I bought one because fuel out there was cheap and you needed something big to protect you from crazy drivers. Plus Toyota really didn’t have good midsize SUV option out there.
The little land cruisers could be had brand new for just over $20k and the Bedouin’s drove them all over the desert. A V8 in that little car was really something. You could really fly in the sand.

The Sequoia was a glorious family adventure machine. Despite its weight there wasn’t much we couldn’t do in the desert with aired down tires.
You sacrificed a bit of rear cargo space for better legroom in all 3 rows, but when you didn't need the 3rd row, it folded flat and the cargo space was substantial. A huge loss in the new generation Sequoia.

That engine got us out of some scary risky spots on remote escarpments (stupidity on my part) where up (and I mean way, way, up) at speed was the only way out… (stupid, stupid), but man did that engine come through!

On long road trips it is one smooth and comfortable cruising machine. On uneven streets and hard pack roads that engine feels like you’re riding a powerful (but smooth) Clydesdale horse. Se called it the fortress of solitude.

And it handled like a much smaller car than it is. My wife was the primary day to day driver and her only qualm was the lack of sliding doors.