By Eric Peters
For NMA
For once, a new vehicle costs less than what it used to cost. In the case of the new Toyota Land Cruiser, tens of thousands less than it used to.
Of course, there’s a price to be paid for that.
But it might be one many don’t mind paying.
What It Is
The Land Cruiser is a mid-sized, real-deal SUV – as opposed to a car-based crossover that looks like an SUV. What’s the difference? It’s generally what you can’t see. An SUV – if it’s a real-deal SUV – will be equipped with four wheel drive rather than all-wheel drive and will usually have a two-speed transfer case and low range gearing. It will also usually be built on a sturdier chassis, in order to be capable of pulling more than just a lightweight trailer.
The Land Cruiser has always been a real-deal SUV and so is the new one, with the difference being this one costs about $30k less to start.
Base price – for the ’24 model – is $55,950. As opposed to $85,655 back in 2021 – which was the last time you could buy a new Land Cruiser.
You can buy a top-of-the-line ’24 Land Cruiser First Edition for $74,950 – which is still about $10k less than it cost to buy a base-trim 2021 Land Cruiser.
So . . . what’s the catch?
Well, the ’24 Land Cruiser is slightly smaller and it no longer offers a third row, which you used to be able to get in the old model. There’s also something smaller under the hood. Instead of the V8 you used to get, there’s a standard turbocharged four paired up with a mild-hybrid system. It doesn’t make as much horsepower as the V8 did – and the new Land Cruiser’s maximum towing capacity is down by about 2,000 lbs.
But it also weighs about 800 lbs. less than it did before – and it gets about 10 miles-per-gallon better mileage than it did.
Besides which, you’ll have about $30k left in your pocket to spend on gas rather than payments.
What’s New for 2024
The Land Cruiser returns after a three-year hiatus. It is no longer in direct competition with the larger (and three-row) Sequoia. Instead, it targets the Ford Bronco and the Jeep Wrangler, both of which are available in two and four-door versions and less expensive to start – but which are smaller and have less powerful standard engines and lower standard towing capacity.
What’s Good
- A much more affordable Land Cruiser.
- A more off-road-capable Land Cruiser.
- A much-less-thirsty Land Cruiser.
What’s Not So Good
- No more third row.
- No more V8.
- Less affordable than Bronco and Wrangler.
Under The Hood
The last (2021) Land Cruiser came standard with a 5.7 liter V8 that made 381 horsepower all by itself; the re-imagined ’24 Land Cruiser has a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine that makes 326 horsepower, courtesy of a turbocharger and a mild-hybrid tandem powertrain consisting of a pair of electric motors and a battery pack that feeds them electricity while it gets recharged by the running engine.
The end result is a new Land Cruiser that’s a little bit less quick than the old Land Cruiser – 0-60 takes about 7.7 seconds vs. about 7 flat for the V8 LC – but significantly less thirsty, especially in stop-and-go “city” driving, where the hybrid set-up operates most efficiently because the engine can be cycled off more frequently. In that kind of driving, the new Land Cruiser rates 22 MPG – as opposed to 13 MPG for the previous, V8-powered Land Cruiser. There’s also a significant difference in mileage on the highway. The old V8 Land Cruiser posted just 17 MPG. The new turbo-hybrid Land Cruiser ups that to 25, which is no small thing for Toyota – which is under immense pressure to up the mileage of everything it sells, irrespective of customer wants.
The mild-hybrid setup is Toyota’s way of keeping the government and its customers happy.
Something the latter will likely be happy about is the new LC’s significantly increased range, which was just 319 miles in city driving and 418 miles on the highway. It is now 393 miles in the city and 447 on the highway. It would be a lot more than that, too, if the new LC had the same 25 gallon gas tank that the old LC had. But the new LC’s tank only holds 18 gallons. If it held 25 – as it did before – the new LC’s city-driving range would be closer to 550 miles and more than 600 miles on the highway.
Arguably, Toyota should have found room for a 25 gallon tank as that would have made the efficiency difference between the new LC and the old much more obvious and so a more self-evident selling point.
But the space for the tank was likely reduced by the need to make room for the hybrid motors and battery pack.
An eight-speed automatic transmission is standard – as is a full-time 4WD system with driver-selectable High and Low ranges as well as locking center and rear differentials, second gear crawl (electronically engaged) and Hill Descent Control.
On The Road
There is only one thing missing here. It isn’t horsepower – or a positive reaction when you ask for acceleration. The new four-cylinder/hybrid LC does not accelerate like a four-cylinder-powered, 5,000 lb. SUV.
It just sounds like one.
To Toyota’s credit, there is no sound augmentation technology to make it sound as if there’s still a V8 under the hood. The sound you hear reflects what’s actually under the hood. It’s not a bad sound, either. Just a somewhat disappointing one in view of the sound that’s no longer made.
And not just under this Toyota’s hood, either.
Engines are getting smaller in practically everything – and turbos/hybrid-assist are being used to make up for what’s not there anymore.
The old LC’s V8 sounded like what you’d expect to hear in an $85,000 SUV. The new LC’s sound is what you get in a $55,000 SUV.
But you still get acceleration comparable to what you used to have to pay $85k to get – and you also get the Land Cruiser, itself. This is how Toyota brought it back from the grave – and makes it available to you for $30k less than what it used to cost.
The rest is happily the same – in that the new LC feels like a LC. It does not feel like a crossover. Not – per Seinfeld – that there is anything wrong with crossovers. The point is they’re not SUVs and so feel (and drive) more like the front-wheel-drive cars platforms they’re typically based upon. The LC feels much heavier – which it is – and much more rugged which it also is. It weighs 5,038 lbs. – which is about 800 lbs. less than the old LC but still beefy and still good, if you like the feel of a beefy vehicle that’s also light on its feet.
The new LC’s turn-in is sharper and it feels more agile – even though it’s only slightly smaller (in terms of overall length) than the old LC. Dropping 800 pounds – much of that off the nose – helps with that.
And not having a set of leaf springs fore and aft helps a lot with the ride.
Most of the off-road stuff is essentially automatic, including the 4WD. Low range is engaged via a console-mounted switch rather than a lever and there is a knob on the dash that is rotated to switch from Power to Normal to Eco driving modes. Locking the diffs is also a matter of selecting the appropriate switch. All of this makes it easy to get anywhere – as James Brown used to say.
Even better, you can see where you’re going. The LC’s dash and side glass are tall (the door side glass actually drops below the line of the windshield) and so the view to all sides is expansive – even more important off-road than on.
At The Curb
The old (2021) LC looked more like a Sequoia looked back in 2021 and even though the latter was larger, it cost less. Both also had third rows – adding to the confusion.
The new LC looks like a LC. It is retro-boxy, like the original 1958 model – hence the designation. There’s also no third row, which makes sense anyhow – because the old LC’s third row was more hypothetical than actual, in terms of people (adults) being able to realistically sit back there. Kids, maybe – but the LC was never supposed to be a family vehicle, primarily.
And now it isn’t, again.
While the exterior shape is retro-familiar, a nod back at the LC’s original looks – the inside is entirely 2024.
The displays are just that – rather than the mechanical (and actual) needles swinging around faces that stayed the same, as back in ’58. The main panel and the secondary panel are LCDs now, in keeping with the times – and they have the advantage of being able to display more info than there would be space to display if Toyota had gone really retro and fitted the new LC with a basic gauge package, as you got back in the day.
You also get both heated seats and steering wheel – standard – neither of which were even available, back in the day. Both make driving the new LC when it’s cold out a vastly more civilized experience and the seats are vastly more comfortable, too. One might add – for an SUV – but that would be unfair. The seats in this rig are more comfortable than the chairs in most cars. They are soft and supportive, a hard balance to manage.
Try them. You will like them. Especially if you try them for five or six hours straight.
You also get about 38 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row and 82 cubic feet with the second row folded forward. The old three-row LC only has 16.1 cubic feet of cargo space left behind its third row.
Something you don’t get, on the other hand, are old-style (rectangular) USB charge ports. But you do get several of the new USB “c” (round) outlets.
The Rest
A curious loss is the new LC’s diminished maximum towing capacity, which is now just 6,000 lbs. That is still sufficient to pull a small RV but it’s well below the 8,100 lbs. the old LC could tow.
The disparity is odd because even though the new LC does not have a V8, its turbo-hybrid drivetrain actually makes more torque (465 ft.-lbs.) than the old LC’s V8 did 418 ft.-lbs.) and makes it sooner, courtesy of the turbo-hybrid boost. The new LC’s frame/underthings are not flimsy, either. So it must either be something to do with the hybrid side of things – maybe the electric motors? – and worries about overheating something.
Or it has something to do with Toyota wanting to give buyers who want more towing capacity a reason to buy a Sequoia instead. The new model has a turbo-hybrid V6 that makes 583 ft.-lbs. of torque and it can tow 9,500 lbs.
The Bottom Line
It’s rare for any manufacturer to reduce the price of a new model, let alone by $30,000. You may not get a V8 for the money.
But you’re still getting a Land Cruiser. And – thanks to the massive price cut – more people will be able to get one now.
Eric Peters lives in Virginia and enjoys driving cars and motorcycles. In the past, Eric worked as a car journalist for many prominent mainstream media outlets. Currently, he focuses his time writing auto history books, reviewing cars, and blogging about cars+ for his website EricPetersAutos.com.
Editor’s Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the National Motorists Association.
