jer

Carmaker1, just want to say thanks for all you do. Growing up in Detroit with many of my relatives working/worked in the automotive industry I understand where you are coming from. Info can come from many sources, of which some may be provided to 'sideline' true information.

GX4602011

As mentioned, if the next GX were to be built in the US, then it wouldn't be a version of the Prado as the current GX is. Seem some US customers believe that Lexus designs and builds the GX from the ground up just for the US market. Not so, it's a version of the Prado. The Prado is a world market platform, a fraction of the Prados get to be GX's, so illogical to make them in the US. As of 2023, the only way for US buyers to own a Prado (unless over 25yo) is to by a GX470 (120) or GX460 (150). If true that Toyota will sell the Prado (labeled LandCruiser, as is done for the 150 in the UK) in the US, that's great news for off road driving enthusiast. That picture of the next GX with the low mounted wiper on the rear door makes me think that perhaps it won't have the side opening rear door, we will all know in a week and a half.

As can be seen in this wiki link; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Land_Cruiser_Prado, the early J70 came as a 2dr convertible/removable hardtop along with 4dr. Perhaps the retro, round headlight, next gen 'J' Prado will be taking cues from it's roots. Thanks Carmaker1 for the updates.

Carmaker1

My man, you understand how it is. I'm still learning, only being up here 4 years now, formerly based out of Birmingham/Coventry, England at Jaguar/LR.

My final straw on being too trusting, was a Lexus employee, sharing that the Tacoma had a 10 Speed Auto and he was wrong.

Toyota people I trusted also said the Tacoma lost the manual transmission, well they were wrong. Some said V6 stayed even... Hard lessons learned. I should know better.

Toyota developed and spent good money on a manual transmission too. I'm just a dedicated messenger out of suburban Detroit, so you know what's up LOL.

Carmaker1

Well stated!

From someone sharing with me regularly since 2014-15, that in Toyota's biggest Land Cruiser market of the Middle East, chief engineer Sadayoshi Koyari and his subordinates were briefing these regional directors on future developments.

Letting it slip Toyota had been doing advanced studies for a more civilized replacement for the J76 Land Cruiser wagon, much of the mid-late 2010s.

Finally the first confirmation of a hardcore future Land Cruiser for USA, came in 2019 from another source. Before that, we all heard from Motor Trend about the death of the Land Cruiser after 2022. (They meant just the luxury Cruiser in favor of LX only)

Followed by the new boxy GX becoming known to me 2 years ago and executive Jack Hollis confirming last year, the return of the LC nameplate, it became obvious what Toyota was doing.

Going halo this time, instead of flagship (like LX). Both the new Land Cruiser and Lexus GX are the halos (performance) of the SUV lineups going into the future.

​​​​​​GX will come with 2-rows this time, available 3rd row.

I am really curious if that new Land Cruiser has a removable top, but our Toyota insiders refuse to confirm that at this point in time, to ME.

I'm not the right person for them to tell everything, because I'm married to a Bronco development team member.

If any of you wanted to know, maybe they're willing to share with you what it looks like and details that they cannot trust me with.

CFAI

I got a request in for an invite via my network but was told not to get hopes up. Usually reserved just for media but they will check for me - I will find out Tuesday.

TheHighLow

@Carmaker1 so when can one expect a factory ordered GX550 to arrive? Would a custom order be here in December?

Carmaker1

I really, really hope they honor this request and VIP-you in. If you've been a dedicated customer, you deserve that at least.

The first units will arrive in December, but a customer ordered example might be at risk of early 2024 arrival. It's hard to figure out, because my HQ source pointed out the delayed Land Cruiser, but said GX will be on time which = December and not 2024. (Even shocking, because I had leaked that information in September 2021 and it's holding through it seems, 2 years afterward.)

Rommelromm

Who is actually gonna get those December deliveries tho? I’ve contacted some dealers in Canada and been told 2+ years for a GX.

Carmaker1

I wonder when those inquiries were made? The May 11th teaser probably created a backlog within just 1 week and closed out ordering. I'm actually concerned then, as I'm interested too. The only reason I post on this site still.

stag3

Have the engine options been confirmed yet? I have no idea but I did ask the service dept. when I was at the dealership Saturday getting my smog done, they said the twin turbo 6 from the sequoia will be in the gx550. If that's the case, do I grab a 22/23 V8 now? or take a chance the new motor will be reliable enough? (I know it won't be nearly as reliable as the outgoing v8 but should be solid compared to the germans?) I'm not in a hurry since auto loan rates are horrible right now so I can wait hah.

tntcandy

This is a though question, as the current GX V8 is very reliable, I'm sure with time the TTV6 will become reliable as well, but the TTV6 setup is way more complex so down the road there will be more maintenance/repair cost coming.

I would always stay away from the 2 first production years, as no matter what, there will be some production issues/ process alignments needed, even from Toyota/Lexus. Real world usage will always bring out issues not normally found in factory testing.
I'm not is same industry, but dealing with this issues all the time

jtrue28

I doubt they will take any customer orders. They haven't been taking orders for any vehicle for the last 3 years. If by chance they take your order, from my experience with my 2016 GS, it took 5 months from the time that I called until the dealer called me to let me know it was there. YMMV.

edit: Of course this is assuming they are still built in Japan. If they move production to Texas or Canada or somewhere in North America, it shouldn't take as long.

CCTX

This is my experience as well with many dealerships in TX. They won't take any special orders but they will try to match your preferences to their allocation.

pacnwatx

I bought one and had to sell it with only 2700 miles on it, it was a complete mess due to issues with a/c ghost issues, the dealership was horrible - like really really bad, my case (due to my work) got escalated all the way to the Stellantis CEO who got senior exec involved - they threw me support etc, but at that point my confidence was gone, took a loss and sold it, it was worth as much as it could be when I sold it vs what it will be in a couple of years.
The product has lots of interior space, the engine was powerful and it drove well on the freeway, but so many electronics, even the 6.4L hemi has had failures also from reading in other Facebook groups. I was out at that point. I've had multiple Jeeps before and generally no issues, even a previous gen Grand Cherokee which was solid.

Anyway after my GW experience I went directly to the GX460, wanted a completely reliable proven vehicle with a decent dealership network.

MrTorgue

Perhaps that's a Stellantis issue? I had 5 MOPARs from 2014 to 2020 under FCA and other than my wife buying that stupid Fiat 500X aka Jeep Renegade the other four were fantastic. Three were HEMIs. Now I currently own a 5th Gen RAM 2500 Laramie and there are two issues (both common), one AC related the other a small shark fin antenna gasket leak, but overall it's better than a GM, Ford or European product. Having said this would I rather own a Toyota? Hell yes. I'm disappointed Toyota didn't pump out a 3/4 ton truck. Full disclosure, I would of bought one immediately instead of the RAM. We probably wptod of loved the Wagoneer for 5~7 years or until ~150k miles but I have zero confidence in any non-Toyota\Lexus or Honda making it past 150k reliably.