Honest LC250 review that goes into more technical details & why Toyota missed the mark on LC250

[Winchester44]

Spent many years of my life in the military, the United States moved away from 'Petrol' decades ago. Virtually all militaries utilize diesels, makes a lot more logistical sense and far less of a fire hazard.

The LC250 with the I4/Hybrid is the best suited combination offered for a market like North America, with the highest HP/Torque rating globally. Unlike in Europe, Americans wouldn't settle for 'agricultural' power figures. The LC's I4 is about as basic as they can build in 2024/2025 and it will have a plethora of service parts anywhere (and technicians familiar with this I4), regardless of where you're at, being that this engine is being installed in virtually everything Toyota builds right now.

I just spent a few days in Moab, UT with around 8-hours on the trail. The 2.4kW inverter worked amazing to charge my 1kW power station from 0-100% in one hour which will run my fridge for several days and all my camp needs (inverter cooking, electric kettle, fan, etc). Left it in Park, had it blowing ice cold air as we slept in the back using the one hour auto shut off feature.

Is it a hardcore rock crawler, of course not. It's a globally produced vehicle that's at home in the city or on the trail, and maintaining a reasonable tire size (33") there should be no issues with broken CV's or the IFS.

While a diesel sounds cool, modern diesels in America are trash due to emissions equipment. (Good) Gas engines last well over 200,000-miles if maintained. I mean, heck, Toyota has built several North American gas engines that easily last 250-400,000 miles without lifting a valve cover. My families owned three, lowest mileage one is at 220,000-miles.

Also, got 25.2-mpg from Salt Lake City to Moab and 25.1-mpg on the trip back to Salt Lake City from Moab. Couldn't ask for anything more out of it.

Thank you for your service! My brother is coming up on 20 years. He’s currently looking to import a diesel land cruiser so he can smell like JP-8 all the time.

 

[URJ200]

And to your jab about the 250: no, the LC250 isn’t primarily sold into mining or military fleets. That role belongs to the 70 series

LOLs in 200 series…

 

[cvx5832LC]

How about that. An LC with a port-installed M2.

 

[EOD Guy]

Nothing better than hearing a "Maw-deuce" sing!

 

[HammerTheWall]

Did anyone find out what the MPG hit is for those accessories and if they're using premium fuel?

 

[RideWithYanu]

Did anyone find out what the MPG hit is for those accessories and if they're using premium fuel?

I had a good chuckle thinking about DEVGRU guys sitting around talking about which octane delivers the best fuel efficiency.

 

[GrayBeard]

I had a good chuckle thinking about DEVGRU guys sitting around talking about which octane delivers the best fuel efficiency.

If they did they'd have already written a book about it!

(friendly jest...I've got several friends who used to work in that community)

 

[Noctilucent]

LOLs in 200 series…

Here are some Land Cruiser Prado UN vehicles and an armored 250 from the cote d'lvoire army. all Land Cruisers are global workhorses, especially the 70.

 

[patwl]

Tinkerer has some valid points regarding the 4Runner and Tacoma having stronger components than the LC but only a few people will ever notice in their daily use or off roading adventures

 

[Shorty]

What I don't understand is how the 250 ended up the same weight as the 300, despite so much "weight saving".

How come the 300 has all aluminium panels and the 250 only has the hood?

 

[Shorty]

It was an interesting watch and with all YouTube videos they are very subjective. I couldn’t help getting the view that the Land Cruiser 250 was supposed to be an off-road vehicle. In Australia the Prado 250 has always been a compromise between Road an Off-road vehicle with most being used by Moms to take the kids to football training. If you were a hardcore off-roader you would use the car as a starting point to modify to what you want to do. Like take my Altitude for interest sake, it only has a payload of 580 kg - my caravan tow ball weight is 300 kgs my wife and I are 190 kgs between us and I have fitted a bar and winch fitted. This means straight away I need a GVM upgrade to the suspension just to tow a caravan so I have to fork out an extra $5000 to get on the road. This is one of my bugbears the initial price of the car which is too much when you compare with the Ford Everest here which is $10 to 15 thousand less and is costing Toyota sales, the only reason why I went Toyota is their reliability and service depots in remote places, fuel range and I like how it drives.

 

[Piggy]

I couldn’t help getting the view that the Land Cruiser 250 was supposed to be an off-road vehicle. In Australia the Prado 250 has always been a compromise between Road an Off-road vehicle with most being used by Moms to take the kids to football training.

Because we accept the 250 as a Prado, while everyone else is focused on the LC badge and won’t accept that it isn’t a 300.


Just from Toyota we could pick between the 300, 70 and Hilux (and Fortuner) too, and all of them can be argued as better off-roaders in their own unique ways (power, solid axles, utility) than the Prado, which doesn’t really have anything unique that sets it apart off-road (SDM, maybe).


To be honest, if the Hilux or Fortuner had the Prado’s interior, which they just got, I might have been tempted to go that way. But I made the decision based on "comfort" really: great interior, full-time 4WD, three-zone climate control, and heated and ventilated rear seats, which is what set it apart from the Everest, Fortuner, MUX, etc.

 

[GBLC250]

View attachment 43635

Where did you get this?!?!?! I want one too!

 

[Bajacruzzer]

Toyota the vehicle the good guys and terrorist all over the world prefer. Toyota always get you there and they always get you back. Hopefully the terrorist only get there…