2025 Toyota Land Cruiser: Big but agile
The large SUV has returned, with better handling than you’d expect. But does the mild hybrid powertrain help with performance and economy?
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Wagon Hybrid vs. Mazda CX-70 PHEV vs. Subaru Outback: Battle of the SUVs across divergent price points.
This week: Toyota Land Cruiser
Price: $71,829 as tested. Land Cruiser Premium Package added leather-trimmed driver’s seat, JBL Premium Audio, moonroof, digital key, and more for $4,600; roof rack, $1,400; 20-inch wheels, $1,240; and more.
Conventional wisdom: Consumer Reports liked only that it was “super-capable off-road.” They listed “clumsy handling, jiggly ride, excessive wind noise, and unrefined engine and transmission” among the down sides.
Marketer’s pitch: Create a lasting legacy.
Reality: I expected to hate it, but came away surprised, except in a couple areas.
Competition? I was digging around my schedule for comparisons I could put together and noticed Consumer Reports pitted the Land Cruiser, CX-70, and Outback in reliability ratings.
All three are two-row SUVs, but the similarities end there.
Still, I thought it was worth putting them side by side here: Expensive, not as expensive, and still a lot but more in line with what most buyers can stretch to pay for. So, do you get what you pay for?
In addition to the CX-70 and Outback, there are the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Bronco, Honda Passport, Jeep Wrangler, and Nissan Murano.
What’s new: The Land Cruiser rejoined the Toyota SUV lineup in 2024 after a two-year hiatus. It has looks more in line with modern Toyota trucks, of course, and not much has changed this year. Introduced in 1958, it is among the original big four rugged trucks, along with the Jeep Wrangler, Land Rover, and Chevrolet Suburban.
Up to speed: The 326 horsepower comes from a turbocharged 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine attached to a 2.4 kw AC inverter that maximizes power and efficiency and rates an estimated 23 mpg combined city/highway. (How’s that working out for ya? Read on.)
The performance numbers show the Land Cruiser to be a slowpoke, hitting 60 mph in a long 7.7 seconds, according to Car and Driver. But I felt like it handled highway entrance ramps and normal acceleration tests quite well. In fact, it seemed to want to head to about 65 mph on its own if I wasn’t paying attention, and that includes driving on roads not designed for those kinds of speeds.
On the road: That brisk default pace really reveals how easy the Land Cruiser is to handle. Despite the giant tires and the engineering for the trails and the Land Crusher nickname, the giant SUV is among the best I’ve tested for staying where you aim it.
Even country roads could be something like fun, as long as you didn’t get stupid about it. And while I used Sport mode most of the time, it really didn’t make much of a difference.
Toyota has really upped its game since the Tundra of over a decade ago, and even a 2019 Sequoia, which was among Mr. Driver’s Seat’s least favorite SUVs to drive. And that was in Nebraska and Iowa, where curves are not a thing.
Taking test vehicles off road is frowned upon by manufacturers, so we don’t get to see that performance.
Shifty: An 8-speed transmission handles all the power transfer to the wheels, and unlike most Toyotas, this one allows for actual shifting.
Driver’s Seat: The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat and I found the front seats to be really comfortable and supportive, making every ride just a pleasure. It feels like a Jeep or Land Rover.
The gauges allow for some adjustments and just about everything is easy to find.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat also has a rugged feel yet remains comfortable. Passengers can recline a bit if they like, but not a lot, sort of like economy class.
Corner sitters have plenty of space but the middle seat passenger will not. The hump is tall, the console comes back to visit, and the seat is more of a fence rail.
It looks like there could be a third row but none is available. Cargo space is 46.2 cubic feet in back and 82.1 with the seats folded.
In and out: It’s a long climb up to the Land Cruiser. This is not a vehicle for the faint of heart or sore of knee. Even the running board seems kind of a stretch.
Play some tunes: I spent a week bopping along, enjoying the 14-speaker JBL premium audio. Then when I finally got around to playing my test song, it all fell apart. There was no way to capture anything close to the actual sound, and so I was faced with visions of how disappointing the Sienna stereo actually has been all these years. I’ll give it a B because it does do all the other songs just fine, but there are probably other flops like this one.
Keeping warm and cool: It’s funny how some cars’ HVAC systems run hot and some run cold. I’d just returned a Lexus UX 300h that needed to be set at 74 to barely keep me warm, while the Land Cruiser boiled me at 68. Same ambient temperature.
Toyota gave this system a nice row of toggles with little displays over some of them, and then the rest have little buttons above for separate functions like seat heater and ventilator and such. Confusing, and too small.
Fuel economy: The previously mentioned EPA numbers are nowhere near the real story, unfortunately. The vehicle arrived in my driveway showing 17.3 mpg, and it barely budged during Mr. Driver’s Seat’s testing.
I have great faith in these numbers; the Mr. Driver’s Seat Sienna has read 19.7 mpg for so long that I wonder if the gauge is broken. Toyota seems to have developed the most consistent fuel economy predictions in the industry.
Where it’s built: Hamura, Tokyo, Japan
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Land Cruiser reliability to be a 4 out of 5.
In the end: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this big SUV, except for the fuel consumption and stereo downfalls.
Next week: Mazda CX-70 PHEV