2024 Toyota LandCruiser hit by huge price hikes in the US

The 2024 LandCruiser Prado has only recently gone in sale in the US and dealers are clearly looking to cash-in on high demand with some adding up to USD $21,000 (AUD $32,000) in “dealer adjustments” to the new SUV’s MSRP.

The price hikes are most prevalent among dealers in California, where several have added circa-$20,000 in dealer adjustments.

Price gouging is a fairly common practice in America and we’ve seen similar ‘price adjustments’ here in Australia when demand far exceeds supply.

As Australia's biggest car brand, Toyota is especially susceptible to price gouging due to high demand and long wait times on popular models that can extend as far as three years.

Last year, the brand changed the rules around how demonstrators are classified by its dealer network to help prevent brand-new vehicles being reclassified as ‘demos’.

New vehicles are bound by rules that prevent dealers from charging higher than a brand’s set national drive-away pricing, but demonstrators aren’t bound by the same guidelines. Instead, dealers can offer demos with low kilometres at inflated prices to customers willing to pay more if its means jumping ahead of the queue.

Toyota is yet to release pricing for the new line-up that will boast 48-volt mild-hybrid tech, retro styling and higher standard equipment levels, although price rises over the current Prado are almost guaranteed.

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The Brits have just been testing the new Prado – known simply as the Land Cruiser there. We take a look at what they think of the 4WD ahead of its local launch later this year