The rugged off roader has seen something of a renaissance in recent times. When I was growing up, these were reserved for people who seemed to be mad, or farmers. Why on earth would you want a big, boxy, uncomfortable car that’s designed to survive in the wilderness for the school run? Then Land Rover went upmarket, Porsche brought out the Cayenne, Bentley jumped onboard with the Bentayga and suddenly they were SUVs. Land Rover’s Defender, the Ineos Grenadier and now this, the fifth generation Toyota Land Cruiser, are going back to the roots of these cars.
Others persisted throughout the SUV boom, to be fair. The Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes G Wagon retained serious off-road capability, although the Merc has skyrocketed in price and seems to be enjoyed by particular clientele. That’s why Ineos launched the Grenadier, to rail against the luxurious move in the 4X4 space and to stick one in the eye of the now much more upmarket Land Rover Defender.
Toyota retained a watching brief and launched this car last year. First impressions go a long way and, you know what? I like the way it looks. It carries undoubted retro charm without being so glamorous that you wouldn’t dare take it off a tarmacked road. This impression continues to the interior, where everything feels purposeful and well built. You wouldn’t think twice about getting it muddy and just hosing it down.
This, however, is 2025 and despite the demand for genuine off-road capability, all such cars must now work well as on-road companions, too. Which is the setting for this review: a family holiday, a commute to work and general day-to-day use.
What’s the Toyota Land Cruiser like to live with?
Inevitably for a car of this size, the Toyota Land Cruiser is incredibly practical. It’s also very easy to use, with everything laid out logically and clearly. Fans of physical buttons will rejoice, for HVAC and off-road controls and within easy reach. The infotainment system, familiar across the Toyota and Lexus landscape is minimalist in its approach, with simple phone mirroring putting your favourite tools at your disposal.
We spent the weekend at Centre Parcs with the Toyota Land Cruiser, so I decided to make use of the seven-seat arrangement to get myself, a friend and our combined four children there and back. The wives were left to a peaceful journey with just themselves and the luggage.
With all seven seats in use, boot space is reduced to small bags and coats. With the ability to open the rear window as well as the entire boot, however, slotting things in is easy. As is accessing the back seats and getting everything in place. At 6” 2 I wouldn’t want to be in the rearmost bench for too long, but there’s ample space for children.
The front and middle rows benefit from plenty of space. With big, comfy seats, the Land Cruiser is a surprisingly nice environment in which to while away a few motorway miles.
At 4.9m long and 2m wide, it – surprisingly – has a smaller footprint than the Audi RS6 GT we reviewed last time. With the aerodynamic properties of a brick, it’s also supremely easy to see out of and judge where the extremities are. Then you get a fantastic overhead camera for neatly slotting into parking spaces. If you’re expecting this to be uncomfortably large to drive, think again. Toyota has you covered.
What’s the Toyota Land Cruiser like to drive?
We need to talk about the engine. So often first impressions are made on paper. A c.2500kg car with a 2.8ltr four-cylinder engine? It doesn’t sound great. A 0-60mph time of 10.9secs also fails to impress.
However, this isn’t a car that ever makes you want to drive quickly. It’s no hustler. Instead, you embrace the calm of slower driving and the opulence of the lofty driving position and just waft along.
That said, there’s a nagging suspicion that a six-cylinder option would be nice. The Defender 110, for example, doesn’t impose much engine noise on you, whereas the Land Cruiser makes it very apparent when the engine is being asked to work. The agricultural diesel thrum suits the character of the car, but a touch more refinement which a larger engine would introduce would make a good option.
Once on the move, it all settles into its stride impressively. It’s relaxing on the motorway, with only a hint of wind noise around the pillars. It’s also surprisingly good on fuel. Across 225 miles I achieved 29.5mpg. You might expect that to shrivel up on a commute into west London, but even in rush hour I got 27.9mpg out of it. Better than a Defender 110 hybrid…
Where the Toyota Land Cruiser delivers its definitive luxury touch is in how it deals with the UK’s roads. So often you’re swerving to avoid potholes and slowing for speed bumps. The Toyota Land Cruiser Invincible feels an apt name for this car, because it just takes everything it its stride. You really can just drive without any concern as to how the car will respond to its environment.
Nothing will ease your mind as you drive along like this thing does. It’s modern-day luxury to just remove the stress from the drive.
Conclusion
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a car that might not make much sense on paper, but can quickly change your mind. £75,000 for a painfully slow brick on wheels with a noisy diesel engine? Funnily enough that’s not what they lead with their marketing material on, but that was the constant feedback I received.
It means that the Land Cruiser has to impress in the flesh. And impress it does. It feels the perfect blend of off-road ability and on-road serenity. It fills its own niche in what has become quite quickly become a very competitive market. Where the Defender is immaculately appointed to the point where you’d be horrified at the thought of muddying it and the Ineos Grenadier is so rough-and-ready that the thought of a long drive in it might horrify you, the Land Cruiser falls between the two.
If you are going to utilise the off-road capabilities and also need to do the school run and occasionally commute, then the Toyota Land Cruiser is a car that exemplifies how far the automotive industry has moved forward this century. It will do both of those tasks with aplomb.
The Toyota Land Cruiser really grew on me during my week with it. The kids loved its proportions and I loved the sense of calm it instilled on every drive. There’s no concern about how it will handle any situation and even crawling along in west London it didn’t feel entirely out of place. Throw in an impressive array of tech and it will handle multi-stories to safaris.
So, whilst it might not grab your attention on paper, being able to drive around carefree instils its own sense of unexpected luxury.
