Gohawks63

Correction on a minor point. You DO NOT lose the domelights with the RSES. The housing for the flipdown screen has a built-in light. The only difference is that stock has dual domelights and with the RSES it's a single (albeit larger) light.

Minor, but still wanted to point that out.

Also wanted to agree that if you're looking at other full size SUVs, you're not going to get much better gas mileage that what a Land Cruiser/LX gets.

The Sequoia is an option, but it's not nearly the same vehicle in terms of driveability. You need to drive the two back-to-back.

Iceman

As always, all good points. And thanks for the clarification on the dome light--yet another point where the salesman didn't know what he was talking about. He also insisted up and down to me that the LX had HIDs "like all our vehicles have for years", but finally we went and chatted with the sales manager who knew right away that it didn't.

Thanks also for setting me straight on the fuel economy. I expect behemoths like the Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade, H2, Excursion, etc. to get crummy mileage. But I guess I thought that the LX, being just a little bit smaller (and seemingly underpowered in comparison to its newer competitors) might be more efficient. Let's face it, though--when you're spending upwards of $70K for a vehicle, you don't care THAT much about how much it costs to fill it up.

And another reason I shy away from the minivans is the same reason I won't go for a Sequoia--I have become far too accustomed to the "luxury marque" customer service treatment over the years. I guess it's part snobbery and part practical (the longer warranty, the free loaner cars, etc.), but it would take something truly remarkable to get me out of the market for a luxury vehicle.

pagemaster

This truck does come with HID headlamps in markets outside of Canada and the US.

I really can't stand how the rear hatch does not open. Only the clamshell option.

Also, there is no dual climate control up front....

V8_Fan

Thanks for the kind words, Jayson! I converted my headlamps to HID's w/ the xenondepot kit. :-) Super bright, definitely worth the money! (kudos to 1LoudLX)

I wasn't able to respond since I was on a 1727 mile roadtrip in my LX in the Colorado Rockies, just got back yesterday! Got 19.25 mpg (based on the odometer, stock Dueller HT tires) using 91 octane Chevron/Shell (and a little Philips 66). The route went from Tucson through the Apache-Sitgreaves NF in AZ, to Gallup, NM, then north to Durango, CO, over the San Juan mountains (Silverton/Ouray) to Montrose, then east to Gunnison and around that area and back via Telluride. If any of you have done this drive, there are three 10,000 ft passes between Durango and Ouray, and these are long climbs. The LX passed other vehicles easily. I cranked up the AHC to "sport" and could corner much faster than the "Jeeps" and other SUV's. The 5spd auto is also great...shift to the max gear you want to use on the steeper decents just like driving a manual, and you barely need to use the brakes. On the steeper paved highway passes, I'd use 3rd, on dirt road decents, I'd use 2nd, sometimes needed first.

While we drove about 80 miles offroad, only about 10 of those miles were roads where 4x4 low was needed. It would have been doable w/ 4x4 high (like in a all-wheel drive subaru or RX) in the dry conditions, but with any rain, the soft dirt surface would have become a mud bowl. I did the climb up a 10,000 ft pass, 4x4 road. The road got narrow near the top, maybe a foot of clearance on either side of the LX. Anything bigger wouldn't have fit w/o the risk of going off the cliff. There were a few spots with some larger rocks in the road, so I put the AHC in high and had no issues. Vehicle's exterior was a filthy mess afterwards, as if a dump truck had dumped a load of dirt on the rear half. A wind deflector would NOT have helped, as the speed wasn't high enough to deflect the dust. All I saw in the rear view mirror was a hugh dust cloud. Only on the downhill did I realize it was spectacular mountain scenery. I power-hosed the vehicle & underbody at the coin car wash afterwards. It rained the last half of last week, so the climbs became muddy...didn't notice any difference w/ the LX; you just drive like normal and it keeps going, but the road wasn't steep enough to require 4wd low; just 4wd high was fine.

osomoso

I wish it had a change holder.

V8_Fan

Use the ashtray!

Da Hapa

The MY 2006 does come with a change holder/tray that fits into the center console.

osomoso

Where can I keep my roaches?