Was going to post this in the 1958 Regrets thread, but it got really long and felt like it should be a topic of its own.
I had a 1958 for about 3 weeks/1500 miles back in May, and got a great deal on it since the 1958s were sitting on the lots at the time. The dealer only put 0.5 quarts in for the first oil change and ended up buying it back from me (full story: The Unexpected Risk of an Early Break-In Oil Change). They didn't have another 1958 on the lot, so they gave me the same amount off of the LCLC Premium they did have.
I didn't have the 1958 long enough for anything to become especially annoying, but it's surprisingly just how different the two trucks feel overall. Here are the things that stand out for me, in no particular order :
• I saw it said somewhere that the 1958 has the soul of a 30-year-old truck, and I think that is the prefect description of it. Toyota absolutely nailed "everything you need, nothing you don't". Old and utilitarian trucks are inherently cooler than new and fancy trucks IMHO, so I think the 1958 was definitely the cooler of the two. Reminded me very much of the XJ Cherokee Sport my friend had when we were teenagers (that is a compliment).
• The round lights looked cool and put out good light. It gave the truck a friendlier face, which I like - not a fan of the modern aggressive trend. I do however think the square lights put out better, brighter light with a less annoying anti-glare dark spot.
• I really liked the cloth seats. They were comfortable and grippy, and stayed cool. I find myself slouching a bit as I slide forward on the leather. Both seats were be plenty supportive, the 1958 might have been a bit more cushioned. At least my new one is brown leather, which I like a lot aesthetically.
• I liked the 18" wheels on the 1958, and though they fit the vibe of the truck. All Premiums around here come with 20s, mine included, and they look nice but a bit bougie. That said, the 20s (could be Dunlop vs Geolander rather than size) handle noticeably better on the pavement. The 1958 could was a little squirmy at times. I did get about 1-2 confirmed mpg better with the 1958.
• The otherwise cushy interior of the Premium is nice, and it genuinely feels like a much more expensive vehicle. While I have no real concerns about how well anything will hold up, I suspect the 1958 interior will wear like iron.
• I haven't had the need to try MTS yet. Might be nice in the winter, or when I get the chance to try a little more challenging offroading. My Premium does not have the SDM either, though realistically I won't be doing too much where it would have been needed.
• The radio in the 1958 was fine for low background music, but very much a base stereo turned up. The JBL system is quite good now that it's broken in, powerful but not intrusive or fatiguing at any volume. Plenty of bass too turned up.
• The small multimedia screen was adequate, but the larger one is nice for bigger maps and I think might be a better quality display.
• The 1958 dashboard screen was just fine, and I don't think the larger one utilizes the extra space especially well. While its nice have preset gauge layouts to flip though, it was very easy on the 1958 to go through the full range of gauges, which I think was actually better. Analog gauges would probably suit this truck better either way. The lack of per-tank MPG on the Premium is also very annoying.
• The cool box...is there. I've found a few excuses to use it, and works as advertised keeping drinks cold or quickly making my leftover Chicken Tikka Saag fridge-cold when we go to the Indian restaurant on the other side of town. I do miss the extra storage I had on the 1958 though, and we are planning to get a compressor cooler for camping which will do the same thing but better.
• Hasn't mattered yet, but I suspect I will appreciate the heated mirrors come winter. Neither truck fits in my garage.
• Both were quiet, but the Premium does seem quieter in general. Extra cushiness absorbing noise? Active noise cancelation?
• The sunroof also just kind of exists on the Premium. It's summer, so the shade usually stays closed to avoid the solar oven effect. Might get used a little more when the temps go down, probably not much though. My previous 21 Venza had a fancy electrochromic roof which kept the heat out but let light in, which was excellent and much more useful (though could not be opened). Tons of headroom with or without the sunroof.
• The 360 camera system is excellent, but visibility is so good I wasn't really missing it (my Venza had it). That said, the backup camera on the 1958 had worse image quality than our old 2014 Forester and lacked steering lines. That would have annoyed me over time.
• Digital rearview mirror was another feature I had on my Venza and never really used, though it's better on the LC since the mirror is further away (less weird for focusing). Occasionally useful if the back is really loaded though, might be nice for towing. Annoying that Toyota doesn't use the front and rear cameras as integrated dash cams, I recall reading with the Venza (Harrier) they did so in other markets. The biggest value of the digital mirror has is the on-screen walk though for setting up homelink, instead of cross referencing the manual and blinking lights.
• I'm pretty meh about the power tailgate. It's fine, but feels a little underutilized without modern conveniences like a kick sensor, which sort of stands out as lacking on a vehicle like this. The height limit would probably very be nice if the truck fit in my garage. The power gate was also the only thing to go wrong on my Venza (and one of many things that went wrong on our Forester) so not super excited in that regard.
• I thought the 1958 lacked touch sensors on the door handles because it was a base model. Pretty surprised the premium lacks them as well. Not a huge deal, but (like the kick sensor) just feels odd.
• Finally, the key fob on the 1958 annoyed me quite a bit. I don't need it to be super fancy, but it really felt like a Temu-grade third party aftermarket replacement. Penny pinching is fine, cheap and cheerful but durable is excellent, but that felt like Toyota making very sure you knew you bought the cheapest version of the truck.
To sum it up, I'm happy to have moved up to the Premium, but would have been almost as happy sticking with a 1958. It does actually feel like a $10k nicer vehicle and like I got my moneys worth, but I for the most part I wasn't really missing what it has that the 1958 did not. Some of the 1958 limitations probably would have annoyed me with time (radio, camera, cheap key fob), but all would have been livable. The base LCLC probably would have been perfect without feeling like an overkill (though the leather is nicer than softex), but those pretty much don't exist around here.
I had a 1958 for about 3 weeks/1500 miles back in May, and got a great deal on it since the 1958s were sitting on the lots at the time. The dealer only put 0.5 quarts in for the first oil change and ended up buying it back from me (full story: The Unexpected Risk of an Early Break-In Oil Change). They didn't have another 1958 on the lot, so they gave me the same amount off of the LCLC Premium they did have.
I didn't have the 1958 long enough for anything to become especially annoying, but it's surprisingly just how different the two trucks feel overall. Here are the things that stand out for me, in no particular order :
• I saw it said somewhere that the 1958 has the soul of a 30-year-old truck, and I think that is the prefect description of it. Toyota absolutely nailed "everything you need, nothing you don't". Old and utilitarian trucks are inherently cooler than new and fancy trucks IMHO, so I think the 1958 was definitely the cooler of the two. Reminded me very much of the XJ Cherokee Sport my friend had when we were teenagers (that is a compliment).
• The round lights looked cool and put out good light. It gave the truck a friendlier face, which I like - not a fan of the modern aggressive trend. I do however think the square lights put out better, brighter light with a less annoying anti-glare dark spot.
• I really liked the cloth seats. They were comfortable and grippy, and stayed cool. I find myself slouching a bit as I slide forward on the leather. Both seats were be plenty supportive, the 1958 might have been a bit more cushioned. At least my new one is brown leather, which I like a lot aesthetically.
• I liked the 18" wheels on the 1958, and though they fit the vibe of the truck. All Premiums around here come with 20s, mine included, and they look nice but a bit bougie. That said, the 20s (could be Dunlop vs Geolander rather than size) handle noticeably better on the pavement. The 1958 could was a little squirmy at times. I did get about 1-2 confirmed mpg better with the 1958.
• The otherwise cushy interior of the Premium is nice, and it genuinely feels like a much more expensive vehicle. While I have no real concerns about how well anything will hold up, I suspect the 1958 interior will wear like iron.
• I haven't had the need to try MTS yet. Might be nice in the winter, or when I get the chance to try a little more challenging offroading. My Premium does not have the SDM either, though realistically I won't be doing too much where it would have been needed.
• The radio in the 1958 was fine for low background music, but very much a base stereo turned up. The JBL system is quite good now that it's broken in, powerful but not intrusive or fatiguing at any volume. Plenty of bass too turned up.
• The small multimedia screen was adequate, but the larger one is nice for bigger maps and I think might be a better quality display.
• The 1958 dashboard screen was just fine, and I don't think the larger one utilizes the extra space especially well. While its nice have preset gauge layouts to flip though, it was very easy on the 1958 to go through the full range of gauges, which I think was actually better. Analog gauges would probably suit this truck better either way. The lack of per-tank MPG on the Premium is also very annoying.
• The cool box...is there. I've found a few excuses to use it, and works as advertised keeping drinks cold or quickly making my leftover Chicken Tikka Saag fridge-cold when we go to the Indian restaurant on the other side of town. I do miss the extra storage I had on the 1958 though, and we are planning to get a compressor cooler for camping which will do the same thing but better.
• Hasn't mattered yet, but I suspect I will appreciate the heated mirrors come winter. Neither truck fits in my garage.
• Both were quiet, but the Premium does seem quieter in general. Extra cushiness absorbing noise? Active noise cancelation?
• The sunroof also just kind of exists on the Premium. It's summer, so the shade usually stays closed to avoid the solar oven effect. Might get used a little more when the temps go down, probably not much though. My previous 21 Venza had a fancy electrochromic roof which kept the heat out but let light in, which was excellent and much more useful (though could not be opened). Tons of headroom with or without the sunroof.
• The 360 camera system is excellent, but visibility is so good I wasn't really missing it (my Venza had it). That said, the backup camera on the 1958 had worse image quality than our old 2014 Forester and lacked steering lines. That would have annoyed me over time.
• Digital rearview mirror was another feature I had on my Venza and never really used, though it's better on the LC since the mirror is further away (less weird for focusing). Occasionally useful if the back is really loaded though, might be nice for towing. Annoying that Toyota doesn't use the front and rear cameras as integrated dash cams, I recall reading with the Venza (Harrier) they did so in other markets. The biggest value of the digital mirror has is the on-screen walk though for setting up homelink, instead of cross referencing the manual and blinking lights.
• I'm pretty meh about the power tailgate. It's fine, but feels a little underutilized without modern conveniences like a kick sensor, which sort of stands out as lacking on a vehicle like this. The height limit would probably very be nice if the truck fit in my garage. The power gate was also the only thing to go wrong on my Venza (and one of many things that went wrong on our Forester) so not super excited in that regard.
• I thought the 1958 lacked touch sensors on the door handles because it was a base model. Pretty surprised the premium lacks them as well. Not a huge deal, but (like the kick sensor) just feels odd.
• Finally, the key fob on the 1958 annoyed me quite a bit. I don't need it to be super fancy, but it really felt like a Temu-grade third party aftermarket replacement. Penny pinching is fine, cheap and cheerful but durable is excellent, but that felt like Toyota making very sure you knew you bought the cheapest version of the truck.
To sum it up, I'm happy to have moved up to the Premium, but would have been almost as happy sticking with a 1958. It does actually feel like a $10k nicer vehicle and like I got my moneys worth, but I for the most part I wasn't really missing what it has that the 1958 did not. Some of the 1958 limitations probably would have annoyed me with time (radio, camera, cheap key fob), but all would have been livable. The base LCLC probably would have been perfect without feeling like an overkill (though the leather is nicer than softex), but those pretty much don't exist around here.
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