Good Bye TRD PRO

Amelia Island Fla. one of the few places that still allow beach driving. Of course our days are numbered due to a few morons leaving trash, nails from burned pallets, human waste, needles, beer cans, liquior bottles, and anything else you can think of. Residents are organizing to get it shut down. Typical case of a few idiots ruining things for everybody else

 

Hey, AMG Driver, Don't forget the beautiful beaches you can still drive on, Long Island N.Y. Robert Mosses State Park, Democrat Point allows 4 wheel drive vehicles,on the beach, for surf cast fishing, just need to get a permit, and you can go out on the beach at night, not that I do, but some of my buddies are into stripper fishing, and they say most people are out there just to hang out, not so much, to fish.
also still pretty clean, considering all the N.Y pigs, but like you said ,sooner or later, some A-Holes are gonna ruin it for everybody else.

 

between the hotels getting beach driving banned in front of their property and the bad behavior our days are numbered. There are only a few 1/2 mile or less areas still open. During holiday weekends there are trucks parked 3 deep all out of county people many of which break every law in the book. The police wont get out of their trucks to write a ticket in most cases. Very limited law enforcement resources compounds the problem. Parties are organized through social media. There are no noise ordanices The terms tread lightly and leave it better than u found it do not apply here. You cant fish most of the year because of too many people in the surf. Driving on beaches in Fla has been a tradition and a freedom for decades. Sadly getting ruined by a few jerks

 

Good looking LC. Congrats!

 

Freakin beautiful....

 

thanks

 

I'm heading to Amelia Island with the family and drive on the beach and have lunch. Debating which vehicle to bring the wife's GL320 on road tires or Tundra. I hope I won't need any recovery equipment that I don't have.

 

Damn! That’s a sweet ride!

 

the sand here is ok as long as u avoid the trouble spots. id vote for the tundra if 4x4.

my trd pro and LC both have:had Nitto ridge grapplers I do see people stuck all the time with street tires on 2wd vehicles. So far thereis no rule about 4x4being required. There sshould be

 

white is sick as well. lots of ideas for customization

 

I took these Tundra with no issues. Thanks!

I'll start gearing up for some fishing next time.

 

Nice.

 

It looks great! But not as good as the black one you have there...

 

This may be a little off topic but I really dont get the marketing strategy of Toyota. The TRD PRO Tundras, 4runners, Sequioas all get it. They roll off the showroom floor ready to rock. You can buy chrome deleted Nitto shod performance exhaust equipped badass rides with factory options. Enter top of the line LC. All the mechanical street cred go to the end of the earth 4x4capability and last forever build quality. Yet outside of a pityfull few 1200 Heritage examples they are equipped for the soccer mom mall crawler. Nothing for the overlander , the off road hunting/fishing customer, or the enthusiast who likes performance and cosmetic upgrades. It does not matter if the vehicle is ever taken off road or on the beach or into the back country People particularly buyers who buy luxury SUVs want vehicles that have the badass off road look whether its ever used or not. The Lexus 570 covers the luxury look vs the rugged look quite well And you can get more choices in terms of interior layouts, tech, and high end audio systems. I dont know what the numbers are but they sell a ton of the 570 vs the LC If a customer is going to spend LC money they will drop a few more thousand and buy a 570 with more tech and and a decent sound system The sales success of the Heritage is a glaring example of the marketing failure of Toyotas strategy concerning the LC. If Toyota would market a LC Trd Pro with the right accessories they would not be able to supply the demand And they could charge whatever they wanted for it. Look at the MB G wagon Wait a year or 50-70k over list i know firsthand. What percentage ever go off road??? Maybe 1%. I dropped 6500.00 on aftermarket upgrades on my LC just to get it to the min as far as what I considered acceptable for my needs
chrome delete paint to color
sport exhaust
audio processor upgrade
Off rd Nitto tires
I am still looking for a retractable running board setup and a couple other things
All of these things should be factory options in addition to a larger fuel tank and a Fox suspension Rigid light package duhh kinda like a TRD Pro????? Toyota are u listening?? No wonder they only sell about 3200 of these each year. in the US market. The rest of the world gets the waycool stuff and we get screwed. There are rumors of a competition clone Baja final edition coming down the pipe sometime before they kill it off altogether Ill believe it when I see it. Sorry for the rant

 

Yeah thanks for comments. Appears that white is easier to get People are buying white examples and wrapping them because they cant get black. I had a totally horrible time getting a black one. This one just appeared and several dealers were fighting over it. There is no logical reason for the consumer not to be able to go in to their preferred dealer and order one exactly like this I daw a white one in the Texas area with black wheels black accents retractable running boards Very very sick. I like the black but white is a great starting point Of the last 6 cars I have owned 5 have been black. If u want to see something really off the hook check out the night Magno matte black MB color. Can u see a LC or a Tundra TRD Pro wrapped that color OMG!! There were a couple Toyota trucks wrapped in matte black at the SEMA show I attended in 2018 My son has a wrapped 2017 Tundra that is close to matte black. Nice!!

 

I don’t disagree with anything you said AMG. The fact is, if you are in the states and want a vehicle that is going to be no compromises and take you to the ends of the trails, you need a Jeep Rubicon. The 4Runner Pro falls someplace behind the Wrangler. The LC is amazing... we love our 2013 LX570... but it’s soft... it isn’t the no frills 3rd world tank of yesteryear. And you’re right, you shouldn’t have to do a thing to an $87K LC, it should come in 3rd world ready beast mode!!

 

I think AMG is Right. Toyota Marketing and Advertising is to blame, for there poor sales numbers. First off, I Have NEVER SEEN a Toyota Commercial with a Sequoia ! Has Anybody ?? Be Honest. No wonder they only sell 12,000 Sequoias a year ! Let alone a Land Cruiser Commercial, Compared to the MILLIONS of commercials for Chevy & GMC, Suburbans, Tahoes, Cadillac Escalades (all square,ugly,boxes,of shit, IMOP, but thats why you see a Ton of these Toilet's on the road,and don't forget the Ford Expedition,and Expedition XL, a 6000 lb. full size SUV without a V8 option? V6 twin-turbo? Eco-Boost B.S.. No Thanks ! I'm like AMG ,I keep my vehicles a long time, all those vehicles will be DEAD long before any of my Toyota's. I'd like to see one of them get to 346,000 miles, like my 2003 Highlander V6 (naturally aspired) All Wheel Drive, and still runs and drives purr-fect ! If Toyota would Advertise Sequoias,and Land Cruisers I'm sure they would sell alot more.. but the average american is just watchin NASCAR (T.V) and Drinkin Beer !!

 

There was a black HE just sitting on the lot waiting to be bought at MSRP back in mid-December at the dealership I bought my 2019 LC. I guess timing is everything.

I agree on the lack of marketing from Toyota. All the marketing I was exposed to came via the military and a few skirmishes we had in the middle-East. Lots of 80 series running around. Ubiquitous—- couldn’t swing a dead camel around without hitting one. Diesel, Cloth seats, hand crank windows, and rubber floor covering. They felt tons lighter and more capable. They weren’t but without all the luxury features, they felt it.

 

All this talk makes me miss my 100 series...I think Toyota knows what they're doing in regards to pricing and the heritage edition. It will be breifly discontinued, a last year heritage model will be a rare find in 20 years, and then you're stoked as an owner because you can get insane resale value out of it, and Toyota is stoked because they're going to bring back the LC after placing it on a brief hiatus just to build hype again. Just like Ford and the Bronco...Or like Toyota's first (failed?) attempt with the FJ Cruiser..

 

I would agree with you. I don’t think the FJ failed but I think not having a true 4 door hurt them so that limited the market substantially. I still know people that say they are the best beach vehicle they have ever had

 

Yeah very true, and you're right I mean really it was a success I guess. Pretty much did the same thing with the FJ, discontinued it and all the sudden they became rare to find under $14k...

 

I'd love to see one of these with the tundra pro black wheels on it instead of bronze

 

Not an HE but close

 

Congrats on the Original Back country truck...pixs are optional.

 

Since you've driven the 5.7 in two different vehicles how would you rate the 5.7's performance in the LC compared to the tundra? LC has an 8 speed right? But I don't know what ratio it is.

 

Very jealous, we can't buy LC200 here unless we want that predator looking lx570.

 

Maybe not a pickup truck but it’s all truck. It is built to a 30year spec and has been proven on all continents. These things are amazing at what they do.

 

LandCruisers are amazing rigs! Nice trade! I’m sure you already know this, but the engineering efforts and R&D that goes into LandCruisers is nuts....makes sense as it is Toyota’s flagship vehicle.

Congratulations and enjoy!