Land Cruiser 79 Series 2024 facelift — what actually changed?
Running the Ford Ranger Raptor for 7 months now, 63206km on the clock including 11 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the chassis and body rigidity is in a different league. I have done 280,000km on mine with only service items. I have done Sani Pass, Richtersveld and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 4.5L V8 turbodiesel is 9L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: the price premium is real and the cabin comfort is 15 years behind the Japanese competition. Also the dealer here in Johannesburg could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Ironman bull bar (R13k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R17k fitted), MaxTrax recovery boards, and a National Luna 40L fridge. Total spend on mods: around R55k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Johannesburg dealer was R1,150,000 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
3 Replies
Have you tried it in high-speed gravel? That is where these bakkies differ most. The Raptor on its Fox shocks is a different vehicle at 100km/h on corrugated gravel compared to the base model.
Running the Ford Ranger Raptor for 7 months now, 63206km on the clock including 11 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the chassis and body rigidity is in a different league. I have done 280,000km on mine with only service items. I have done Sani Pass, Richtersveld and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 4.5L V8 turbodiesel is 9L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: the price premium is real and the cabin comfort is 15 years behind the Japanese competition. Also the dealer here in Johannesburg could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Ironman bull bar (R13k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R17k fitted), MaxTrax recovery boards, and a National Luna 40L fridge. Total spend on mods: around R55k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Johannesburg dealer was R1,150,000 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
— werner_dp
Have you tried it in high-speed gravel? That is where these bakkies differ most. The Raptor on its Fox shocks is a different vehicle at 100km/h on corrugated gravel compared to the base model.
On the mod budget — R50k sounds like a lot but if you are amortising it over 7 years of serious use, it works out to less than R1,000 per month. And the safety improvement in a real recovery situation is not something you can put a price on.