Armada Competition: What Is It?

[munkeebinis]

I've been looking at the Nissan Armada and comparing it to the competition. I'm not exactly sure what the competition from Toyota is though. Toyota has both the Sequoia and the Land Cruiser. What is the difference between the two? I know the Land Cruiser is a little bit smaller, but about $10-20 g's more. Why so much more for an SUV that's smaller than the Sequoia? Is there some benefit to it or what. And which one would be the closest competition to the Armada? Or maybe I should ask, which of the two Toyotas is a more capable SUV?

[pciley]

Originally Posted by munkeebinis

I've been looking at the Nissan Armada and comparing it to the competition. I'm not exactly sure what the competition from Toyota is though. Toyota has both the Sequoia and the Land Cruiser. What is the difference between the two? I know the Land Cruiser is a little bit smaller, but about $10-20 g's more. Why so much more for an SUV that's smaller than the Sequoia? Is there some benefit to it or what. And which one would be the closest competition to the Armada? Or maybe I should ask, which of the two Toyotas is a more capable SUV?

Armada's competition would probably be Expedition, Tahoe/Yukon, (new, bigger) durango, Sequoia, etc.
The Sequoia is cheaper than Land Cruiser, but Remember the land cruiser over the past few decades?? It was like a HUM V back then, very capable off-road. I don't know much about Toyotas, but I like the Sequoia better. It feels bigger inside and out and is alot cheaper. If I had to guess, the Land Cruiser's price tag reflects the following that the model has from years back. Toyota knows that people will buy the vehicle to feel more elite. Its a yuppy car. It might have some better off-road capabilities or something, I hope for $20k more, it would wash and wax itself too.

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by munkeebinis

I've been looking at the Nissan Armada and comparing it to the competition. I'm not exactly sure what the competition from Toyota is though. Toyota has both the Sequoia and the Land Cruiser. What is the difference between the two? I know the Land Cruiser is a little bit smaller, but about $10-20 g's more. Why so much more for an SUV that's smaller than the Sequoia? Is there some benefit to it or what. And which one would be the closest competition to the Armada? Or maybe I should ask, which of the two Toyotas is a more capable SUV?

The Land Cruiser, in its former FJ40 incarnation, was a very competent off-road vehicle, albeit with an overweight, underpowered straight six, copied off of Chevy's old six. The old FJ40 was built like a tank, and made an ideal off-road vehicle after you yanked the puny six and substituted a small block Chevy coupled to a 4-speed Muncie and perhaps a Warn overdrive for highway gas mileage. They are still available, highly sought after, and a good one in nice shape commands a premium price. In one of the stupidest moves I ever made, I sold a 400HP, 1975 Land Cruiser, all tricked out, similar to this:
http://www.rockymountaincruisers.com..._fullsize.html

and bought a 1980 Jeep CJ7.

Nowadays, having progressively deteriorated through FJ45, FJ55, FJ60, FJ62, FJ80 and UZJ100 versions, it is just another over-priced bloated boulevard buggy that would appear to compare unfavorably in many respects to the Armada, including price, engine, Hp, torque, transmission, towing capacity, load weight capacity, cargo room, and interior passenger room. Other than that, I guess it's O.K.

[Roomicus]

I'm not exactly sure what all the differences are between the Landcruiser and the Sequoia are myself either. But, as far as competition with the Armada, IMHO there isn't much out there.

I had the chance to go to the Denver Auto Show a while back and was able to look at all the full size SUV's out there all at the same time. (Side note, if anyone else out there is still looking, I'd highly recommend going to your local autoshow if there is one coming up.) Anyhoo, after looking at the Tahoe/Yukon, Sequoia, Durango, Honda Pilot, Toureg, Expedition, etc. I kept coming back to the Armada. For the money and the options available I definitely think that it's heads above everything else. I'll probably be buying a new vehicle sometime early to mid next year and the Armada and Titan are at the top of my list.

[Austin]

This is my 75 FJ40 Toyota LC.

It did have a fairly underpowered I6, so I swapped it out with an LT1.

[Austin]

[Austin]

Oh, and the Sequoia is the Armada's competition.

LandCruiser is in the class of Range Rover, etc.

[Austin]

Originally Posted by Austin

Oh, and the Sequoia is the Armada's competition.

LandCruiser is in the class of Range Rover, etc.

The Land Cruiser is still a very capable off-road vehicle, while the Sequoia and Armada are really just glorified Minivans.

[munkeebinis]

What makes the Land Cruiser capable off-road as opposed to the Sequoia and Armada not being as capable? And would the Titan fall into the same group as the Land Cruiser or the Sequoia & Armada?

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by Austin

This is my 75 FJ40 Toyota LC.

Nice. I am getting nostalgic for the good old days when I didn't need to worry about denting the hood just by closing it. I may need to go FJ40 shopping.

[KYDeepwater]

Originally Posted by munkeebinis

I've been looking at the Nissan Armada and comparing it to the competition. I'm not exactly sure what the competition from Toyota is though. Toyota has both the Sequoia and the Land Cruiser. What is the difference between the two? I know the Land Cruiser is a little bit smaller, but about $10-20 g's more. Why so much more for an SUV that's smaller than the Sequoia? Is there some benefit to it or what. And which one would be the closest competition to the Armada? Or maybe I should ask, which of the two Toyotas is a more capable SUV?

We have a 2002 Sequoia which we absolutely love! The interior room is excellent, even the third row seat for large adults. The engine and transmission are balanced really well; quiet, strong, and we pulled our 4,000 pound boat last year with no problem and got 13 mpg doing so. Don't let the HP and Torque numbers on the Sequoia fool you, it handles the Sequoia very well, and does pull the boat nicely, I guess this has something to do with the transmission gearing as well as the engine. We get around 18 on the highway with four of us and our stuff without the boat in the Sequoia also. The Sequoia is quiet, well put together, and makes us wonder why anyone would buy the Lexus badged SUV when the Sequoia is available. We looked at all the large SUV's when we bought, and the Sequoia was the best hands down.
The Landcruiser is more expensive because of the "cult" following, the extras you get, and the name. The Toyota dealers did tell us that the Landcruisers weren't as easy to sell once the Sequoias became available. The Landcrusier is more a status symbol, but will do just about anything off-road still. We couldn't see how it was worth 10 - 20K more though.
The Armada to me has an odd look to it, like they just decided to add a hatch to the truck. The odd curve roof line in the middle of the truck just doesn't sit well with me. The interior is very nice, all the amenities are there. Then there is that engine!!!! Enough said about that.
I would look very hard at both and pick the one you like best. The Sequoia for us is about as perfect a vehicle as we could get. The Armada does have a number of nice features also.
We have a Deepwater 4x4 SE with captains chairs, fog lights. The engine is more powerful by far than the Sequoia, but of course sacrifices gas mileage for it. I will be curious to see how the Titan pulls our boat, since it cruises at 1800 rpm on the highway, I wonder how much downshifting it will do and if I will have to keep it in 4th to tow without overworking the transmission. Obviously, the power is there to pull. Only time will tell.