The new ‘250 Series’ Toyota Land Cruiser has been on sale for a little while, but how well does it actually live up to its iconic nameplate?
Much like the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, there are plenty of folks out there for whom the Toyota Land Cruiser isn’t just a capable off-road rig or a practical box to haul people and gear around: it’s in the blood. It’s part of the family history and a crucial part of the modern adventurer’s identity — which is why you see the fierce loyalty emerge and evolve among all these groups.
That’s the case for our friend Andrew, who reached out to share his Land Cruiser story, covering both the old-school FJ60 as well as the brand-new 250 Series on sale here in the U.S. and Canada.
Toyota took a different tack with this model versus the 80, 100 and 200 Series we’ve gotten over the past few decades, bringing in some details that evoke the LC’s earlier days as a rugged adventure machine, rather than a full-size premium SUV, though it’s worth noting the past few models are still enormously capable off-road.
Check out Andrew’s full story and great photos below (seriously, if you get the chance to overland in Utah do it, because there’s no such thing as a bad view…the backdrops are spectacular).
“I have a 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60. It has the bullet-proof 4.2L inline 6. It is horribly underpowered, but has plenty of low end torque. It also came stock with just over 8 inches of ground clearance and poor departure angles. But it is an overlanding machine. It was a family car from the mid-90’s that we’ve kept and used. It has many White Rim trips in Canyonlands NP under its belt. Including one last year in April.
When Toyota announced the new 250 I knew it was my next car (after a series of compromise vehicles for daily drivers). I took ownership of my 2025 Land Cruiser 250 1958 trim in December. And as a fitting first trip I took it on the White Rim in April. It was fantastic. It was so comfortable and capable. While much of the White Rim is not too challenging, it has its moments that you need a proper 4×4.
One of those places is Hardscrabble Hill, which certainly lives up to the name. It has exposure, ledges, and large rocks to crawl up on a steep incline. To add to the challenge, it started raining at about 3:00am and the trails were very muddy.
I couldn’t believe how well the 250 handled the terrain in the most challenging conditions. With the locking center and rear differential and crawl control I was able to stay in control the entire time. And ground clearance was never an issue. The belly height of the vehicle was quite sufficient over all the rocks and ledges we faced.
Funny enough, the only struggle was coming out of Mineral Bottom (which a Honda Fit can do when the road is dry). But at this point we’d had 10 hours of rain and the road was so muddy with clay that coated the circumference of all our tires.
There was a Jeep that slid off into the wall, I barely got my rear tire off the trail, the Ford Ranger that was with us slid off into the wall, and a Rivian R1S also went off into the wall. It was a slick muddy mess that thankfully had only happy endings (and no vehicle damage).
After this trip I can report that the new 250 series absolutely lives up to the nameplate of the Land Cruiser.
I enjoy what you all do. Thanks for the entertainment.”
— Andrew
Huge thanks to Andrew for sharing his experience with both his classic FJ60 and modern Land Cruiser 250 Series in Moab! As much as we have fun with our own Moab off-road adventures, it’s also awesome to hear and see your guys’ adventures as well, so keep them coming by email at info@tflcar.com.
Speaking of Toyota Land Cruiser adventures, we recently headed out there as well with the Land Cruiser and its 4Runner contemporary. You can see how that went down below, and thanks for watching!
