First Toyota / First Land Cruiser Ownership Complaints After 1 Year

[katekebo]

Mine had zero insulation in the doors.

Toyota superior lightweight insulation is so thin that ordinary humans can't see it. Only hard-core Toyota fan-boys can perceive it.

 

[LC Family]

Honestly, my biggest gripe with the 250 is that I have to deal with Toyota Dealerships... Being new to buying a modern Toyota, I was expecting a better experience from their service department(s). I don't care for taking a vehicle to someone who is supposed to know their product but clearly doesn't... On the most basic level, you would think a Toyota service department should at least know that 3 trim levels were offered in 2024 and understand the difference between them. I would also expect a technician to be able to understand why I would want a 5 tire rotation and not try to talk me out of it because it requires a few more minutes of his time...

 

[RideWithYanu]

Honestly, my biggest gripe with the 250 is that I have to deal with Toyota Dealerships... Being new to buying a modern Toyota, I was expecting a better experience from their service department(s). I don't care for taking a vehicle to someone who is supposed to know their product but clearly doesn't... On the most basic level, you would think a Toyota service department should at least know that 3 trim levels were offered in 2024 and understand the difference between them. I would also expect a technician to be able to understand why I would want a 5 tire rotation and not try to talk me out of it because it requires a few more minutes of his time...

Yep, dealers suck.

 

[DubDub]

Honestly, my biggest gripe with the 250 is that I have to deal with Toyota Dealerships... Being new to buying a modern Toyota, I was expecting a better experience from their service department(s). I don't care for taking a vehicle to someone who is supposed to know their product but clearly doesn't... On the most basic level, you would think a Toyota service department should at least know that 3 trim levels were offered in 2024 and understand the difference between them. I would also expect a technician to be able to understand why I would want a 5 tire rotation and not try to talk me out of it because it requires a few more minutes of his time...

HAHA, yeah, that's annoying. I haven't been doing 5-tire rotations for awhile due to (most recently) an undersized spare, but know it's going to be a fight when I do.

It's not just Toyota though. I had to dig for a few minutes to find this. I lost the original JPG, but made another out of the 2015 excel sheet I still had in an archived folder. Still get a chuckle out of this. This is the product of my battle with a now defunct Subaru dealership. I took it all the way to corporate, fought with the service manager, and wrote out the logic on more sheets of paper than I care to remember. This stupid excel-turned-jpeg right here, created inside of 10 minutes, got them to at least act like it finally made sense. Maybe it'll help you with your dealer too.

Sorry for the repeat edits/deletes. Was experiencing some technical difficulties.

 

[PA-Cruiser 200]

After 8 months of ownership, here are my $0.02.

• Fuel economy: Every Toyota I had before (8 in total) matched or exceeded the mileage estimates. The LC is the only one that falls short.
• Transmission: Again, every other Toyota I owned had a very smooth transmission. But not the LC - gear shifts are harsh, both when accelerating or slowing down, especially at low speeds.
• Lack of storage space: There isn't enough storage space in the cabin. Both the glovebox and central console are tiny.
• Controls layout: This is a perennial problem with Toyotas. The location of the different contol buttons is haphazard and lacks any logic. For example, why isn't the TOW/HAUL button located in the same general area as the brake contoller or the MODE control instead of being tucked in a completelyinvisible place? Moreover, the location is not consistent across different Toyota models, so when you have multiple cars, you have to remember where the different controls are. The auto high beam button is a good example. In some Toyotas it's a separate button, in other it's located on the turn signal / headlights stalk. Toyota ergonomics sucks.

Would I buy one again? Probably not. It's overpriced for what it offers. Unfortunately it's closest competitor - the 4Runner - is worse as a family and road trip vehicle. I wish Honda had launched the 2026 Passport earlier as it is probably the closest thing to an "active family" vehicle you can buy these days, with strong, simple V6 engine, great comfort, very nice interior, reasonable price and still somewhat off-road capable, more than most unibody SUVs.

Thanks for your review. I too have issues with the 250. I wouldn't buy it again, but if it had a lager tank, I would. I think the 250 is one of the best looking SUVs on the market right now (trail dust)! Remember, opinions are like buttholes, everyone has them and they all STINK! ;-)

Some of my issues fall inline with others: Fuel tank size/range. I do not care if I get 7 mpg if I have a 50 gallon tank, but with only getting 275-300 miles per tank, and 17-21 mpg... ugh. Filling up every few days is a pain.

I have major issues with the hood and its vibration and jittering while driving and hitting bumps. Toyota put 5 tubes of 3M expanding foam in it with no fixing it. The other issue I'm having is with the fog lights. I currently have them zip tied to some point on the body to keep them from bouncing when hitting bumps in the road. Toyota again could not fix. They gave me a 7 year, 100k mile platinum warranty as compensation... Which is nice and I appreciate.

The hybrid system is fine but to me it's gimmicky. Quick acceleration, but nothing AMAZING about it. Just makes life harder for aftermarket accessories like winches, etc.. Although, nothing bad about it; heck, the 4 banger its nice. And, the 250 is very enjoyable to drive on the highway.