally camping trips / dirt / snow road driving?

If your on-road 95% is high speed (70-85 mph) interstate the Cayenne gets the edge. If it’s more around town 40 to 55 mph then it’s the LC. In all aspects except high speed highway the LC gets the edge. You have the option of high profile tires with a full size spare. Routine service is $100 not $500. The original cayenne was very capable. Now it’s a modified Audi German luxury SUV. The LC is to off-road like a GT3 is to the race track, if you know what I mean. Go to your favorite Porsche shop and look at what the mechanics drive. It’s 4R’s, Tacomas, and F150’s.

 

[Broken VW Owner]

Thank you for sharing. I can’t afford a new Cayenne. Can’t afford the depreciation either. Unfortunately a used one is my only option to own a Cayenne.

A Family member bought a 2014 cayenne S new with a V8 and a couple years before they traded it in they had a $10-15K service due to a faulty electrical system. They traded in the car last year and only got 14K... Its not just depreciation you face with these high end cars, its the possibility of having something go wrong that can effectively total the vehicle. They also had a 2017 macan s they traded in last year as well but that did not have a terrible service history like the cayenne did. Why not consider a lexus?

 

[Altitude]

There’s some misinformation running around here about Porsches.

By and large, they are mechanically sound vehicles that are well engineered, substantially overbuilt, and not fussy. They do not often break. Generally speaking the build quality is right up there near the top of the industry.

When they do break, they can be expensive to fix. The parts all have to be imported and since the vehicles aren’t produced in enormous volumes, neither are the parts. Toyota parts are mostly imported too, but so many Toyotas are on the road that the supply system is better developed. The Porsche mechanics themselves are expensive, though I think some of that is a self-perpetuated image of sophistication and knowledge because the cars aren’t really that hard to work on.

Porsches last forever. Anyone lumping them in with Land Rovers in terms of never owning them out of warranty either have not owned Porsches or have been very unlucky owners.

Porsches are not VWs and they are not Audis, despite ownership connections. Other than the diesel engines from a few years ago you won’t find any drivetrain or mechanical parts from VWs or Audis in Porsches. Someone will probably come along and show me a knob or switch in common, which is not what I mean.

I realize what forum I’m on here and I’m not trying to compare Porsches favorably against Toyotas in terms of out-year maintenance expense.

To the OP’s question. If you’re asking sincerely, get a Cayenne. Because if you had a need for the off-road capability of a Land Cruiser you would know it. If you don’t have that need, a Cayenne would probably make you happier day to day. They are excellent vehicles. Apparently the current base model has better performance than the “S” model of just a few years ago.

Here’s the Porsche I am lucky enough to have in my garage.

 

[socallc]

There’s some misinformation running around here about Porsches.

By and large, they are mechanically sound vehicles that are well engineered, substantially overbuilt, and not fussy. They do not often break. Generally speaking the build quality is right up there near the top of the industry.

When they do break, they can be expensive to fix. The parts all have to be imported and since the vehicles aren’t produced in enormous volumes, neither are the parts. Toyota parts are mostly imported too, but so many Toyotas are on the road that the supply system is better developed. The Porsche mechanics themselves are expensive, though I think some of that is a self-perpetuated image of sophistication and knowledge because the cars aren’t really that hard to work on.

Porsches last forever. Anyone lumping them in with Land Rovers in terms of never owning them out of warranty either have not owned Porsches or have been very unlucky owners.

Porsches are not VWs and they are not Audis, despite ownership connections. Other than the diesel engines from a few years ago you won’t find any drivetrain or mechanical parts from VWs or Audis in Porsches. Someone will probably come along and show me a knob or switch in common, which is not what I mean.

I realize what forum I’m on here and I’m not trying to compare Porsches favorably against Toyotas in terms of out-year maintenance expense.

To the OP’s question. If you’re asking sincerely, get a Cayenne. Because if you had a need for the off-road capability of a Land Cruiser you would know it. If you don’t have that need, a Cayenne would probably make you happier day to day. They are excellent vehicles. Apparently the current base model has better performance than the “S” model of just a few years ago.

Here’s the Porsche I am lucky enough to have in my garage.

View attachment 9232

Nice 991.1S. I have a white one in my garage. I will check out the base cayenne as well. If the price is low enough compared to LC, it might sway me towards the Cayenne.

 

[socallc]

If your on-road 95% is high speed (70-85 mph) interstate the Cayenne gets the edge. If it’s more around town 40 to 55 mph then it’s the LC. In all aspects except high speed highway the LC gets the edge. You have the option of high profile tires with a full size spare. Routine service is $100 not $500. The original cayenne was very capable. Now it’s a modified Audi German luxury SUV. The LC is to off-road like a GT3 is to the race track, if you know what I mean. Go to your favorite Porsche shop and look at what the mechanics drive. It’s 4R’s, Tacomas, and F150’s.

I’m in SoCal traffic, so more 40-55 mph traffic than 75-80 mph.

 

[socallc]

I briefly had a ‘22 Cayenne. Intended to keep it and sell my ‘02 LC that I had owned since new. The Cayenne was extremely nice and that was part of the issue for me; I ultimately didn’t want something that nice as my daily, utility vehicle.

The niceness of Cayenne is something in my mind as well. Psychological I would be more worried / hurt about the cayenne getting rock chips than a LC even though they cost about the same.

 

[shwazz714]

The niceness of Cayenne is something in my mind as well. Psychological I would be more worried / hurt about the cayenne getting rock chips than a LC even though they cost about the same.

I had this issue when comparing the LC to a new X5. I don’t off road so as one person said the X5 was better for driving, but I’m an avid surfer (3-5x a week), when not surfing I like hiking, trail running, mountain biking, etc., I have a 1.5 year old baby girl, a dog, likely getting another kid. All of that made me worry about having a car as nice as the X5.

To me personally for my situation, the LC is the perfect blend of luxury and utility.

 

[Altitude]

The niceness of Cayenne is something in my mind as well. Psychological I would be more worried / hurt about the cayenne getting rock chips than a LC even though they cost about the same.

Same. I went from an X5 to two successive 5 series sedans to a Tahoe as my daily driver. The Tahoe has been great, actually. One of the things I like best about it is that it’s not so fussy - 60 profile tires so I’m not scraping the wheels against every curb, no air dam to get stuck on parking bars, and it doesn’t look bad dirty.

Also, roads in Colorado are terrible - the constant freeze/thaw cycles all winter keep them that way - and it’s nice to have a vehicle where I don’t always have to worry about that. Presumably the LC will be the same.

I lost a $500 wheel with a $300 tire to a pothole hidden inside of a puddle one time in the second 5 series that had 35 profile tires.