By far the most reliable SUV on the planet. Powerful and refined.

Has no real weaknesses excecpt poor MPG. Why can't I get a manual transmission in the US?

I have had three Landcruisers, a 1983, 1993 and 1999. I have taken the '83 and '93 on lengthy off road expeditions in Saudi Arabia. There is not a better vehicle made. Highly reliable, never a single mechanical failure. All the bedouin use them, in fact, throughout the third world the Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol are the vehicle of choice. There are no American, British or German 4x4's that compare.
Though the '99 is much more of an up market luxury vehicle it has the same Toyota Landcruiser pedigree that has evolved over the past 40+ years.

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There are no SUVs in the same league except the Nissan Patrol which is not available in the US. The Range Rover and Discovery are so unreliable that they are just simple too dangerous for serious off roading.

Inline Six is indestructable, runs on regular gas, and provides all of the low end pull that a truck needs. The 3 rows of seats provides flexible people carrying ability. Toyota quality is excellent.

The third row seating is for either very small people or at least legless adults. The lack of rear air conditioning is also a minus for the passengers. The angle of departure is very shallow for an offroad vehicle.

I have owned an Explorer and the LR Discovery. Both are fine vehicles in their own right, but the LandCruiser surpasses them both in build quality and reliability. I have driven all of my vehicles extensively offroad, the HUMMV is beyond any doubt the most capable of these vehicles but is not a good day to day vehicle. Of the type of vehicle that you can drive in everyday settings, the Discovery excels offroad. The Explorer lacks the solid offroad feedback of the Discover and LandCrusier and had suspension components that are way too close to the ground for my comfort. The LandCruiser can drag its tail around due to the lack of proper departure angles. None the less, I cannot be happier with the '96 LandCruiser, it looks good at the club, is surefooted in difficult conditions, and is seldom, ever, in the shop.

Please note that I give it a five star value rating based on the price I paid for mine new. (I bought a 1996 on December 27th 1996, at 40K fully loaded, it was an exceptional deal) Otherwise, had I paid full price for this vehicle, I would have given it 4 stars for value.

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Ford explorer, Expedition, 4runner, Montero, Land Rover Discovery, HUMMV (Hummer).

Refined, comfortable, easy to handle, extremely well built, handles well for a high truck, rides very well

The Dunlop Grand Trek tires are harsh and cheap for a $50K plus vehicle, especially when the Lexus LX450 has Michelin as OEM. The stereo has an endemic problem----bass boost causes grave distortion and speaker vibration, and Toyota has known about this and done nothing to remedy numerous consumer complaints, as per Edmunds.com Talk.

If you can afford it, and it doesn't give you indigestion to keep filling it up with premium high test every 300 miles (with a 24 gallon tank, no less) then this is the SUV to buy. Nothing, except the overpriced Lexus LX 450 compares with it.

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I have recently owned a BMW 740 il and the Toyota is in that class. I drove the $47K BMW X5 and it is fun to drive, but it is not a machine like the LC. The Mercedes ML series, which I also owned when it came out, is the equivalent of a tunafish tin can to the Toyota build.

Excellent navigation system (why it's keyboard is not QWERTY?), excellent ride, enough power.

~300 miles per tank. Couldn't they fit 5 more gallons?

When I drive my Land Cruiser I'm very relaxed and I don't feel like speeding. I feel secure and the ride is excellent in it's own big-car-way. My BMW is different in the way that it encourage me to drive fast and sporty which is fun too. I think LandCruiser is best for long trips when BMW is good for commuting (if you forget about gas/mileage).

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2001 BMW X5 (my second car). I like my Land Cruiser a bit more.

I love the ride, the powerful engine, handling, styling, much more..

I didnt like the base power thw wheels and the gas milage. I put 18" HRE wheels to have better handling and I put a Borla cat-back system. A supercharger to add the needed horsepower (to my needs). A P-chip helps alot with acceleration. Brembo brakes to help the braking a ton, the stock brakes arent very good. To help the engine take in mor e air i put in a filter charger. For styling and helf off road i put on a brush guard and Hella head lights to help me see.

The LC is very good, but I belive that it could use more proformance upgrades to keep up with the new and up coming SUV's

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It is one of the best SUV's but I like my cars better but in the winter I would thake this over my Range Rover.

power, luxury, looks great!, all the bells and whistles you can buy (DVD nav. system, 6 disc in-dash dvd/cd changer, 4 zone climate control, leather, wood everywhere, etc, etc, etc...) pretty much everything!

price

I love my cruiser! I can't say enough, so ill make it really brief... this is a great all around SUV, it has a lot of power, very luxurious, and it is a true SUV b/c it can go off road in class and do it very nicely. E-mail me if any questions, cbjulian@mindspring.com. Enjoy!

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Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer- Great power, great looks (not as good as LC), towing and seating limits
Land Rover Range Rover 4.0 SE and 4.6 HSE, both underpowered, towing isnt bad but the 11.9 0-60 for the 4.0 turned me away instantly.
Chevy Tahoe- DONT BUY!!! BIG MISTAKE!!!! CHEVY HAS HAD SO MANY PROBLEMS W/ THIS CAR IT IS UNBELIVABLE!!!

Good looks, impressive acceleration (for a 5000 pound brick), decent offroad prowess. Bought it fully loaded.

Unacceptable problems for an SUV originally costing $55k that has supposedly survived the Sahara and Alaska. 1. Leakage into the interior when it rains. 2. Wind venting through AC system. 3. A COMPLETELY useless defroster that has almost caused me several accidents. 4. Cheap interior plastics. 5. Horrific bumpers that crumple like paper (3MPH bump = $1000 damage). 6. Window squeaks when moved. 7. Super-loud wind noise over 45MPH. 8. Loud, intrusive engine rattle at 2500+ RPM. 9. A "premium" factory CD-player that has broken several times. Finally gave up and bought an aftermarket one. 10. Factory-installed Cellular phone pod fell off of windshield - cannot get back on correctly. 11. Radio Antenna broke in half for no reason. 12. Tire-removal tool that doesn't work. AAA couldn't even get it off. 13. Other minor problems that I cannot recall. 14. Customer service terrible. 8-weeks to fix the CD-player the first time. Fix did not work for even 3 days. 15. Sales people are unacceptable - loud, ignorant, completely unqualified. I would accept better from a Lexus dealership.

With the problems I have experienced, I cannot recommend this SUV. As a matter of fact, I simply cannot recommend any Toyota or Lexus automobile from the experience I have had. This only proves that Toyota is a penny-pinching, overrated company that makes pieces of junk that will never survive the test of time.

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Land Rover Range Rover 4.6HSE - I wish I bought one of these. The epitome of an SUV.
Land Rover Discovery LSE - Unpowered, but loaded with amenities. Supercharger will fix that prob. BOth Land Rovers have amazing off-road prowess.

Gorgeous V8, levels of safety, Excellent stereo, and Toyotas good customer service and dependibility.

Mileage, but when you are in this side of the market, what are few more visits to the pump.

This SUV has an enormously impressive overall engineering, and attension to fine detail, the gear change sweet and the steering feels rigth ( for a car of this size), and unlike the Range Rover, there was no feeling of slack in the helm. It quite a refined car too, this car has an unstoppable feel that extends to the braking, turning and stopping as you find you self under estimate the breaking distance of this 2.5 tonne machine.. but you get used to it.. as it is was the same thing with the the Range Rover.
P.S. this car is a true off-roader, if you want a car to goto the shops with, then there is always your BMW X5's and Merc's ML's.

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Range Rover 4.6 HSE did not seem screwed together right...

Great looks, excellant build quailty, powerful engine. Took it off road this Summer and had a blast. Drove on sand very well (once you let the air out of the tires), I love the stereo system particularily the way the CDs load. The room inside is great.

Soft shocks! I am replacing the factory shocks with stiffer performance oriented shocks. I've noticed some bad handling in the rain which I believe is related to the tires. I'm planning on changing them as well.

I've driven almost every SUV out there. Every time I come back to my Land Cruiser, I feel it is the best in its class. I feel the shocks NEED to be replaced right off the bat. The softness of the factory shocks I believe adds to unsafe emergency handling. There is too much nose dive. I experienced the same feeling in my 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Once I put in stiffer shocks the Jeep became bearable. I can't wait to experience the LC with the new shocks. Highly recommended. Forget the sticker price, I leased mine for $760 per month including tax and gap insurance with $1000 down.

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For an SUV of this size, nothing compares!

-Engine is big and very strong
-Tires work well
-Body is shaped cool
-Color is black
-View
-Toyota name and design

Not much to complain about. Except the Fuel economy and the price. I feel and know that I could have saved lots of $ if I waited for the 2001's to have arrived. This is the only problems.

48,000 dollars, I would recommend it to someone who has more money than they know what to do with. Repair cost is a shocker even if it is eventually done correctly.

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1998 Blazer 4x4, 1975 Jeep / It is a much more expensive version of these. But not quite as durable.