2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Reviews, Pricing & Specs

With the First Edition no longer appropriate in this second model year, Toyota offers the 2025 Land Cruiser in two trim levels. The base model is called the 1958, referencing the year the model was first sold in North America. It has a retro look that harkens back to that era with round headlights, cloth seats, basic equipment, and one of three paint colours. You’ll save $8,800 by choosing it, but if that matters you might reconsider shopping for an SUV that costs as much as a Land Cruiser 1958 does ($73,270, including the $1,930 destination charge and other fees).

In our opinion, the Cruiser trim is the way to go ($82,030). This version of the SUV has a more modern, upscale look, is available in more colours, has a nicer interior with larger screens, and adds critical off-roading hardware and software. It’s also your pathway to a Premium Package that installs leather and more tech.

Our Cruiser trim test vehicle had the Premium Package, Heritage Blue and Grey paint, 20-inch wheels, and an accessory roof rack. Those upgrades bring the Canadian manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $90,603, including fees.

Heritage Blue is one of two Land Cruiser colours that is not a shade of black, white, or grey. Trail Dust (gold) is the other one. It’s a little depressing that a vehicle with this much personality is forced to wear such drab and unimaginative paint, but that seems to be what the people want. Interior choices include black and Java (brown) in SofTex artificial leather or the real thing.

With no more than a glance, you can see the Land Cruiser has a traditional two-box SUV design that maximizes off-road clearances, outward visibility, and room for people and cargo. It has a purposeful look, and a ring of dark grey cladding around the lower perimeter underscores its utility. Our test vehicle had an optional roof rack to help leverage the SUV’s 350-kilogram (770-pound) static and 75-kilogram (165-lb) dynamic roof load ratings.

Utilitarian describes the Land Cruiser’s interior, where traditional switchgear rules. This version of the SUV is a lot nicer inside than the 1958, and that helps to make it feel worth the price you’re paying. The Java-coloured leather brings desirable colour contrast to the cabin, and the dual 12.3-inch digital driver and infotainment screens make it appear technologically advanced.

Additionally, having exited a Lexus RX the week prior to driving the Land Cruiser, we can say the steering wheel controls are about 1,000 times more intuitive to use compared to what you’ll find in the Lexus.

Every Land Cruiser has Toyota’s i-Force Max hybrid system. It pairs a turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission and an electric motor located between those two components. The battery pack lives underneath the cargo area’s load floor.

Output measures 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, transferred through a full-time four-wheel-drive (4WD) system equipped with electronic locking rear and centre differentials, enabling a maximum towing capacity of 2,720 kilograms (6,000 pounds). Downhill Assist Control and Crawl Control are standard on both the 1958 and Cruiser trim levels. The more expensive model adds Multi-Terrain Select off-roading modes, Multi-Terrain Monitor camera views, and a front stabilizer bar disconnect feature.

The official Natural Resources Canada ratings say a Land Cruiser will get 10.1 L/100 km combined, but that proved highly optimistic in our experience. Granted, on our extremely hot testing day, the air conditioning was blasting and the automatic engine stop/start system had seemingly taken a vacation. Still, we expected better than the 15.0 L/100 km we observed on the real-world evaluation loop.

In exchange for feeding this beast, you’ll get an impressive daily driver and weekend adventurer. The only thing the Land Cruiser does poorly is handle on a twisty mountain road mainly due to its tires and roly-poly suspension tuning. You simply cannot hustle this thing. But, if you spend Monday through Friday in urban and suburban driving situations and your off days off-roading, the Land Cruiser is terrific.

If you’re so inclined, you can blaze over speed bumps at 50 km/h and speed humps at 60 km/h. There is no shudder, no shake, and nothing sounds like it might break. That suspension tuning also soaks up the crumbling pavement characterizing so many city streets like a cement-seeking sponge.

You sit up high with a great view and can easily see every corner of this SUV, making it easy to park and to maneuver on the trail. We’ve spent some quality time off-roading the Land Cruiser in the past and it’s a capable vehicle, especially when you take advantage of its front stabilizer bar disconnect, Crawl Control low-speed cruise control, and Multi-Terrain Monitor camera views. These features, along with up to 21.5 centimetres of ground clearance, imbue the Land Cruiser with ample off-road capability.

During the daily drive, the Land Cruiser feels powerful and responsive, but that’s a somewhat illusory side effect of the electric assist motor and turbocharged torque. An impromptu acceleration test produced a modest result and plenty of rear-end squat. Also, hard braking results in nosedive, and when rounding curves and corners, the Land Cruiser leans over. Unless you enjoy these kinds of ride motions, slow and steady is best.

Upgrade from the Land Cruiser 1958 and you swap cloth upholstery for Toyota’s SofTex artificial leather. The front seats also gain ventilated cushions to go with the standard heated front seats and heated steering wheel. Our test vehicle had the Premium Package, which installed real leather to go with the Cruiser trim’s standard-size power sunroof.

Both front seats are comfortable, providing excellent support on longer trips. We cannot say the same for the second-row seats. They lack thigh support and the backrest angle is uncomfortable, so you end up sitting in a slouched position. Also, long-legged people might find the Land Cruiser’s running boards get in the way when entering and exiting the cabin, though they’re undeniably helpful when strapping things to the roof rack.

Toyota erred with the Land Cruiser’s rear window. It would be better if it powered down into the tailgate like it does on the 4Runner, adding an open, airy, flow-through sensation to the cabin. Instead, you need to drive with the window glass flipped up. Also, the centre console's cool box seems an unnecessary part of the optional Premium Package. Who needs this? It simply chews up storage space that’s in modest supply to start with.

Open the rear liftgate, and the Land Cruiser reveals 1,062 litres of cargo space. That’s a generous amount, and in a handy cube-shaped area. Unfortunately, the load floor height is high, so you need to flex those muscles when loading heavy items. Maximum cargo space with the 60/40-split folding back seat dropped measures 2,324 litres.

If you upgrade to the Cruiser trim from the Land Cruiser 1958, the 7-inch digital driver display and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system are upgraded to two 12.3-inch displays with a more sophisticated appearance. The Toyota Audio Multimedia (TAM) infotainment system is well equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, and log-in access to Apple Music and Amazon Music accounts. Four connected service plans are available either by subscription or with trial periods, including Service Connect, Safety Connect, Remote Connect, and Drive Connect.

Drive Connect installs a cloud-based navigation system and a conversational digital assistant. Say something like, “Hey Toyota, give me directions to the nearest Chipotle,” and it quickly and accurately provides them. It passed our standard voice recognition system evaluation with flying colours.

When you get the Premium Package, the Land Cruiser features a decent-sounding 14-speaker JBL premium sound system. A wireless smartphone charger is standard on the Cruiser trim, while a head-up display, a digital camera-based rearview mirror, and digital key technology are part of the Premium Package.

Every 2025 Land Cruiser includes Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 (TSS 3.0), the automaker’s latest collection of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), and equips the SUV with lots of technology designed to prevent accidents from occurring.

The contents of TSS 3.0 include forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and pedestrian, cyclist, and motorcyclist detection capability. Additionally, it equips the SUV with lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and lane-centring assist. Use the adaptive cruise control and lane-centring assist together, and you have a hands-on semi-autonomous highway driving aid that can tell when a driver becomes unresponsive and can bring the Land Cruiser to a safe stop.

Additional safety features in TSS 3.0 include a road sign reader, automatic high-beam headlights, and Proactive Driving Assist (PDA). The standard blind-spot monitoring system is separate from TSS 3.0, as is the rear cross-traffic alert system. Upgrades as part of the Premium Package include front cross-traffic alert, lane-change assist, and Traffic Jam Assist.

Our experience with Toyota’s ADAS varies depending on the vehicle in which it’s installed. In some models, we keep the tech engaged and active. In others, we selectively turn things off due to irritation and aggravation. For example, we didn’t keep the PDA system active in the Land Cruiser, partly because of how it produced unwanted ride motions.

Also, the adaptive cruise control and lane-centring assist struggled on a four-lane highway heading into late afternoon sunlight. At one point, the SUV drifted out of the lane of travel because the lane-centring assist temporarily deactivated and we didn’t receive an audible warning to indicate that had occurred. On a curvy, uphill section of highway, the ADAS required a manual override to settle the vehicle’s indecisive behaviour.

In daily driving, you’ll find the front cross-traffic alert system to be active. Don’t turn it off, though, because it saved the day when attempting to make a right turn onto a highway with limited visibility to see approaching vehicles. That’s the thing about some of these safety features; you don’t need them until the one time you do.

As far as crash-test ratings go, only the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has rated the Land Cruiser. It earns an overall rating of four-out-of-five stars, receiving four-stars in the frontal-impact test, five-stars in side-impact testing, and a mediocre three-star rollover resistance rating.

With pricing starting above $70,000 and an as-tested window sticker of more than $90,000 Canadian, you might presume the Land Cruiser is not a cost-effective way to see Canada on roads paved and unpaved. Before you decide, you should check out how much damage a tricked-out Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, or Land Rover Defender can do to your bank account.

In terms of a core mission, those alternatives are better aligned with Toyota’s other rugged off-roader, the 4Runner. By comparison, the Land Cruiser is more refined than any of these. So, what are its rivals? The Jeep Grand Cherokee is analogous to the Toyota and costs less money. You might also cross-shop the Toyota with the larger and more expensive Nissan Armada Pro-4X.

Overall, we really like the Land Cruiser. The dismal observed fuel economy during our testing was the worst thing about it. So, if you don’t mind pumping plenty of premium into the i-Force Max powertrain, chances are you’ll be pretty happy with this SUV.