Toyota Land Cruiser Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

For most, it won't be. The Land Cruiser is a niche choice, built for rugged dependability and off-road expertise but priced like a premium, luxurious SUV. And while it does feel fancier than more utilitarian Land Cruisers of old, it can’t compete with posh high-riders when it comes to comfort, refinement and on-road manners. 

Truth be told, we’re not sure who it’s really for, but Toyota is only bringing the latest version to the UK in small numbers, so finding enough people who find the vehicle appealing for its unique blend of attributes shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the firm. 

There isn’t a choice at all, with only one trim level and a sole engine available. But hey, at least you won’t be deliberating on the dealership floor or when you’re browsing the configurator. 

Perhaps the most similar vehicle in terms of ethos is the Ineos Grenadier. Intended to pick up where the previous-generation Land Rover Defender left off, it puts utility and off-road ability high on the agenda, with on-road manners a distance second, which makes for a less-than-pleasant driving experience during day-to-day driving. It’s priced similarly, starting at around £73,000, but doesn’t have the back-up of a well-known manufacturer like Toyota. 

The current Land Rover Defender, meanwhile, looks like the best alternative. It’s still very capable off-road, but far better on it than its rough and ready predecessors, and a touch more refined than the Land Cruiser. The model offers a lot more choice, as well, with prices starting at about £57,000 for a short-wheelbase, two-door ‘90’ model rocketing to £150,000 snarling, V8-powered 110 Octa, and the giant 130 model sitting somewhere in between. 

Everything in the Land Cruiser feels extremely sturdy and as though it’ll last for many, many years without showing signs of wear. That’s not to say it feels basic - there are plenty of premium-feeling, soft-touch surfaces that elevate the cabin well beyond Land Cruiser models of old. It perhaps doesn’t feel plush enough considering the lofty price tag, though.

The Land Cruiser gets a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment screen which will feel familiar if you’ve spent time with any recent Toyota vehicles. It’s almost disarmingly simple, meaning it’s both easy to use and perhaps lacking in features a little. 

There’s nothing strictly wrong with the in-built navigation, but our preference was to use the standard-fit wireless Android Auto connectivity and display Google Maps instead. Wireless Apple CarPlay is also included. 

One odd quirk we found was how ferociously bright the screen is at night - although the option for it to automatically change the brightness (both using light sensors and the time of day) and invert white to black to go easier on your eyes, this didn’t seem to work. We ended up having to switch on night mode automatically. 

There’s a 14-speaker JBL sound system, which is decent enough, but not the best we’ve heard at this price. Meanwhile, connecting and charging devices is easy enough, with a wireless charging pad and no less than three USB-C ports included in the front of the car. And, weirdly, a HDMI port. There are a further two USB-Cs in for the middle row and a pair for the third row, plus a 12-volt socket for the middle. 

The Land Cruiser feels massive inside, with its tall glass helping a sense of airiness. There’s plenty of legroom in the rear, and even the third-row seats are a decent size, although headroom is tighter than you might expect, due to how high the seats all sit. You get decent-sized door bins, and even a cool box compartment under the front armrest. 

Leave the rear row of seats deployed and you’ll have a paltry 130 litres of load space to play with, but dropping them (which can be done at the touch of a button) opens up a much more impressive 600 litres of room. Fold the second row as well, and the total figure is 2,000 litres, and the Land Cruiser’s box-like proportions make loading larger items nice and easy.

This is easy - there’s only one of each available. On the engine front, it’s a 2.8-litre diesel engine, and before you look at that generous capacity and think it must be a smooth six-cylinder unit like you get in a BMW or some Mazda models, we’ll have to rain on your parade and inform you that it’s a four-cylinder engine. That engine is available only with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. 

Despite appearing to have the aerodynamic profile of a detached house, wind noise isn't so bad, although you can hear a fair bit generated by those slab-shaped wing mirrors. On the flip side, there isn’t as much roar from those giant tyres creeping into the cabin as you might expect. 

Where refinement takes a hit is at any point you need to make a bit of progress. With only a modest amount of power and over 2.3 tonnes of vehicle to punt around, that diesel engine needs to rev quite high and for quite a sustained period for much in the way of forward momentum to occur. 

It’s a noisy thing, and occupants aren’t kept the best shielded from its grumbly din. It’s not so bad once the revs settle on a motorway/dual carriageway cruise, however, once it’s made sufficient racket to get you up to 70mph down the slipway. 

The Land Cruiser hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP. You do get plenty of safety equipment as standard, including traffic sign recognition, a driver alertness monitor (which we found to be a bit over-sensitive, often barking at you to 'sit up' if you recline the driver's seat only a little bit, or slouch), lane assistance, rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring.

Coming from a manufacturer like Toyota, which consistently places highly in the Honestjohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index and has a well-deserved reputation for reliable cars, the Land Cruiser is off to a great start. Then you have to consider its lineage - the Land Cruiser's origins were as a military vehicle, and for decades, it's been the go-to vehicle of choice for some of the toughest jobs in the world, perhaps most famously with the United Nations using some versions of them in worn-torn countries. 

Although there’s a lot of new stuff in the latest Land Cruiser, there’s no reason to think it won’t be the same case here. If you do end up experiencing an issue, there’s a three-year, 60,000 warranty, which is typical in terms of duration but a bit underwhelming in terms of the mileage limit. However, this is extended to anything up to 10 years and 100,000 miles if you keep going back to a Toyota main dealer for servicing. 

Expect some chunky premiums on the Land Cruiser, as it’s in group 48 out of 50. Be sure to shop around to get the best price possible, and it might also be worth trying a few specialist providers. 

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is charged at £195 a year from the second year of ownership. As the starting price is well beyond the £40,000 threshold for the government’s premium car tax, you’ll also need to shell out an extra £425 annually from years two to five of ownership. This is based on the car’s original RRP and subsequent registered keepers still have to pay it, so buying used won’t get you around it. 

As you’d probably hope considering the Land Cruiser’s price, the model’s sole, unnamed trim ‘level’ is well equipped. Along with all the safety gear we mentioned earlier, standard equipment includes an electrically-opening panoramic sunroof, a powered tailgate, heated and cooled electric front seats, three-zone climate control, a 14-speaker JBL sound system, a large infotainment screen, a wireless charging pad, adaptive cruise control, and our favourite part of all, a powered coolbox. We tested it, and can confirm it works brilliantly.