(First Posted October 13, 2013) With the Volvo V40’s lease being up soon, and a general desire for something with more space, we started to consider our options for our next car. Living in Lafayette, CA, a somewhat upscale East Bay suburb, there were a lot of large SUV’s roaming the landscape. We were with small child which means we were with a lot of accoutrements that generally had to go with us, so yes, a large SUV made sense on many levels, especially since we were not contemplating minivans at this point…
Soon I found what appeared to fit the bill – A 1999 Land Cruiser with only 30,000 miles for $33,000 from a private party just north of Berkeley. I spoke with the seller and he said it did not get driven much, he commuted in a Camry and used the Land Cruiser on weekends, otherwise it was always garaged. So far, so good.
The next day I drove to take a look. Sure enough, both Toyota’s were in the 2-car garage (an amazing feat for a Californian, as almost nobody uses their garage for their cars. Houses without basements naturally relegate the garage to being used as the storage unit…)
The Land Cruiser was Atlantis Blue Mica over Tan leather. The bumpers and rub strips were a graphite color which set off the blue nicely. The body and interior were in perfect condition. Basically it was like new. He had every receipt, it had only ever needed normal maintenance, no accidents, exactly what we were looking for. I drove it, but even before then was pretty sure I would be buying it. Sure enough, five minutes later I found myself haggling the price down to $31,500 and promised to come back the next day with a cashier’s check after leaving a deposit.
The next day was the big day. We transferred the title, handed over the check, and I drove back home in our new car, uh, truck. Oh what a feeling! Driving the Land Cruiser after a few years of relatively low cars was like being Captain Stubing on the Bridge of the Pacific Princess. A panoramic view with a feeling of steering a very large piece of machinery beneath you. Every switch clicked with that Toyota precision, every dial rotated with the right resistance, the seats were as comfy as a La-Z-Boy with armrests to fold down into position.
The generation of Land Cruiser is known as the 100-series. In the U.S. it was introduced in 1998 with a new V8 engine; a first for the Land Cruiser. The engine is the 4.7liter that was eventually used in various other large Toyotas, here it was relatively low-powered with 228HP at 4800rpm but 302 lb-ft of torque at a still relatively high 3400rpm. The vehicles weighed over 5000 pounds so it definitely took a bit of a push of the accelerator to get it going. But it would definitely go once the engine was on the boil. Alas, it did require premium unleaded which I find a bit ridiculous for something of this size (and thirst).
One thing I noticed and eventually looked up was that the badges looked dark-colored. Everyone is familiar with those hideous “Gold packages” that were all the rage once upon a time, it turns out that Toyota also had a factory option for the “Black Pearl Package” which is what ours had. I have to say that although I would not spend the money on it from the options list when new, it did look nice.
Land Cruisers sit pretty high, my wife at 5’2” obviously used the running boards and the grab handle to get in, but I also found myself using both items regularly and I am almost a foot taller. Once inside, you sit surrounded by nice leather, a smattering of good looking wood trim, and a sea of buttons, dials and displays. Everything falls right to hand.
The back seat is also very roomy and then there is a somewhat unconventional third row that is split in half and when not in use can be folded up against the sides of the cargo area. We ended up removing them and storing them in the garage most of the time, they weigh a LOT and are somewhat of a bear to schlep around. Folded up they still took up a large chunk of the cargo area as well. Below is a picture with them installed.
We only ever had two things go wrong with it, the first was an oxygen sensor. I didn’t want to deal with it so I told my wife to just have the dealer fix it when she was having the oil changed. I won’t be making that mistake ever again as the bill was over $400. The other item was a taillight bulb, this is a common Land Cruiser malady, and in our case it was one of the tailgate lights that was out. It was simple to take the trim panel off and soon we were all lit up again!
This is the same vehicle that the Lexus LX470 is based on, the differences being mainly in the grade of leather inside and the suspension tuning along with a few cosmetic doodads. I realized that the wheels on our Land Cruiser are actually the Lexus ones, I have no idea how that happened or when, perhaps the prior owner had them swapped or something.
Interestingly, the median income of the Land Cruiser buyer (from new) was higher than that of the Lexus buyer and was the highest of any Toyota model. I assume those people sent the hired help to get it serviced as the service experience was generally abysmal. Well, the actual service was fine, but the average Toyota dealer’s service waiting area left something to be desired. A far cry from the Jaguar dealer’s service area, that’s for sure.
We had it around the time of Hurricane Katrina, and were shocked by the increase in gas prices in the Bay Area at the time. Now they are even higher of course but that was the first modern-day shock to the average SUV driver’s wallet and many people dumped their guzzlers soon after. We tried to take it in stride but definitely planned our trips a bit better.
It was not helpful that the Land Cruiser was the best way to get our daughter to nap, so there were plenty of 20-mile drives to nowhere in the afternoons (Average of $7 per trip in gas I am ashamed to say I calculated). This was also when I switched jobs and began a 42-mile each way commute so I was not going to drive this thing for that.
We did use it to visit the in-laws for holidays in Southern California several times, the dog rode along comfortably in the back, our daughter was in her carseat, the luggage and stroller(s) rode in the other side of the backseat and in the cargo box we had on the roof. It was a great road trip car except for the thirst. Around town it would get between 12 and 14mpg the way my wife drove it, and on the highway maybe into the high teens.
It was VERY nice to be able to lift our kid into her seat more or less laterally, putting a baby or small kid into a normal car and then reaching around to faster their belt(s) is very hard on the back and not appreciated by those that haven’t had to deal with all the car seats / child carriers etc. Yes, a minivan makes it even easier somehow, but we were not (yet) ready to give in to that.
I once responded to an ad on Craigslist offering a free Keter plastic 6×6 garden shed, free for the taking, similar to the picture above. Since we could make good use of such an item I immediately called, told the guy I was coming over, for some reason decided to take our daughter, and drove all the way to San Rafael on the other side of the San Francisco Bay.
Once we got there I realized that the shed was much larger than I had envisioned (not sure what I was thinking), the panels were all about 3’x7’ in size and there were many of them. Since my daughter was in the back seat, I folded the other side down and then jammed a bunch of the panels in next to her. However there were still several panels left, so we tied them to the roof. It ended up being a large stack well over a foot tall, all held down with basically a thick twine. Needless to say it was a total nightmare getting back home.
I took back roads the entire way, except I was forced to take the San Rafael Bridge across the Bay, which we did at 40mph with the hazard lights on as the panels were flapping and slapping around on the roof rack and I was very concerned that they would come off. After about a 2-hour return trip in total, we made it back and I reassembled the shed in our yard, where it presumably still stands today.
Eventually we moved closer to my work, going from a 42 mile commute to a 2 mile commute was heaven. The only problem was that our new house had a bizarre S-shaped driveway along with being on a grade on a very narrow street and was extremely difficult for many people to navigate backwards. That along with a large garage that had dual single doors in it made my wife very nervous about damaging the car to the point that she decided she wanted something smaller. (Note to regular readers of this COAL series – take note of the garbage cans in the picture above, they will make an important follow-up in a couple of months…)
It took several months to sell the Toyota, not because anything was wrong with it (it was still in excellent shape, somehow) but rather that nobody was looking to buy something this large with gas prices the way they were in California. Eventually a guy came by and bought it for his son for $23,000, we were quite happy to have gotten that much for it at the time.
It’s a shame they never offered these over here with the turbodiesel available elsewhere, it really would have been a great overall truck then, but in fairness when it debuted gas was still cheap. In the meantime the Sequoia has taken over the Land Cruiser’s price point and the Land Cruiser’s sticker price is now firmly in Range Rover territory, which is probably appropriate.
Great story! Loved the one about moving the shed. I would have worried about the finish on the roof.
I was more worried about the finishes on the cars behind me on the road! The roof rack took the load on our car but there was definitely movement. After that trip I purchased a set fo tiedown’s that I should have had all along…
A really nice truck truck. I’ve never heard anyone complain about the 100 series except maybe for the solid axle crowd. The 4.7 is a really good, reliable engine with no apparent problems. Just a really good large 4X4. Prefer the Toyota over the Lexus too. The LX was a little too gaudy for my tastes. When this was introduced, the RR was still using that old engine so this thing was like driving and LS compared to a truck…Really like the way these trucks are styled. A little more angular than the 80 series and proportioned better than the 200 series. Great color btw. The blue was my favorite.
Take the 4.2 liter inline-6 turbo diesel, install air brakes and a robust trailer coupling.
That’s enough to pull a 15,000 lbs trailer in style.
As a matter a fact that’s the only reason we’ve got them (and its V8 4.5 liter diesel successor) here.
The only SUV that can, literally, pull that off.
Had to look that one up, I had no idea Toyota now made a diesel V8. Pretty cool, can’t wait to see the YouTube video of one swapped into a Cressida that is Tokyo Drifting everywhere.
It would also fit well in the Tundra I guess !
Toyota was never afraid to put big fat diesels in (relatively) compact SUVs and off-roaders.
The 4.5 liter V8 diesel is also in the old-school Land Cruiser 70-series they have Down Under.
Compare that to the lawn mower Ford 2.2 diesel in the Land Rover Defender.
They also run the diesels fairly understressed too, so they should last forever. They don’t though, there have been some teething issues…
A friend had a naturally-aspirated HZJ75 pickup but found it too slow (surprising with 130hp!) and sold it to get a 100 series wagon with the V8 – his was live axle. He said his fuel bills went up by 20% which is not too bad.
Years ago I read an article in a Dutch 4×4 magazine about a guy who had a supercharger installed on his 4.2 liter naturally aspirated diesel.
I don’t remember what it did to the hp and torque numbers, but I guess they both went “up”….
That was on a HZJ74 (the one with the classic Land Cruiser looks), the guy pulled huge trailers with it.
We can’t buy the old-school 70 series anymore, only the top model 200 (the successor of this CC model) and the smaller 150 series.
All with diesels. Nobody drives such a half SUV/half truck with a gasoline engine here. WAY too expensive to drive them with a gasoline engine. On top of that you want superb torque at low revs (that’s why you bought it in the first place), so the diesel model is always the winner.
Yes the n/a diesel will go anywhere, do anything etc just not very quickly. Still would be my choice for an outback trip due to simple mechanical injection etc.
The 200 series is sold here as petrol or diesel which costs $5000 extra. Strangely enough it is auto only even on the rubber-floor, barn rear doors work-oriented base model. That costs $80k, compared to $120k at the top end. On the other hand the 70 series only comes with the diesel and manual transmission.
I have always secretly harbored a desire for a LC. I toyed with a Lexus version (a couple of years older, of the prior series with the inline 6) but decided against it – I didn’t really need an SUV, and it was still a lot of money given its age and mileage.
I also agree with you on those rear seats – I never understood the attraction of that design that still takes up so much space when folded. The Honda Element has the same shortcoming.
This is where the conservative old midwesterner in me wants to grab my hair and scream the words “Ford Club Wagon”. I know, I know, they have absolutely zero social cachet unless you are a retired dairy farmer, and there are probably no more than five in the entire state of California, but for so much less money, and barely worse gas mileage, you could have gotten your entire shed inside. Of course, when your wife won’t drive it, the utility value kind of goes away. Fortunately, I married the kind of girl willing to be captain of a freighter instead of a graceful cruise liner. 🙂
An enjoyable installment.
I have a neighbor down the street that’s had a Club Wagon for ages; he must have bought it when the kids were young. But he still has it, and it looks great. I should do an Outtake.
The biggest problem with those seats is that they weigh a LOT and maneuvering them in and out is difficult. They sort of strap to the sides with a hook to the grabhandle as I recall and if you don’t do it right can come crashing down on the load, dog, or whatever is back there.
It will please you to hear that my wife actually preferred the large vans (Club Wagon etc) to the current minivan offerings at the time. They are not as uncommon as you’d think in CA – when I was a valet in high school/college, the company had one that we used as “troop transport” and for airport shuttle duties – Maroon with Maroon interior. Great Van.
Hint: Minivans are not vehicles from hell, or the admission of personal failure. Honest.
It amazes me what people will put up with in gas mileage for the sake of image.
Syke, we now have three kids. Watch this space…
Gorgeous car! While I liked the Lexus front end design better, the Toyota reads subtle class.
There’s nothing like a mid-sized SUV to carting around kids. I know minivans hold more, are easier to drive, etc….I respect their mission. But I loved the car seat height when I had my Trooper.
I bet whatever replaced this didn’t have the road presence and comfort….
Another very well-written installment. And I see a W124 there…something to look forward to, I assume?
Perhaps, Paul, perhaps…The first few pictures were taken soon after we got the LC, the last few were as I was getting it ready for sale – different houses in the background. So there were several vehicles in that timespan….
Those rear seats are useless unless you’re an infant. You would have to be a contortionist to get in, sit, and exit the vehicle. I think those seats would make great desk chairs…Marcel Marceau could have done a great scene with an LC.
The third-row seats were OK, probably the equivalent of a current Chevy Tahoe with the second row bench as far as usability/space. The second row did fold/flip somehow for access. OK for occasional use or with kids, as far as 7 middle-aged adults, much more difficult. The best current 3rd row designs in SUV’s are probably the Honda Pilot (VERY easy to get back there and the big cube shape helps the space) and the GM Suburban family with the center row of captain’s chairs, making access to the last row much easier and more dignified.
I know, Jim. I have an 80 series and removed the 3rd row. The seats were just too heavy and used up too much space. Enjoyed your article. Thanks for sharing.
Nice write up. I don’t see too many of these on the east coast. Like others mention, it’s probably because of the atrocious fuel economy and poor space efficiency compared to more modern crossovers. I liked the old 1st gen LCs that looked like a Jeep clone. In a way the LC has become a metaphor for Toyota itself, becoming bigger and more bloated over time, forgetting what made them great in the first place. I know Toyota made the new FJ Cruiser, which was supposed to look like the old 1st gen LC, but it ended up looking more like a 2 door Hummer H2. You now there was a time when even Corollas were cool little cars, then they made the cynical Corolla S with Pontiac/Pep Boys style body cladding. Has Toyota become the new GM? GM started its slide in the 70’s, so if they follow GM history they should be due for a bailout in the year 2050
There pretty common here in Southern new england. I would say these have to be one of the vehicles with the highest average owner incomes of any vehicle, back when I worked at a Marina in CT the owners of the few mega yachts we saw all drove land cruisers (at least one was a billionaire). I think this is the vehicle you buy if your old new england money where you don;t want to be flashy with your cars. That and loaded suburbans.
They’re all over the Hamptons area as well, but usually 1 or 2 generations old. The new flashier ones will be the new money folks….
Looks like CC is back up and running (for now); I missed being able to read this over my Sunday morning coffee.
Another great car you’ve had to fortune of owning Jim. I still see quite a few of this generation Land Cruiser around, and find them more attractive than the current model.
That’s a really nice shade of blue on yours, and I love the lower gray color (something that can’t be done well today given the further integration of bumpers into the body). These definitely were a cut above your average Joe Toyota, and it amazes me that the new ones only cost a few grand less than the LX.
I did really like the Lexus LX470 of this generation, especially the later ones with the LED taillights. I look at used ones occasionally, and am amazed with their high residual value, even for a nearly 10-year old car.
As for your Toyota waiting room experience, I can relate to that. When my mom owned her Highlander (that ultimately became my first car), she’d always drop it off in the evening for service and shell out the few extra bucks for a rental overnight rather than wait in “The Waiting Room from Hell” as she’d call it.
If it’s all about image and making a statement in the car pool lane, THIS is what it’s all about…
Ooh, yes, I very much like the idea. A guy a block over has one in the Ivory color, it looks perfect, I should try to get a pic of it…
I’ve spent some time over on the WagonMasters site checking these out. I think it could be an excellent car for us here in Northern Colorado, both of us being Realtors…
Nice vehicle. Too bad you had to sell it. Many garages around here (including mine) has a pole in the middle. I converted it to single garage door by removing the pole, adding new trim and adding a wider door. The center post was not load bearing.
We actually looked into that. Ours was weight bearing, the second story was cantilevered out over the garage level by 4 feet and there was a large beam (but not steel) over the garage doors with a support post. The best way to have done it would have been to replace the wood with an I-beam and thus remove the post but we decided it was just not worth it especially with the backing down the sloping S-curve driveway already an issue. We lived in that house for 4 years, I mastered the driveway within a week, my wife frequently needed a couple of tries, and as for company coming over and making it down successfully, forget it. Over the years we widened it and removed the bushes and replaced a retaining wall. The new owners did even more to create more “runoff area” but it remains a flawed design. Almost worth it for the 3-bridge view over the Bay from the deck though…
I owned an FZJ80 for many years; I always joked that the folding 3rd row seat mechanism was designed by a new grad engineer. Though I think the Previa used the same design. I was disappointed to read that the V8’s gas mileage was really no better than our 4.5L six … I figured the newer LS400 based V8 would be more efficient than the FZJ truck motor. By the way, the O2 sensor should have been covered by the CA emissions warranty.
Dman, how does the V8 compare with the 4.5? Is there a huge difference…Never driven a 100 series but always loved that engine.
Max – I had the FZJ80 with the DOHC six but have never driven a V8 Toyota or Lexus of any kind.
I should add that war zones are a natural habitat for these FJ100 Land Cruisers, and in that unforgiving environment, they are one of the top choices if not THE top choice among civilian vehicles. US forces, the UN and other international organizations, the Taliban — all of them use Land Cruisers. They stay remarkably trouble-free and rattle-free through abuse that will make a Suburban fall apart within a few years. The V8 is impressively smooth and powerful even in a vehicle weighed down by hundreds, of not 1000+, pounds of bullet-resistant glass and armor. The turbodiesel version seemed underpowered — I drove one with a 5-speed that would not exceed 80 kph in any gear, and had to be floored at all times to accelerate at all — but the vehicle’s armor may have been an unfair test. All of them, fast or not, are incredibly durable and seem to have a justifiably high reputation.
It ain’t no FJ60. That was a truck, and it looked the part.
Just to clarify the LX470 had significantly more upscaling. Thicker leather, more insulation, heavier laminate glass, better stereo, real yamaha wood, HID gas projector high beams which are amazing, timber steering wheel, blu tooth and multi-media steering wheel, thicker paint, privacy glass not tint. Etc.. plus it looked more sleek and has not really dated. Not to mention centre console fridge, reverse camera, nav, air con with 40% more freon and power. Nakimichi then Mark Levinson speakers….
Truck LOL I drive around town in something four times the size of a Landcruiser no problem at all though stepping up to a LC as a car driver could be a milt test, they arent terribly common here as new they were horribly expensive $110k plus change but I do see some in my travels mostly diesels as any real towing use rules out the gas model both in torque and fuel consumption.
Dang, came here for the photo of Jim in the Captain Stubing hat…
Anyway, there is a more serious LC here in the condo parking lot in CR, so I’ll try and snap some photos. It even has the huge roof rack, perfect for shed retrieval..
Nice write-up! Although I would never buy one of these (a Highlander was my limit), Toyota’s quality and reliability are admirable.
I rode Lexus LX470 for four days through Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia in 2016. While it got us through different terrains in comfort, I couldn’t really say much about the posh LC.
Many of them were imported from the United States or Mexico and used for Salar de Uyuni tours.
You didn’t happen to run into any battles while you werre there, did you?
Hahaha! I was thinking, ‘Gee, I must have missed the whole battle thing when I visited Salar de Uyuni.’ My friends asked me the same thing when they saw my photos and the film.
I should encourage you to visit Bolivia and take the road trip through Salar de Uyuni when you can. Nowhere in the world can you see the sheer vastness of salt lake (Bonnesville is really tiny as compared to Salar de Uyuni), varying landscape, and so forth.
We initially experienced a LC on Kangaroo Island, SA, in 2009 and subsequently bought a second hand off lease Certified 2005 LX470 in 2009 after our return to the States. This LX has proven to be indestructible both on and off the road. Early on in our ownership when in New Mexico (2011), I drove the LX on the 25+ mile unimproved dirt road from Crown Point to Chaco Canyon N.P after a night of heavy rain causing the LX to successfully traverse long stretches of deep water and mud, The Park Service told me that I and the LX were the first one’s to arrive from the south access to the Park that day.
Other than routine services, routine brake pads servicing, the routine cam belt change at 90,000 miles, and rust belt salt corrosion issue replacement of the rear A/C evaporator refrigerant lines, the LX has been fantastically reliable. My wife has found the Lexus Dealership experience exemplary,delightful, and, in our case, infrequent occurring only for routine servicing. Typical long term Toyota reliability in our hands.
Regarding the LC and its Lexus sibling there was an expression that I heard in Australia, If you want to go into the bush, the Land Rover, the Jeep, and the LC (or Lexus) could take you there, but if you wanted to return from the bush, then you could only rely on the LC (Lexus) to bring you back.
Beautiful rig, and enjoyed the writeup. Although I’ve always had the highest respect for the abilities and quality of the Land Cruisers, I’ve never wanted to own one for one simple reason- not enough room. In the interior, it’s really more of a mid-sized SUV than a full size (get out a tape measure on a new Durango, for example, and you’ll see what I mean). Between our three kids and occasional road trips with them and the grandparents, our Suburbans could accomodate seven passengers comfortably, with room for all and their luggage- without having to use the roof rack.
Now in fairness, if we had attempted that trip through the Yucatan instead of domestic Interstates, the Land Cruiser would be the obvious choice.