LX & GX

Lexus got into the off-road business the way a rich kid gets into punk rock: by borrowing a band that was already good. The first LX 450, which reached US buyers as a 1996 model, was almost entirely the J80 Land Cruiser with leather, wood and a new grille. Every LX since has been built on the Land Cruiser of its day, from the 100 Series-based LX 470 through the 200 Series-based LX 570 to today's 300 Series-based LX 600.

The GX arrived for 2003 as the smaller sibling, built on the J120 Land Cruiser Prado that the rest of the world got and North America didn't. It was followed by the Prado 150-based GX 460 for 2010 and, for 2024, the GX 550, which shares the GA-F platform with the J250 Land Cruiser 250 / Prado.

For the hands-on crowd the appeal is simple: Toyota's ladder frames, low-range transfer cases and famously long-lived engines, sold new to people who mostly never left the pavement. That means plenty of well-maintained, lightly abused trucks on the used market, along with the expensive suspension gadgets that luxury brought with them.