--- title: "Watch a Bad Decision Make This Toyota Land Cruiser Vanish Before Your Eyes" description: "Being prepared off-road means double checking the trail ahead, which the driver of this doomed Toyota Land Cruiser ably demonstrates with a disappearing act worthy of a Las Vegas magic revue." date: "2018-06-18" modified: "2018-06-18" authors: - name: "Kyle Cheromcha" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/21605/watch-a-bad-decision-make-this-toyota-land-cruiser-vanish-before-your-eyes" categories: - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Toyota News" - "Watch This" tags: - "Fail" - "Land Cruiser" - "Off-Road" - "Toyota" --- # Watch a Bad Decision Make This Toyota Land Cruiser Vanish Before Your Eyes ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* It pays to prepare when going off-road. Sometimes that means [bringing the right tool for the job,]() and not, say, a $285,000 McLaren 720S. Other times, that means double-checking the trail ahead, something the driver of this doomed Toyota Land Cruiser aptly demonstrates with a disappearing act worthy of a Las Vegas magic revue. Posted [on Facebook]() in the Club Land Cruiser Costa Rica group page, this video shows [just how quickly things can go south]() when you're playing in the dirt. The boxy 70 Series Land Cruiser sits on the edge of a small embankment, preparing to cross what looks to be a muddy, boggy field as an off-camera Greek chorus offers a few shouts of encouragement. The driver idles down the slope, and things are proceeding as planned. But as he reaches the bottom and inches forward, what appears to be a solid field reveals itself to be a vegetation-covered pond, and the Land Cruiser instantly breaks through and nosedives into the deep water. Making the situation all the more tragic is that this rig was equipped with a proper snorkel, which does its job until it too becomes submerged—at that point, you can see a few puffs of vapor come out of the taillight as the engine ingests water and cuts out entirely. The video ends there, so we don't get to see how the group managed to help their buddy out of this particular jam, or if the Land Cruiser is stuck in that marsh for all eternity. The whole escapade [could have been avoided]() had someone just walked ten feet ahead of the truck and checked out the planned route. Chances are the engine is hydrolocked, but an extensive rebuild or a new block will probably have this truck back on the road before long. [Land Cruisers are particularly hard to kill.]() ![message-editor%2F1529355155335-cruiserinline.jpg]() *Womp., *Facebook | Club Land Cruiser Costa Rica** But like the video we featured last month of an off-road Toyota Tacoma tow job [going all sorts of wrong,]() this clip shows that these tough machines aren't made of magic—even if they're capable of disappearing (or disassembling) before our very eyes. ## Author Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()