2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Review
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser
Base Price: $56,700
2.4 Liter Turbo 4 with Hybrid Assist
326 HP / 465 TQ
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Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
“I hate the internet and social media.”
That’s one helluva way to start off a car review ain’t it?
Let me explain my displeasure with the internet and social media. It enables anyone and everyone to expel their reactionary comments in real time, without a filter or forethought. The need to be the first one to post anything up is so crucial to the user that it overrides any sense of judement, critical thinking or just even thought. Internet and Social Media commentary is not commentary at all, it’s emotional flatulence. It cannot be contained, it has to come out and when it does…it usually gasses out whomever is unfortunate to be around it.
Now what in the actual frack does that have to do with the new Land Cruiser? A lot actually. Let’s wind the clocks back to 2021. That’s when ToMoCo announced that the venerable LC200 Land Cruiser has wadded through it’s river here in the United States. I’m frankly surprised it actually stuck around as long as it did. Toyota sold Land Cruisers that barely crested into triple digits…yearly! The very last full model year, the old LC200 sold a miserable 600 units! Compared to other models that are selling tens of thousands of units per month, barely cresting 100 units per month can be a cause for concern. Especially considering it wasn’t the most fuel efficient vehicle either, dragging down the average fuel economy of the entire Toyota lineup at the same time.
So the plug was pulled on the Land Cruiser. A vehicle that has been with us for over 60 years, gone from the lineup. Obviously, such a foundational vehicle in the hearts of enthusiasts, that the crying for it to return was deafening. So only 4 years later, Toyota announced it was coming back!
Yay screamed the people of the internet!
Then they read the details. It wasn’t a Land Cruiser per se, it was a Land Cruiser Prado. What the hell is a Prado? Think of it as the Lexus GX, but with a Toyota badge. Still a fantastic vehicle in it’s own right but not Land Cruiser errr Land Cruiser. It’s on a different platform, different drivetrain, different interior and well it’s just different. Not in a bad way but just errr different.
But here is the kicker, all the difference comes with a HUGE advantage. Price. The last generation Land Cruiser stickered at nearly $90,.000! For a Toyota. The 2025 Land Cruiser is only $56k That’s $30,000 less!!!! That’s a lot of money, I don’t care who you are. Sure, it pretty much prices the new Land Cruiser in the same ballpark as the new 4Runner but there are some significant differences.
Namely, the Land Cruiser stands a staggering 6 inches taller than the 4Runner. What that gives you a sense of airy, beautiful space on the inside. The Land Cruiser feels spacious, comfortable and just damn relaxing. The 4Runner has always been a bit more ‘squeezed’ on the inside compared to it’s bigger brother. Is that enough to pay the $5000 difference in price? You sit inside both and tell me 6 inches of more headroom doesn’t make a difference.
Here are some more common e-compliants on the Land Cruiser:
It’s not a ‘real’ Land Cruiser!
— Well, dumbass, no one bought the old ‘real’ one. If the ‘real’ one sold well, trust me on this, Toyota would have kept it around.
Why does it have a 4 Cylinder??
— Well, dumbass, the old V8 (while a beauty in and of itself) had the fuel efficiency of a H2 Hummer. This iForce Max is so efficient, at one point I was getting 25 MPG…IN THE CITY
Psh, it’s too expensive. I’d just get the new 4Runner instead.
— Too expensive?? This is $30,000 cheaper compared to the old one! And no, you wouldn’t get the new 4Runner, since you’re complaining on the internet, chances are that you can’t afford that either.
Okay, now that my rant is over. Let’s’ actually talk about this 2025 Land Cruiser.
“ First thing is first, if you’re expecting a direct descendant of the previous generation…don’t. The previous generation felt like it was milled from solid granite and then Thor came down with Mjölnir and slammed life into it. In other words, it was so solid feeling that it felt elemental. So uhhh.. don’t expect all of that. ”
The new Land Cruiser still feels solid, rugged, purpose built and refined. But , again, it’s $30,000 cheaper compared to the old generation and you can tell. The bottom trim pieces are scratchy plastic, the seats are more pleather than leather feeling and it’s doors close with a hollow sounding ‘tink’ rather than the old generation’s iron pan hitting-the-floor like ‘thunk’.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad at all on the inside. if anything, if you like the interior of a 4Runner, you would love the interior of the Land Cruiser. Everything is where it should be, there are actual beautifully buttons all over the place and damnit to hell…it’s just so simple to use! You get in an drive and that’s it. There is no fiddling around trying to figure out the heated seats, you push a damn button and go on with your life.
On the road, the solidity of the Land Cruiser shows brightly. It feels confident, stable and comfortable. The view out of the driver seat is one of the best on the road today. The A pillars are thin, the front windshield is huge and the visibility is not just best in it’s class, is one of the best on the road today. The ride is mix of old school SUV charm and new school squish. It will soak up bumps with nary a quiver but yet won’t completely drown it out.
The iForceMax is just a damn lovely drivetrain. Anyone who says otherwise, has not driven one and if they have…they haven’t driven on for an extended period of time. Yes I miss the V8 burble, snarl and idle. But that’s about it. Nothing else on the V8 can come close to the modern day glory that is this drivetrain. The Torque is just fracking amazing. Coming in like a tidal wave from the moment hit the gas and waving through redline. The 8 speed transmission is the finest tuned version of it so far. The shifts are imperceptible, downshifts are perfectly coded to plant you right at the torque band and it will do all of it silently in the background.
All of that together gives the new Land Cruiser, not just better ‘around the town’ performance compared to the old one but better highway performance as well! The old one would wheeze as it vainly attempts highway passing, this new one will just whoosh you until you get a speeding ticket. You can afford a ticket because this one delivered nearly 20 MPG in our testing. At one point, I was getting 25 MPG in the city alone!
Lets go ahead and it break it down:
The Great
Exterior: Toyota NAILED it with the design of the 2025 Land Cruiser. Perfectly harkening back to the prior generations without leaning too far into nausea inducing levels of nostalgia
Drive: How Toyota managed to nail the ‘go over, under and through anything’ feel of the old Land Cruiser, make it cheaper and still have it ride well…I’ll never figure out…but they did. Yes, it doesn’t ride like a GX BUT it also rides leagues better than anything else in it’s segment.
Price: Yes, the Land Cruiser starts at only $56k. Making it a full $30k cheaper than the last generation. I call that bargain no matter what you think
The Good
Just say no to drugs: Toyota’s interior designers listened to their parents and just said ‘no’ to whatever hallucinogens other interior designers have been smoking. In the 2025 Land Cruiser, you will find an actual PRNDL shifter, not some new fangled geometric orifice that requires you to do the macrena to shift into reverse. The Land Cruiser also has actual buttons for all your HVAC AND seat heating/cooling controls! It’s almost like Toyota’s interior designers have actually driven a vehicle before! Whodoathunkit???
The Bad
Plastic-y: Okay, I have to caveat the following with this: IT’S $40,000* CHEAPER THAN THE LAST ONE. Whew, okay….the lower trim plastics are grainy, scratchy, hollow and cheap feeling. They also scratch easily. Which is a far cry from the last generation Land Cruiser whose interior could take a pitchfork with nary a shrug.
*rounding up to make my point
The Ugly
Toyota won’t give me one.
Sadness.
Eternal.
:(
Overall
The best full size SUV you can buy today. Seriously. Name another full size SUV that has the Land Cruiser’s offroad prowess, on road civility, logical interior, fuel efficiency, space, comfort, torque and looks! That also doesn’t cost six figures?? Heck that doesn’t cost $80,000?? I can’t and neither can you.
