Toyota Land Cruiser
08/12/2011Time flies, they say, when you are having fun. And 60 years of fun off roading appears to have happened with the Toyota LandCruiser. So a big happy birthday!!!
Although, the slick, luxurious current model is far removed from all those years ago, the Toyota LandCruiser still has a reputation for being rugged, and very hard to break indeed. It is just it throws in a few kilos of comfortable now.
Plus some technology. Well, quite a lot of technology. To stay the course in the now rather more crowded market of off road contenders requires a complex and elusive mix of off road ability with on road manners. It is no longer ok to wear muddy boots indoors. The Toyota has stayed the course. And has manners. And still is hard to break.
Through its long history it has managed to remain sort after, too. The curse of distress marketing has in measure stayed away from this car. This, combined with healthy demand, turns out a pleasant side effect.
Used ones are relatively rare. And rare means less depreciation.
So much so, that Glass's Guide has calculated that the LandCruiser has held its value better than any other UK model in 2011.
I suspect that is an accolade that will sound very acceptable in the Toyota showrooms, and will filter through into a less painful lease payment calculation, too.
An example of this is the 3.0 litre D-4D Invincable automatic.
This derivative can still potentially command 72 percent of its original on the road price - as impressive as the car's off the road performance.
With a quoted price on the Toyota website that starts at just over £31000, this news is a good birthday present, and sets the model up nicely for the next 60 years.
'Nothing to prove', Toyota adds as the strap line. Nonetheless, it does seem to have made a point!
