Truck loads of Land Cruiser double cab pickups in South Florida this week

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Lies to his wife and adult daughter ? Nice guy to be married to. I suppose honesty is not valued to be Lt.Col. for Canada.

Not throwing stones mind you. I am accomplished liar myself afterall.
Just carry higher liars integrity. No children, not married, nor military officer.

Way to twist a story. He didn’t tell them the truth to save them worry. He was hauled back into service after 9/11 after having retired. I won’t try to step into someone else’s shoes, but I will say he is the most honest and honourable man I’ve ever met. The point of the story however was about G Wagons, not my understanding of military badges or your perception of character based on one highly personal incident.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Pretty close - tie it to the market perception/positioning for the brand and that's a starting point. The 1980s and 1990s, the Mercedes W123 and W124 were basic taxis for much of their product life in Germany, in contrast in the US and (to an extent) the UK, they were a bit more of luxury car.

Also look at purchasing parity - how many hours minimum wage to earn something is a quick and dirty way. The Australian rate is about $18/hour, so a VDJ79 that's about AU$80k is just over 4400hrs work. In the US, how much is an F250 in the USA (you wouldn't want to know how much an American PickUp is in Australia...)? Changing to purchasing parity in that respect also removes the currency effects influenced by external factors.
Here is a good example of that:

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/ford/f150/raptor-badge/

Raptors sell for $190 - $200k AUS or $130 - $140k USD :oops:
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Domestics are crazy expensive in Oz. They convert them to RHD though, which adds to the cost. I’m not sure on safety and emission regulations, but I’m guessing they meet those requirements, which apparently doesn’t go the other way from Oz to North America with the LCs.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Something else also, I don't remember the exact statistic, but Aus is unique in that a very high % of people live in Cities relative to the total population. I'm sure that's a driving factor in vehicle size. Fuel is also more $$ by about ~25%. If they had access to cheaper fuel, domestic full size trucks and had big garages to store them in, I'm sure we'd see lots of big american trucks on the roads there....more comfortable, higher payload, higher towing capacity, safer.....reliability and longevity, won't touch that can-o-worms....
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
I'm sure we'd see lots of big american trucks on the roads there....more comfortable, higher payload, higher towing capacity, safer.....reliability and longevity, won't touch that can-o-worms....
Funny you say that. Seems the grass is always greener on the other side. They want our fullsize trucks, Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers etc.... And we want their basic Toyotas, Ranger Raptors, Holden Maloos, Ford Falcons / Falcon Utes etc...

Personally, I'd take our Tacomas and 4Runners over their Hilux's and Fortuners. But, I think I'm the cheese that stands alone there.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Funny you say that. Seems the grass is always greener on the other side. They want our fullsize trucks, Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers etc.... And we want their basic Toyotas, Ranger Raptors, Holden Maloos, Ford Falcons / Falcon Utes etc...

Personally, I'd take our Tacomas and 4Runners over their Hilux's and Fortuners. But, I think I'm the cheese that stands alone there.
I think most folks would agree with you once they had a chance to drive a workmate Hilux or LC70. My 2019 Ford Ranger got slammed by a couple reviewers for having a poor "ride", it is stiff and can be a bit bouncy, it rides like trucks did 2 generations ago, similar to my 2001 Tacoma, which was seen as un-acceptable in todays world and a black mark against the Ranger.

Totally agree though, F150 Raptors, Mustangs and Camaros in AUS get the same reaction as LC70's and Diesel Hiluxs do here....
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
The ‘01 Taco TRD we had was probably the best Toyota of the bunch in our flock. If I were to buy new tomorrow in the NA market, the Ranger would be at the top of the list. We had a ‘19 Taco TuRD for a week and were seriously underwhelmed. I’d give a 200 series the nod for SUV of choice, but that could go back and forth with the G.
 

nickw

Adventurer
The ‘01 Taco TRD we had was probably the best Toyota of the bunch in our flock. If I were to buy new tomorrow in the NA market, the Ranger would be at the top of the list. We had a ‘19 Taco TuRD for a week and were seriously underwhelmed. I’d give a 200 series the nod for SUV of choice, but that could go back and forth with the G.
I had an 01 too, awesome rig.

I like the 200's but I also think the new Nissan Armada now that it is based on the Patrol has some potential but gets 0 love here...
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
I had an 01 too, awesome rig.

I like the 200's but I also think the new Nissan Armada now that it is based on the Patrol has some potential but gets 0 love here...
I really like the Armadas. Just way to pricey here. New they start in the mid 60's.
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
Have you seen what Landcruisers go for! Fair point though....although I think I mentioned in a different thread, they can be had around here for ~$50k.
They don't sell Land Cruisers in Canada. Only the Lexus version since 1997 I think.

Yes, they are pricey. Way beyond what I would want to pay for a vehicle. And personally, I don't care for the looks of any of the Lexus' vehicles since the early 2000's.
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
I really like the Armadas.

Yeah, I don’t think I can do a Nissan. They are just too fugly. Whoever is designing them (all of them) has missed the mark in my books. Obviously they appeal to some folks, but I just don’t seem to be able to like the looks of the newer ones. Some of the older Patrols etc were good looking though.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Yeah, I don’t think I can do a Nissan. They are just too fugly. Whoever is designing them (all of them) has missed the mark in my books. Obviously they appeal to some folks, but I just don’t seem to be able to like the looks of the newer ones. Some of the older Patrols etc were good looking though.
I bet those Armada's would be pretty slick with a slight lift and bigger tires, but I don't disagree. The interiors are pretty bad too, hello 2003...
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
I bet those Armada's would be pretty slick with a slight lift and bigger tires, but I don't disagree. The interiors are pretty bad too, hello 2003...
I dunno, seems nicer than my trucks interior.. But, I wouldn't want an Armada with all the bells and whistles either.... I'm cool with circa 2003 tech, lol. Well... I do like Bluetooth.

519389

519390
 

nickw

Adventurer
I dunno, seems nicer than my trucks interior.. But, I wouldn't want an Armada with all the bells and whistles either.... I'm cool with circa 2003 tech, lol. Well... I do like Bluetooth.

View attachment 519389

View attachment 519390
I sat in one 4 months ago and thought it was pretty bad at the time (but was also driving a 2018 Audi), but like I've said, we get the stripped down models so maybe it was a void of some of the amenities....pretty sure it didn't have all that fancy "wood", aka plastic.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,539
Messages
2,875,666
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top