I took Toyota's 2025 Land Cruiser out for a second look ― and loved it more

Is it genuine love, or perhaps love at first glance? I’m recounting my encounters with new cars following a brief ownership period of several days or even after reassessing them after a handful of months.

Car of the week: The 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Sport Utility Vehicle The brand’s most senior truck designation. I covered it in my article from last April.

What it is: The 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser is a large four-door SUV designed for up to five passengers, equipped with a standard hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive. First introduced in 1958, this iconic vehicle has been updated significantly. For instance, when it was launched as part of the 2024 lineup, it received a hybrid system and adopted much of its foundational design from vehicles like the Tundra and Tacoma trucks along with the 4Runner SUV.

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What amount will you be paying for the Toyota Land Cruiser?

The starting price is $56,700. For the Land Cruiser FE model I evaluated, the sticker price was $75,430. These prices do not include a $1,395 destination fee.

How's it selling?

Toyota sold 29,113 Land Cruisers in the year 2024.

What I enjoyed the most when I first drove a Land Cruiser was the experience.

During a short off-road trial last year, the Land Cruiser's hybrid powertrain demonstrated impressive capability on steep, unsealed paths. It comes equipped with several off-road amenities such as locking rear and central differentials along with a disengaging front sway bar. Its compact dimensions render it more maneuverable on trails and simpler to park compared to bigger SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition.

Just in case you didn’t catch it: Toyota hints at introducing a more affordable, compact electric SUV.

Land Cruiser competitors

  • Chevrolet Tahoe
  • Jeep Grand Cherokee
  • Ford Expedition
  • Nissan  Armada

What I adore about this Toyota currently

The Land Cruiser seems primed for all adventures. Equipped with top-notch capabilities for rough terrain, it also serves as a cozy everyday vehicle — including when driving over bumpy roads. Inside, passengers enjoy ample space and high-quality appointments, where controls blend traditional knobs and switches with a large 12.3-inch touchscreen along with voice-activated assistance. Additional perks feature an optional JBL sound setup. This full-sized SUV offers great comfort; however, adding more options can quickly bump up the price tag.

What improvements could possibly be made to this Toyota SUV?

Even though it is fuel-efficient, the 2.5L turbocharged hybrid engine requires premium gas to reach its stated performance and mileage levels. This makes it costlier to operate compared to the V6 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which can use regular gas according to EPA estimations.

During my testing, Apple CarPlay occasionally failed to function properly, even though it had connected seamlessly at first.

I'm uncertain about certain aspects of the Land Cruiser.

The dimensions and cost of the Land Cruiser come quite close to Toyota’s 4Runner SUV , introduced this year and somewhat larger than the Land Cruiser, Toyota's top-of-the-line SUV. Is it necessary for Toyota to have two SUVs that are quite alike?

Main attributes of the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV

  • Seats five
  • Rear- or four-wheel drive
  • Standard hybrid power: 326 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque
  • 6,000 pounds towing
  • 2.4-liter turbocharged powerplant, Eight-speed automated gearbox
  • Predicted fuel efficiency: 22 mpg in-city/25 mpg on highways/23 mpg overall.

Reach out to Mark Phelan at 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com . Follow him on X @ mark_phelan . Read more on autos and register for our autos newsletter . Become a subscriber .

The article initially appeared in the Detroit Free Press. I went for another test drive with Toyota's 2025 Land Cruiser and liked it even more.

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