Hi all I am all set to buy a brand new Land Cruiser which is my dream car. I have always liked the GL wagon and I’ve been a mercedes fan since I was a teenager. Over the years I’ve owned three benzes. This will be my daily driver but I’m not sure how the GLS will hold up long-term? I know it’s a brand new model only out of here so the jury is still out. Clearly there are a lot of advantages of the GLS over the Land Cruiser mainly technology Fuel efficiency and on road manners will all be superior.

that being said will the GLS hold up over time. I keep my car is a long time and plan to keep this car for 10 years or 200,000 miles. What are your thoughts please?
Thanks in advance.

 

Land Cruiser will take you anywhere and as far as you want to go.....the MB will possibly take you there also with a little more style!

 

I recently switched from a 2015 Toyota Land Cruiser (which is the as year pre-facelift and essentially mechanically/technologically the same as the 2021) to a new 2020 GLS 450 and I would take the GLS every time. The fuel economy gains are ridiculous. I can do double the range on a tank in the GLS in the city and on road trips, I tripled the MPG I had achieved in the Land Cruiser. Another massive difference is just how comfortable the GLS is. The Airmatic handles bumps smoothly and the GLS is much quieter than the Cruiser. The Cruiser had ridiculous wind and road noise and the GLS is whisper quiet. Of course, as you mentioned, the technology in the GLS is quite literally decades ahead of the Cruiser and this alone is a solid reason to buy a GLS over the Toyota. Then there are the smaller things that make the GLS a true luxury vehicle that the Land Cruiser lacks for the same price. The GLS has such expected niceties as a power tailgate, automatic full LED headlights and high-beams, ambient lighting, up to date driver assistance systems, virtually no hard plastics/rubber in the interior, digital gauge cluster, and POWER HEADRESTS(yes the Land Cruiser, a 90K vehicle, does NOT have power headrests. The GLS has power headrests in the 1st and 2nd rows.), etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. The GLS is faster, more efficient, more comfortable, better equipped, better handling, and in general, the much better vehicle.

It is too soon for me to speak to the long term reliability of the GLS but so far it has been great with the exception of a temperature sensor that the dealer quickly replaced under warranty. While the Cruiser was reliable, the service at the dealer was atrocious. The dealer failed to check my brakes and oil during service and less than 500 miles later the brakes were metal on metal and I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to replace the brakes for free since the dealer failed to notify me that I had no brakes left. On top of the service failures, the waits were always long and the dealer would not do routine checks when the car was in the shop unless they were explicitly asked for. Also, and this is a first-world problem, Toyota will not give you a loaner vehicle when your car is in for service which is ridiculous considering the price of the Cruiser. Compare this to the Mercedes service experience where all vehicles come with the option of a loaner, a routine check is always performed when a vehicle is brought in, the technicians don't simply dismiss small concerns or issues like the Toyota staff did, and there has never been a wait longer than 30 minutes for the loaner car to be prepped.

Sorry, that was kind of long, but having had experience with both vehicles you are considering I had a lot to say. I hope this helped!

 

nt

 

If you buy off the lot, you will still get a 2020, but orders are for 2021 models at this point, and generally the second model year is a lot better than the first. Although, thanks to the GLE, the GLS is almost like a second model year already. If you really take care of your vehicles, do preventative maintenance, and always look out for things, the GLS will probably last that long, and will be a much better road vehicle with some pretty decent off road chops along the way, but it will likely get expensive as it gets up in age and miles and will need a lot of things to keep it running well. But if the 200,000 mile mark is your top priority, get the Japanese car. Maybe consider the LX570, it’s not quite a land cruiser in terms of imagine or rarity but the Lexus dealership experience is much more comfortable to Mercedes, the interior materials are closer to the Merc (although still far from it), and the tech is like 2012 tech instead of 2007 tech.

 

Two totally different class of vehicles with totally different purposes. Toyota is not a luxury brand so you shouldn’t expect the same luxury service as you would expect from a Mercedes dealer. Mercedes does complimentary inspections and gives you a report. They should. Look at their labor rates and service costs. You can’t expect cheaper brands to go over your car with a fine tooth comb for free. Comparing Lexus to Mercedes would be fair.

I don’t see how Toyota would be at fault for not checking your brakes if you didn’t explicitly ask them or it was required and they certified they checked them. I also don’t see how Toyota would be required to replace your brakes for free that were normal wear and tear for the simple reason they didn’t tell you needed new brakes. You didn’t notice decreased stopping power over time or hear grinding?

Not getting a loaner vehicle from Toyota is not out of the ordinary. Just because the Cruiser costs 100k new, they most likely make up only about 1% of Toyota’s sales.

Seems like a lot of your gripes are based on expectations that would have been better met with the luxury version of the Landcruiser the Lexus LX570.

 

Some months ago I researched and debated the Lexus LX570 (luxury version of Land Cruiser and worth considering) to the GL as a daily driver family hauler for long term ownership. Go drive both. They drive totally different. Here are my conclusions:

If money is no object to you and you repair your own vehicles then get the GLS because it is more fun to drive. However with all things eventually the novelty wears off. Especially over 100k miles out of warranty with failing airmatic shocks at 2k per shock, oil leaks that require many hours of labor and failed turbos. Repair costs are insane. I saw a repair bill on the forum for 8k for a turbo on a GL out of warranty. I immediately knew this was not the vehicle for me.

I bought my used LX570 with 90,000 miles on it. Would I feel comfortable with buying a GL out of warranty with 90k on the odo? Heck no!! In 13,000 miles I’ve owned the LX my last service all I needed was an oil change. Never owned any German car where I’ve gone in and said all I needed was an oil change.

 

[You didn’t notice decreased stopping power over time or hear grinding?]


Because the brakes on the Land Cruiser are very squishy and generally not very good, the decreased brake performance went unnoticed. I only realized that I had literally no brakes left when I heard a grinding noise. I then had the car towed to Toyota because I didn’t feel the vehicle was safe to drive. I also don’t see why my ability to diagnose worn out brakes is relevant.


[Not getting a loaner vehicle from Toyota is not out of the ordinary. Just because the Cruiser costs 100k new, they most likely make up only about 1% of Toyota’s sales.]

The Land Cruiser does cost almost 100K. That’s the whole point. If I paid that much for a Dacia I’d expect thorough service and loaners. Just because Toyota typically sells cars at a lower price point doesn’t mean they shouldn’t provide the expected level of service to the price point they are catering to. The reason the brake failure was so egregious is because the service tech later admitted that the computer threw up a warning when it was in the shop and the dealer chose not to tell me because it’s wasn’t required. That is unacceptable at any price point. Saying the Mercedes and the Toyota aren’t comparable because Toyota is not a luxury brand is an irrelevant point because the two cars cost the same. If two products cost the same amount then they are subject to the same criteria and requirements.

(This was typed on mobile, please excuse any typos)

 

I just don’t see how Toyota has any liability because the dealership didn’t tell you your brakes were worn unless you specifically paid them for an inspection and they lied or it was stated up front when you took your truck in for service they would do a complimentary inspection. I’m generally aware of what’s needed on my vehicle based on looking over the maintenance manual and keeping track of my mileage. If I don’t know, I specifically ask the dealer hey can you tell me how much longer I have on my tires, how do my brakes and rotors look, are all of my fluids filled and fresh, how do my control arm bushings, shocks and ball joints look? If you don’t ask, they won’t check. You can’t expect a Toyota dealer to offer the same service a Mercedes dealer would. And how still don’t see how Toyota owes you new brakes that you drove on and wore out all because they failed to tell you needed new ones.

The Landcruiser is not a $100,000 truck (it’s $85,000) and doesn’t even compete with the GLS. And loaner vehicles are not automatic even with luxury dealers. They are limited and every dealers policy is different. Some won’t even give you a loaner unless your vehicle is under warranty or you purchased your vehicle from them. Some send you to Entrerprise car rental and some just offer a shuttle service to closest public transportation. And yes, these are for vehicles $100,000+.

The Lexus LX570 competes with the GLS, and if you would have bought the Lexus, you most likely would have gotten your loaners and extra “special” service touches.