There is no denying that the Toyota Land Cruiser is an off-roading icon. With simple-yet-robust components throughout, this Toyota SUV remains one of the toughest and most reliable models ever produced. Despite its reputation and die-hard fan base, the Japanese carmaker decided to pull the plug on this off-roader for the U.S. market starting in 2022. As a result, both sales and pricing for this model have shot up recently.

Vintage Land Cruisers have sold for large sums for quite some time now. However, with a great majority of them boasting high-mileage odometers, finding a good one can be harder than you think. However, one of these SUVs with 1,000 miles on the clock just sold for $136,000 on Bring A Trailer.

Why did this 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser sell for $136,000?

As you might imagine, the main reason why this Toyota Land Cruiser sold for such a massive sum comes down to its odometer. This is essentially a 27-year-old SUV in brand-new condition. Given the robust nature of this SUV, most of these have led harsh lives off-roading, overlanding, and even racking up miles in the city. Additionally, since these SUVs tend to last so long, they are one of the few models buyers are likely to keep for up to 20 years and surpass 200,000 miles.

All this basically means that when a clean, low-mileage example comes up for sale, it attracts big buyers. For context, this year of the Toyota Land Cruiser carried an MSRP of $36,708, or about $66,677 in today’s money. That means that someone doubled their money by parking this SUV for 27 years.

Under its hood sits a brand-new FZJ80 4.5-liter straight-six engine, four-speed automatic transmission, and locking differentials. Despite sitting for such a long time, its current owner purchased it in 2020 and serviced it, meaning it’s ready to go.

Do off-roading SUVs make for great collector cars?

When you imagine a collector car, chances are a Toyota Land Cruiser isn’t the first thing that pops into your head. However, it seems that might be the case moving forward. This is particularly surprising considering that Toyota has built thousands of these SUVs throughout its multi-decade run. However, a report by NetCredit found that some generations of this off-roader have appreciated by as much as 748 percent in the last 15 years.

As a result, as these low-mileage examples become harder to find, the prices will continue to increase endlessly. Additionally, you won’t be able to buy a brand-new one of these in the U.S. starting next year.

Why is the Toyota Land Cruiser so valuable now?

While the current-generation Toyota Land Cruiser has nothing to do with these older models from a sales perspective, its discontinuation likely contributes to this recent price hike. In fact, sales for the outdoing model shot up by 200 percent during the first quarter of this year. Once the inventory of the new comes dries up, and speculators continue buying, we’ll likely see these values continue to rise thanks to the simple fact that finding these mint condition examples has become nearly impossible.