Girlfriend mocks $110k car, instant backlash
A woman has poked fun at the eye-watering cost of her boyfriend’s brand new Toyota LandCruiser despite its old-school features, leaving social media users divided over the popular car’s six-figure price tag.
The woman gave a tour of her boyfriend’s brand new Toyota LandCruiser 78 in a video on TikTok after he forked out $110,000 on the Japanese vehicle.
“Pov (point of view): your bf just spent $110k on a new LandCruiser,” the on-screen text on the video reads as the woman shows off the car’s basic features including its manual locking system, old-school door handles and sliding dials to control air circulation.
“Money well spent some would say,” the woman wrote in the tongue-in-cheek caption.
Many online were quick to slam the hefty price tag considering the car’s outdated design.
“Such a Stone Age design,” one critic wrote, before adding, “it’s your $110k do whatever you want with it”.
However, the woman, who appears to be a 4WD enthusiast herself, liked many of the comments defending the reliable purchase, noting her and her boyfriend, a FIFO worker, plan to use the car to travel around Australia.
“Worth every dollar,” one person wrote, supporting the purchase.
“And in ten years time it is still worth the same amount of money,” said another.
“This car is built not to brake down and incredibly reliable. Well worth the price tag,” another wrote.
“I think everyone is missing the point. The design hasn’t changed because it works. If you are in rural areas of Australia or just don't want sh*t to break you buy a Toyota. Not everyone wants a big TV screen and to connect to CarPlay while listening to Taylor on your drive to yoga,” another argued.
Over 10,000 LandCruiser 70 series models sold every year
While not the cheapest four-wheel drives on the market, rugged Toyota LandCruisers have forged an iconic reputation in Australia – which leads the world in sales.
“Toyota sells more than 10,000 LandCruiser 70 series models every year, making it among the world’s biggest markets for the car,” Corporate Affairs Manager and Analyst for automotive auction and data company Manheim Australia, Mike Costello said.
“Toyota has consistently had long wait lists on these vehicles, with demand for them generally outstripping supply, since it is a globally lower-volume vehicle.”
While the 70 series can start from $80,000, Mr Costello said “it’s very common for people to modify and accessorise them, with some of these costing $200k or more once fully built”.
“Rugged 4x4s in general do really well in Australia, in terms of market share. And plenty of people spare no expense getting their ultimate adventure machine.”
The vehicle's tough workhorse reputation and old-school design are just some of the reasons for their lasting popularity.
“The 70 series Land Cruiser is really kind of the last vehicle of its type in a lot of ways. The industry has moved towards a more modern high-tech, sophisticated kind of vehicle, but the old LandCruiser, which is a new build, has a very old design almost deliberately.
“It’s designed to be simple. It’s very heavily engineered for really hardcore work. When you go out into regional Australia, the people are using these cars hard, they’re driving them off road, they’re going out into the Outback, they’re towing heavy things, that’s what these cars really excel at because of their old-school tough approach.”
That’s not to say LandCruisers aren’t also loved by city drivers.
“There’s also a subset of people who maybe don’t need all of the capability they offer but are attracted to the sort of old school styling and design. It looks like nothing else on the road these days,” Mr Costello said.
“It sort of scratches a kind of itch that a high-tech car that’s full of touch screens and gizmos and active features, just can’t. It’s almost a novelty to have a vehicle like that now.”
Incredibly durable, LandCruisers are also known to last the test of time, with some in the 70 series managing to wrack up over 600,000km or more in their lifetime.
“It’s not uncommon to see a 70 series that’s several decades old,” said Mr Costello.
“A lot of it depends on how cars are cared for, but there is definitely cases of these vehicles racking up even a million kilometres or more.”
Land Cruisers also have the “strongest resale values of any car,” said Mr Costello.
“It is not uncommon for a five year old one to be worth what it cost when new, or close to it.”
Asked to weigh in on criticism the car is “overrated” and “overpriced”, Mr Costello said: “If your lens is to look at a car and say technology is the most important thing, then you will look at the price and it won’t make sense to you.”
“If it seems like it’s too expensive or it’s or it’s a rip off of a car, you’re probably not the target audience, and that’s not an insult by the way that’s totally fine, but I think it would be a mistake to judge a Land Cruiser 70 series on the same criteria that you would judge like a Toyota RAV4 for example.
“It’s a very different buyer and a very different use case.”