Hi folks! I am Tina in TX and a new owner of a 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid. As a long term Toyota owner (just traded in a 2015 Highlander with almost 300k miles on it) this is a new experience for me. When husband said I had to let go of my Highlander due to age and mileage, I wanted a new Toyota 4-Runner. As a Master Naturalist, forager, outdoors person who travels all over, my vehicle has always been my travel pack, back up tent, etc. LOL Had an appointment to test drive the new 4-Runner, sales person told me I would probably like the Land Cruiser better. Told him if they were still selling the old body style I'd buy one in a heartbeat but no thank you and I don't want a hybrid! Barely made it out of the parking lot with the new 4-Runner and all I could think was "I hate this vehicle!" Drove like my husbands Dodge dually! Loud and rough! Not sure how happy I am with letting my husband and the salesperson sell me this Land Cruiser.... but trying to give it a chance. I am seriously disappointed at the cost of this thing and not having power adjustable seats or even a power back hatch lift!!! How basic is that?!?!? Just passed 5,000 miles and yesterday I got a warning message on top of my 5000 mile maintenance warning saying Maintenance Required for Traction Battery Cooling Parts. I have a service appointment at the dealer on Monday and will just stay home in the meantime. But I figured maybe I better join a forum and learn more about my hybrid Land Cruiser! So here I am. Hopefully I will learn to love it.
Newbie Introduction
- Thread starter TXTina2025
- Start date
- Moderator
- #2
Ironically, watched a review wherein the new 4Runner, in their opinion, was quieter and more composed than the LC. Possibly it depends on the trim level? This said, am opting for the LC due to several small practical and design features.
- Thread starter
- #3
Man I would sure hope it is a model/trim issue because even my husband said it was ROUGH riding! LOL
All I can say is I love my 58…
- Thread starter
- #6
I DO definitely love the ride! And it does look pretty cool LOL
- Moderator
- #7
I am hoping not, but was the LC released as sort of an experiment/interim prior to the new 4Runner? We are now with only 2 trims on the LC, and a multitude on the 4Runner, and even the LC sibling, the Lexus GX550, which by the way, it is reviewed as much quieter/smoother, and not that much more than a LC. Sadly, we do not have a Lexus dealer within a reasonable distance.
- Thread starter
- #8
At my dealership, I was told the new 4Runner and this new LC were released at the same time. I can't attest to the validity of that claim as it did come from a car salesman! LOL
- Moderator
- #9
I think the LC was released first by several months, if not a year or so, but do not recall for sure. I am sure Toyota marketing planned it well.
No...The LC 250 is a global vehicle, and the Land Cruiser "Prado" line has always been quite popular. The 4Runner is North America only, and was always kinda like what we got instead of the Prado. Definitely not an experiment...I think they just felt it would do well here, even with the 4Runner, and wanted to bring a "Land Cruiser" back to the US market, even if it is the lighter duty version of it....I'm sure they still expect to sell a lot more 4Rs though, thus the many more options for trim levels.
The LC 250 came out for the 2024 model year in April of 2024... the 6th gen 4Runner wasn't available until the 2025 MY, and only started hitting dealerships a few months ago. Probably about a 10 month gap between the two.
The 1958 is really meant to be a "throwback" to classic (i.e. "basic") models....I actually kind of like that they gave us a less expensive trim with minimal nerfed off-roading prowess, but rather opted to remove "luxury" interior features instead...kinda like the opposite of the "mall crawler" ideal.
That's not to say that vehicle prices aren't ridiculous across the board...but honestly the 1958 is almost exactly what I wanted, especially at a $10k savings over what a base Land Cruiser model would have cost me.
(and while power seats would be nice, I'm the only person that regularly drives mine, so whatever...and auto liftgates are just more parts that wear out and break over time, in my experience...definitely prefer the manual liftgate)
Please update us on this!
Sold an awesome 4runner with 275k miles and decided on a new LC. Could not be happier. Love it. Good luck..
