2024 Land Cruiser "250 series"

[Rzeppa]

I just filled up this evening, 27.0mpg on the last tank. The lowest I hàve gotten is about 21.5. Since I have had it, I hàve averaged around 23 or so, I have a spreadsheet for fuel economy but don't have it in front of me right now. Basically twice the fuel economy of my legacy Land Cruisers. My 60 had a 23 gallon tank but 12 mpg. My 71 40 has an 18.5 gallon tank, my 76 40 and 78 45 have 16.5 gallon tanks. The guy making the video spends a lot of time on things that don't make much difference. A 5 gallon Jerry can for god sakes if you're that cranked up about range!

In my real -world first -hand experience with my 250, I have to disagree with Corbet and assert that range for the 250 is not only not an issue, but it is a huge advance over legacy Land Cruisers.

I will mention that to achieve good fuel economy, you gotta keep your foot outta the turbo! That's right there on the display when you dial it up.

 

[Corbet]

Jeff, are you still running the little 245/70r18 “p” rated tires? If so that’s a 5.4% difference between our two trucks plus the extra weight of my LT’s. I did see 21-22 with my original p265/70r18. I don’t know what altitude you run at daily but I’m between 6500-8100 daily for work. That could factor in but who knows. I’m very light on the throttle generally. I have not been correcting for tire size with my postings. Mainly because when I pass radar speed signs they have been more accurate than with the smaller tires.

 

[Rzeppa]

Jeff, are you still running the little 245/70r18 “p” rated tires? If so that’s a 5.4% difference between our two trucks plus the extra weight of my LT’s. I did see 21-22 with my original p265/70r18. I don’t know what altitude you run at daily but I’m between 6500-8100 daily for work. That could factor in but who knows. I’m very light on the throttle generally. I have not been correcting for tire size with my postings. Mainly because when I pass radar speed signs they have been more accurate than with the smaller tires.

I live and work at around 7000 feet. I am still using the factory tires. I think the factory tires probably over
state miles by around 3-5 percent. I think bringing them up to 33s would likely make them more accurate.

 

[Rzeppa]

Looking at my spreadsheet, I think there must be some kind of fuel economy penalty for winter versus summer formulation. I am down in the 21s and 22s in the winter and 24s and 25s in the summer, and as I posted above 27.0 according to the dashboard display and an actual 27.1 going 349 miles on 12.9 gallons according to my receipt. Again, keeping my foot out of the turbo is a big deal. When I go past a radar sign I am typically around 1-2 MPH slower on the radar than what my dashboard says, so I'd guess that's my smaller tire size (~31.5 inches). About half of this last very nice fuel economy tank was through lower elevations: my wife and I went to Green Mountain Falls, which is between Woodland Park and Manitou Springs and most of the drive is along the South Platte river which is much lower than Evergreen, probably just a bit higher than Denver.

Back to the guy in the video, he really seems fixated on the size of the fuel tank without the perspective of the range that the hybrid gives us compared to legacy Land Cruisers. Does anyone with a URJ200 want to chime in on what they get with their 5.7? I get nearly twice the range in the 250 compared to any of my older ones, even the 60 with the 23 gallon tank. If you were pulling your trailer with your 80, no way you'd get the range of the hybrid.

 

[ScaldedDog]

When I go past a radar sign I am typically around 1-2 MPH slower on the radar than what my dashboard says,...

I don't have much to add to this thread, other than a mild interest in a GX550 if I needed to thin the herd and make my daily driver my tow rig, but I did want to comment on this point. I don't think I've had a stock car of any make that didn't show 1-2mph slower than every roadside radar display I passed in it. Lexus, Infiniti, Honda, more Ford company sleds than I can remember - they all behaved the same. Whether that affects the odometer reading over time I can't say, and I think it would impossible to measure outside of a lab.

My ancient 4runner on 40" bias ply tires and 5.29 gears, on the other hand, seems to be dead on.

Mark

 

[Corbet]

If you were pulling your trailer with your 80, no way you'd get the range of the hybrid.

Jeff, my 80 gets 10 MPG towing my trailer, the 250 has gotten 13 so far. I can go further in the 80. Not by much but that has been my experience. Need to see what the summer blend of fuel does. My 2000 miles of towing with the 250 has been on the winter crap. I'm hoping I see an improvement. I've recently added a RTT to the 250 so that is not going to help. But we needed a 2nd tent for the trip.

 

[Rzeppa]

Hey Corbet if you are only getting 13MPG in your 250 that would be 232 miles and 251 miles at 10 MPG in the 80 with a 25.1 gallon tank, so yeah the 80 might have a slightly longer range, but the low number on your 250 really surprises me. I was getting around 13 in my 60 (no trailer) with a 23 gallon tank for a 169 mile range. On my spreadsheet I am projecting 484 miles per tank in my 250 based on 349 actual miles before filling up and 5.0 gallons remaining on my last fill up. That's a huge discrepancy between your observations and mine. The worst tank full in my 250 was 20.0 MPG when I filled up on 1/22/25 (212 miles, 10.6 gallon fill). I still think the guy in the video was making a mountain out of a mole hill about the range of the 250 based on the fuel tank capacity. No way I can drive as far on either of my 40s, my 45 or my (now sold) 60 as my 250 on a tank of gas.

And I really like how I can look down at my dashboard while I'm driving and see zero RPMs and know from that I am running on the electric motor, that's so cool! The software is so effortless how it switches back and forth between the ICE and the electric motor; with a couple decades worth of Prius's to refine it, they've really gotten it down.

 

[Corbet]

Well like I said I was over 20MPG with he original P rated tires but never above 23. I’m pretty convinced Toyota used the 1958 edition when doing the EPA testing. The smaller tires add to your efficiency. And I highly doubt Toyota calibrated the speedometer differently so that’s also padding the figure by approx 1 MPG over the other trims with larger tires stock. Everything else is driving conditions. Here in Durango I don’t really ever experience HWY conditions. But when I ran the 250 up to Denver at Christmas I got 19 round trip. . (On LT275/70r18 tires). Again I'm not correcting for tire size so we can call that trip 20 if you want. As I’m not seeing advertised MPG I’m not bothering to calculate it with absolute precision. That would be detrimental to my mental health.

I agree the driving experience is pretty seemless with respect to the hybrid. I thought the engine turning off at stoplights was going to annoy me but I adjusted in just days. I find the vehicle very comfortable. Driver/passenger interface with tech and HVAC is easy and intuitive. Vision out is not as good as the 80 but for a modern vehicle is really good. Bridger says the back seat is the most comfortable in our fleet. The few times I’ve sat back there I’ve found the seat pretty firm but leg/arm/head room was sufficient for me at 6’. I’ve adjusted to the rear hatch for daily driving but still hate it camping.

9 months and 12,500 miles into ownership and enjoy the truck. If I could change anything it would be to have the larger drivetrain components of the GX, larger fuel tank, and space for a 35” spare under the truck. Finally, I really wish Toyota would have integrated the trailer harness into the bumper like a proper truck. I damaged that the first time out as predicted. I’m also wondering if the Tacoma Trailhunter exhaust parts are interchangeable. The rear dump on the 250 is definitely some low hanging fruit.

 

[r.swany]

Been a while since I've seen most of you guys but I've been lurking around on the forum a little. Figured I better tell you all a quick story as it pertains directly to this thread. @Hulk I mostly have you to thank for the madness below:

We had a deposit on a LC250 coming in June, but I saw that Tinker video @Hulk posted and it immediately sent me on a late night deep dive into the GX550. I hadn't looked too close at them because I had 250 blinders on. I thought the 550 was primarily just an engine swap with some other Lexus upgrades that I didn't really need or want. Wow I was way wrong. No idea about the sheer amount of off-road improvements from the CVs, UCAs, frame mounts, lift, gas tank, paint, onboard air... seems like the list just goes on and on, and at only a 10% bump on price over the 250 Premium. It really got me thinking, maybe the 550 is the better route?

That was Thursday.

Next day I reached out to some club guys and got a little more input/advice and the consensus was "The LC is beautiful and great, but yes the GX is better" - Decided I'd better stop by the Lexus Shop to poke around at one in person, only to find out that there are NONE to test drive and had a 12mo waiting list of 500+ folks. While at the dealership three guys came in and got on the list right in front of me! Yikes! So then I got to thinking, based on the wait alone, maybe the 550 is not the better route...

I went ahead and got on the waiting list at one of the other dealerships (Springs) that wasn't charging the $1K fee (they stopped taking deposits because the wait is so long). Overall however I had moslty resolved that the 550 was a flash-in-the-pan pipe dream, and basically we were just too late to the party to get our hands on one. Happy to get a 250 in a few weeks, and leave the Lexus stuff to the fancy guys like @jps8460

But then, about an hour later, suddenly and surprisingly, sure as shit, I got a call back from the Springs - They had JUST rolled down an Overtrail through the waiting list and everybody passed on it. What?! I slapped down the deposit and scheduled a test drive.

That was Friday.

By Sat lunch we had it bought.

With all the things I learned about and mulled over, and the hybrid 4 in the 250 not really living up to the MPG expectations, the thing that ultimately sealed the deal was the Twin Turbo 6. It's like a fucking race car. Who knew that going fast would bring instant calm and clarity to this kooky upside-down world haha.

So - Because of this club, and because of this thread, and because of @Hulk, and his constant finger on the pulse, we undressed from a 250 and jumped into a 550 in under 48hrs. I have no business driving a Lexus but when the math-maths AND fate-fates I am too weak to fight.

(Side note - Our TRD 4Runner we bought for 39K in 2019 traded in for 41K WTF?)

 

[Hulk]

Congrats on your awesome new vehicle, Roy!!! That's a super cool story.

 

[Romer]

Thats awesome. Congrats on the new ride!

 

[FZJ Dave]

Been a while since I've seen most of you guys but I've been lurking around on the forum a little. Figured I better tell you all a quick story as it pertains directly to this thread. @Hulk I mostly have you to thank for the madness below:

We had a deposit on a LC250 coming in June, but I saw that Tinker video @Hulk posted and it immediately sent me on a late night deep dive into the GX550. I hadn't looked too close at them because I had 250 blinders on. I thought the 550 was primarily just an engine swap with some other Lexus upgrades that I didn't really need or want. Wow I was way wrong. No idea about the sheer amount of off-road improvements from the CVs, UCAs, frame mounts, lift, gas tank, paint, onboard air... seems like the list just goes on and on, and at only a 10% bump on price over the 250 Premium. It really got me thinking, maybe the 550 is the better route?

That was Thursday.

Next day I reached out to some club guys and got a little more input/advice and the consensus was "The LC is beautiful and great, but yes the GX is better" - Decided I'd better stop by the Lexus Shop to poke around at one in person, only to find out that there are NONE to test drive and had a 12mo waiting list of 500+ folks. While at the dealership three guys came in and got on the list right in front of me! Yikes! So then I got to thinking, based on the wait alone, maybe the 550 is not the better route...

I went ahead and got on the waiting list at one of the other dealerships (Springs) that wasn't charging the $1K fee (they stopped taking deposits because the wait is so long). Overall however I had moslty resolved that the 550 was a flash-in-the-pan pipe dream, and basically we were just too late to the party to get our hands on one. Happy to get a 250 in a few weeks, and leave the Lexus stuff to the fancy guys like @jps8460

But then, about an hour later, suddenly and surprisingly, sure as shit, I got a call back from the Springs - They had JUST rolled down an Overtrail through the waiting list and everybody passed on it. What?! I slapped down the deposit and scheduled a test drive.

That was Friday.

By Sat lunch we had it bought.

With all the things I learned about and mulled over, and the hybrid 4 in the 250 not really living up to the MPG expectations, the thing that ultimately sealed the deal was the Twin Turbo 6. It's like a fucking race car. Who knew that going fast would bring instant calm and clarity to this kooky upside-down world haha.

So - Because of this club, and because of this thread, and because of @Hulk, and his constant finger on the pulse, we undressed from a 250 and jumped into a 550 in under 48hrs. I have no business driving a Lexus but when the math-maths AND fate-fates I am too weak to fight.

(Side note - Our TRD 4Runner we bought for 39K in 2019 traded in for 41K WTF?)

Thats awesome you were able to get one! I hope you got it for close, or below, MSRP. The Lexus dealers here in UT are all charging 15k to 20k over MSRP. The dealer in SLC has 4 on the lot right now, but at 87-90K, they haven't sold.

I recently put a deposit down on a LC 250 for my wife. I would definitely go with a GX550 if I could find an affordable one, but that seems impossible at the moment. I am sure she will be happy with the 250 when it gets here, but it won't be replacing my Tundra or 80 anytime soon.

 

[RayRay27]

Been a while since I've seen most of you guys but I've been lurking around on the forum a little. Figured I better tell you all a quick story as it pertains directly to this thread. @Hulk I mostly have you to thank for the madness below:

We had a deposit on a LC250 coming in June, but I saw that Tinker video @Hulk posted and it immediately sent me on a late night deep dive into the GX550. I hadn't looked too close at them because I had 250 blinders on. I thought the 550 was primarily just an engine swap with some other Lexus upgrades that I didn't really need or want. Wow I was way wrong. No idea about the sheer amount of off-road improvements from the CVs, UCAs, frame mounts, lift, gas tank, paint, onboard air... seems like the list just goes on and on, and at only a 10% bump on price over the 250 Premium. It really got me thinking, maybe the 550 is the better route?

That was Thursday.

Next day I reached out to some club guys and got a little more input/advice and the consensus was "The LC is beautiful and great, but yes the GX is better" - Decided I'd better stop by the Lexus Shop to poke around at one in person, only to find out that there are NONE to test drive and had a 12mo waiting list of 500+ folks. While at the dealership three guys came in and got on the list right in front of me! Yikes! So then I got to thinking, based on the wait alone, maybe the 550 is not the better route...

I went ahead and got on the waiting list at one of the other dealerships (Springs) that wasn't charging the $1K fee (they stopped taking deposits because the wait is so long). Overall however I had moslty resolved that the 550 was a flash-in-the-pan pipe dream, and basically we were just too late to the party to get our hands on one. Happy to get a 250 in a few weeks, and leave the Lexus stuff to the fancy guys like @jps8460

But then, about an hour later, suddenly and surprisingly, sure as shit, I got a call back from the Springs - They had JUST rolled down an Overtrail through the waiting list and everybody passed on it. What?! I slapped down the deposit and scheduled a test drive.

That was Friday.

By Sat lunch we had it bought.

With all the things I learned about and mulled over, and the hybrid 4 in the 250 not really living up to the MPG expectations, the thing that ultimately sealed the deal was the Twin Turbo 6. It's like a fucking race car. Who knew that going fast would bring instant calm and clarity to this kooky upside-down world haha.

So - Because of this club, and because of this thread, and because of @Hulk, and his constant finger on the pulse, we undressed from a 250 and jumped into a 550 in under 48hrs. I have no business driving a Lexus but when the math-maths AND fate-fates I am too weak to fight.

(Side note - Our TRD 4Runner we bought for 39K in 2019 traded in for 41K WTF?)

Right on Roy! Good to hear from you too.

 

[r.swany]

Thats awesome you were able to get one! I hope you got it for close, or below, MSRP. The Lexus dealers here in UT are all charging 15k to 20k over MSRP. The dealer in SLC has 4 on the lot right now, but at 87-90K, they haven't sold.

I recently put a deposit down on a LC 250 for my wife. I would definitely go with a GX550 if I could find an affordable one, but that seems impossible at the moment. I am sure she will be happy with the 250 when it gets here, but it won't be replacing my Tundra or 80 anytime soon.

Yeah MSRP! And I don’t know why for sure - Every other one I saw that was available by third party was listed well over 80K. Other than just getting lucky, I think the Colorado Springs Lexus store is just slinging trucks as fast as they can get them in. Apparently as long as they sell inside their retail area they get replenished unit for unit. My guess is that they, as well as all Lexus dealerships, are motivated to aggressively sell at MSRP inside their region. As long as they have 500 waiting they’re probably better off selling them quickly at list price and getting a new one to take its place ASAP. If that replenishment slows down, or demand in a region slows down, then I could see the dealership prices start to creep back up. Seems counter intuitive, but I guess also the more trucks the dealership gets out there, the more people need that Lexus certified service right? Haha.

 

[Rzeppa]

Congratulations Roy. I had to put a $400 deposit down and wait a month or two to get my 250 from Groove last year. I am super-happy with it and feel like that video was a lot of BS, but I understand that the guy was basically building/keeping an audience. I'm not into going out and breaking a bunch of stuff (HA that was my HZJ75 days!). But compared to my 40s, 45 and 60 I am super-spoiled in my 250. It has snap-your-head-back acceleration and awesome fuel economy, along with 200-like amenities like heated seats and steering wheel. My wife's 2021 RAV4 has a better infotainment system, but I don't mind. I got 27.0 MPG on my last tank of gas; I live and work at around 7,000 feet.

And I like my round headlights

 

[Rzeppa]

Oh and I get these Carfax emails since I bought it from Groove and Carfax is saying that resale value is more than the MSRP I paid for it! I wonder how much of that is supply and demand and how much is tariffs? No way I want to sell though, like I posted above, I am totally spoiled. I still drive my '71 40 and '78 45, but sold my '87 '60. Still working on my '76 '40.

 

[Rzeppa]

I am sure she will be happy with the 250 when it gets here, but it won't be replacing my Tundra or 80 anytime soon.

I think she will be VERY happy with it. I know I am very happy with mine. I have been driving Land Cruisers every day for 43 years now... 40s, 45, 75, 60, now 250. The 250 is just plain awesome.

 

[jps8460]

Been a while since I've seen most of you guys but I've been lurking around on the forum a little. Figured I better tell you all a quick story as it pertains directly to this thread. @Hulk I mostly have you to thank for the madness below:

We had a deposit on a LC250 coming in June, but I saw that Tinker video @Hulk posted and it immediately sent me on a late night deep dive into the GX550. I hadn't looked too close at them because I had 250 blinders on. I thought the 550 was primarily just an engine swap with some other Lexus upgrades that I didn't really need or want. Wow I was way wrong. No idea about the sheer amount of off-road improvements from the CVs, UCAs, frame mounts, lift, gas tank, paint, onboard air... seems like the list just goes on and on, and at only a 10% bump on price over the 250 Premium. It really got me thinking, maybe the 550 is the better route?

That was Thursday.

Next day I reached out to some club guys and got a little more input/advice and the consensus was "The LC is beautiful and great, but yes the GX is better" - Decided I'd better stop by the Lexus Shop to poke around at one in person, only to find out that there are NONE to test drive and had a 12mo waiting list of 500+ folks. While at the dealership three guys came in and got on the list right in front of me! Yikes! So then I got to thinking, based on the wait alone, maybe the 550 is not the better route...

I went ahead and got on the waiting list at one of the other dealerships (Springs) that wasn't charging the $1K fee (they stopped taking deposits because the wait is so long). Overall however I had moslty resolved that the 550 was a flash-in-the-pan pipe dream, and basically we were just too late to the party to get our hands on one. Happy to get a 250 in a few weeks, and leave the Lexus stuff to the fancy guys like @jps8460

But then, about an hour later, suddenly and surprisingly, sure as shit, I got a call back from the Springs - They had JUST rolled down an Overtrail through the waiting list and everybody passed on it. What?! I slapped down the deposit and scheduled a test drive.

That was Friday.

By Sat lunch we had it bought.

With all the things I learned about and mulled over, and the hybrid 4 in the 250 not really living up to the MPG expectations, the thing that ultimately sealed the deal was the Twin Turbo 6. It's like a fucking race car. Who knew that going fast would bring instant calm and clarity to this kooky upside-down world haha.

So - Because of this club, and because of this thread, and because of @Hulk, and his constant finger on the pulse, we undressed from a 250 and jumped into a 550 in under 48hrs. I have no business driving a Lexus but when the math-maths AND fate-fates I am too weak to fight.

(Side note - Our TRD 4Runner we bought for 39K in 2019 traded in for 41K WTF?)

Congrats man!!!

 

[FZJ Dave]

I think she will be VERY happy with it. I know I am very happy with mine. I have been driving Land Cruisers every day for 43 years now... 40s, 45, 75, 60, now 250. The 250 is just plain awesome.

I am glad you like yours so much! I haven't heard from too many people that own a LC 250 that don't really like them. I know they have some quirks, but they are pretty awesome vehicles. I have been fortunate enough to spend some time in them on and offroad, and I can attest that they are really cool vehicles.

My wife really liked the Sequoia, but I talked her out of it due to size, cost, and availability. We don't really need the 3rd row, and driving and parking a Sequoia daily would likely wear on her. Plus, I already have a 2024 Tundra, we don't need 2 nearly identical vehicles - that would be boring!

She loves the styling of the LC 250 and she misses our 200 almost as much as I do. The economy and other factors sealed the deal for me to go the 250 route vs. looking for another 200. I agree with you that it will fit her needs really well.

Having driven and wheeled both the LC 250 and the GX 550, I personally prefer the GX, but as stated above I have been unable to find one anywhere near MSRP. Besides, it isn't for me, it is for my wife, so it'll fit our needs just fine. I don't think you can go wrong with either vehicle really.

 

[r.swany]

Congratulations Roy. I had to put a $400 deposit down and wait a month or two to get my 250 from Groove last year. I am super-happy with it and feel like that video was a lot of BS, but I understand that the guy was basically building/keeping an audience. I'm not into going out and breaking a bunch of stuff (HA that was my HZJ75 days!). But compared to my 40s, 45 and 60 I am super-spoiled in my 250. It has snap-your-head-back acceleration and awesome fuel economy, along with 200-like amenities like heated seats and steering wheel. My wife's 2021 RAV4 has a better infotainment system, but I don't mind. I got 27.0 MPG on my last tank of gas; I live and work at around 7,000 feet.

And I like my round headlights

That's great the 250 has been such an efficient daily - I haven't heard any complaints about the LC other than the MPG not being as good as advertised, but sounds like from your experience its been better than! And yeah of course - The round headlights are so nice - If I had my druthers it would be the the 550 powertrain with a 250 grill - Like Tinker said in that video, Toyota has all the parts to make the best LC ever! Just put it together already! Haha