Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series sales stopped

Order books for the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series have been shut and there’s no indication as to when they’ll open again as Toyota grapples with ongoing supply issues and lengthening wait times for delivery.

Sales of the 70 Series have been going ballistic in recent months as consumers try to snap up what is the last V8-powered LandCruiser still in production, so much so that wait times now extend out to 2024.

Announcing the temporary sales hiatus late Friday, Toyota Australia sales, marketing and franchise operations vice-president Sean Hanley said the situation continues to evolve but failed to provide guidance about when orders might resume.

“The Toyota team has been working diligently to deliver a record number of vehicles with extraordinary support from our parent company,” he said.

“At the same time, strong demand and industry-wide supply challenges globally mean we simply cannot fulfil orders more quickly.

“Therefore, we have decided to pause new customer orders for the LandCruiser 70 Series.

“Dealers will be in direct contact with customers about wait times for individual existing orders over the coming months.”

The coming months will also bring a heavily updated Toyota 70 Series boasting an increased GVM – elevating it to light truck status and side-stepping the federal government’s new ADR85 side impact regulations for all new light vehicles from November 2022 – and a heap of new safety equipment as Toyota continues to prolong the model’s already lengthy lifecycle.

With such long wait times, Toyota confirmed to carsales back in June that customers who placed new and more recent 70 Series orders would receive an upgraded vehicle, but the Japanese brand hasn’t confirmed if existing orders will be price-protected.

Toyota announced the 70 Series upgrade in May, after carsales broke news of the GVM upgrade in July 2021, but is yet to reveal full details or pricing for the latest update to a model that dates back to 1984.

“It’s fair to say if you order one now, you will get the facelifted model,” a Toyota Australia spokesperson told carsales in June.

“Dealers are letting customers know that the vehicle they order today may not be one they get. At some point the [ordering] system will notify dealers and they will inform customers.”

Hanley said last week that Toyota Australia is “monitoring the global supply situation closely and will continue to make decisions based on the best interests of our customers and dealers”.

Used and ‘second hand’ prices of the 70 Series were sent into the stratosphere last year following the release of the 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series 70th Anniversary range, with some examples being listed on carsales for $149,999.

Exactly when order books will reopen remains to be seen, but we can’t imagine it’ll be any time soon given the minimum 18-month wait being faced by exiting customers. Some Toyota dealers are quoting wait times of four years amid a perfect storm of high demand and low supply due to parts shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks at its Japanese factories.

Indeed, hot hatch fans are still waiting for Toyota GR Yaris orders to resume after Toyota Australia implemented a ‘temporary pause’ on orders 13 months ago…

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