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

[Mtn40]

I'll just add, on the handling piece and body roll; Yes, it's a bit of a boat and has a lot of body roll, and yes a heavier stabilizer might lesson that, but the tradeoff there is ride quality and smoothness. I knew this going in. For me, the LC is a daily driver with off road capability. I intentionally wanted a little bit softer and less harsh of a ride. I think it delivers that over any 4Runner trim, even the Limited, and certainly over the Tacoma.

There's also a big chunk of dealing with that tradeoff in driving technique. Anticipate corners, set the chassis up to enter level, and smooth accelerator or braking to keep it level through turns. I found myself on a very windy section of road near Deckers Colorado last evening with a little Porsche chasing me. With 2500 miles on the odometer I decided to really cut loose. It's obviously no Porsche, but I'm telling you that little motor can rock it pretty well, and for the boat she is, it's quite capable of keeping a quick pace on mountain roads and twistys. Driver passed me on a straight with his thumb up. With that, and a 140 mile jaunt, I pulled into the driveway hitting over 24mpg for the first time.

I think the video illustrates confusing product positioning for Toyota. The new LC is slightly less off road capable than the 4Runner and Tacoma, but is better in creature comfort. His points on high price are fair. For me, I won't mod the suspension, so while I'd rather see the bigger rear end and upgraded axles, it's not a real world issue. I love the truck! It's quick, pretty nimble, comfortable, capable off road, and with stock tires so far, gets very good mpg. It fits my use case spot on.

Agreed. The 250 feels great on road and amazing off road, especially with the sway bar disconnected.
Body roll on the street doesn’t bother me. I’m used to driving a spring-over 40 with a hard top and giant roof basket.

 

[LCOceans]

Wow what a busy thread. I figured it would be.
Solid points made but I think time will tell whether they make a real difference or not. How hard are we really pushing this truck and what percentage of us will be hindered by the differences he presented? I will guess very few.
Also could it be the materials used in 2024 on are stronger and do not need to be as heavy and as large? Lastly, everything is a trade-off, and benefits come with lighter materials etc.

 

[LCOceans]

As for body roll and driving feel, I think the truck drives amazing so I discount all of that. Buy a sports car if that's what you want. Choices...

 

[JustinHEMI]

I will guess very few.

We don't have to guess that it's very few, Toyota knows it's very few which is why they didn't send us a vehicle very few would buy.

Toyota built the vehicle Americans would buy, and their sales show it. It's still far more capable than 95% would ever need despite the guy's complaints. They didn't build it for hard core offroaders.

 

[PDPete]

We don't have to guess that it's very few, Toyota knows it's very few which is why they didn't send us a vehicle very few would buy.

Toyota built the vehicle Americans would buy, and their sales show it. It's still far more capable than 95% would ever need despite the guy's complaints. They didn't build it for hard core offroaders.

It’s a global vehicle…they’ll sell a ton of these world wide…yeah, the configurations are different depending on region, but the Prado has been popular in various places before it came to North America.

In other words, I don’t know that they built this with the US market in mind specifically…that’s what the 4Runner is for.

 

[JustinHEMI]

It’s a global vehicle…they’ll sell a ton of these world wide…yeah, the configurations are different depending on region, but the Prado has been popular in various places before it came to North America.

In other words, I don’t know that they built this with the US market in mind specifically…that’s what the 4Runner is for.

Good point about being a global vehicle not necessarily specific to USA market, agreed. I'm just saying that they know Americans didn't buy a 100K+ Land Cruiser before, so they brought what we would. (People CAN still get the ultimate Land Cruiser under the Lexus name).

 

[teghogh]

I’m not sure why all his valid points are causing such a stir here.
The cv design should have been shared with the lc

The first edition at 75k is more expensive than gx550 and inferior in most aspects

All lc trims are overpriced by 10k compared to competition and it is reflected in the poor 1 year resale value compared to gx

my biggest issue with this platform is the rather unrefined 4cyl engine that is shared with entry Toyota line up and terrible transmission tuning that seems to always be in the wrong gear and doesn’t downshift and tries to compensate with boost . This is the main culprit that makes the truck feel buggy and underpowered.

as for the 90-95 percent that claim the truck is never used offroad, the base gx premium msrp starts at 63-64k which matches lc lc and is an obvious pick over the lc

This platform with all its shortcomings should not have been priced upmarket as is today.