1998 Toyota Landcruiser review from North America

Changed disk brake rotors at 80,000 miles.

Changed battery at 81000 miles.

A loose heat shield making a rattling noise.

The Land Cruiser feels like a luxurious tank. The full-time four wheel drive anchors the truck to the road and the double wish bone suspension handles more like a large sport sedan than a truck. You will experience the usual SUV tippy feeling when cornering and turning sharply, but the four wheel drive helps counter this feeling. Acceleration and braking are excellent for such a large SUV.

I have taken the Land Cruiser off roading through beach sand dunes (tires deflated to 18psi) and rock beds, through rivers and up 50 degree dirt road inclines with normal radial street tires. Not once did this vehicle hesitate or fail. During these treks, the SUV was loaded with camping equipment, food for a week and carrying four people. It was through these outings the the Land Cruiser really lived up to its name.

The comfort of the interior is afforded by full leather, broad base seats and large easy to use instrument controls. The suspension and large tires are a little soft feeling for my taste, but it does a great job absorbing city street pot holes and rocky dirt roads. The sound absorption of the interior and seven speaker standard stereo finish off a feeling luxurious comfort and safety.

Here is the US, the Land Cuiser is a low production vehicle that Toyota has taken in a direction of total quality and turn key luxury to compete with the Land Rover and Mercedes SUV models. So it has become very expensive to buy, maintain and upgrade. The gas mileage is poor to OK depending on how you drive. The after market parts are very limited if they are available in the US at all. So customizing is very expensive and limited. Other than those few issues, it's an amazing vehicle that should last a long time and take you where every you want to go.