10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Toyota Land Cruiser, 4 Runner Crawl Over Corolla Hatchback
One was gone for too long, and the other overstayed its welcome at the party. Well, both of Toyota’s off-road SUVs are making welcome returns in their own way: The 2024 Land Cruiser returns to the U.S. market after a three-year hiatus, and the 2025 4Runner brings a full redesign after just shy of a decade and a half in its outgoing form. So, now that the Land Cruiser has been shrunk down to compete in the mid-size market — including its own mid-size, body-on-frame brother, the 4Runner — which should an asphalt-eschewing SUV shopper choose? In one of Cars.com’s most popular articles of the past month, we compare and contrast the merits of these two Toyotas to help would-be buyers choose.
Related: 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Review: Readjust Your Expectations
With the 4Runner, you get more options with regard to powertrain, drive wheels and off-road equipment. The Land Cruiser has more height, but the 4Runner has more ground clearance — though you need to take care which 4Runner trim you select, as some have low-hanging plastic parts that are just begging to eat rock. Both SUVs boast off-road tech features that help you crawl rocks, creep downhill, anticipate and tackle different terrain types, and nimbly adapt to obstacles, as well as a comparable suite of advanced safety features. The SUVs’ interiors are of comparably quotidian quality, though the 4Runner has the edge in family-friendliness due to its habitable third row. In terms of trim levels, the Land Cruiser offers just one-third the number of trim levels as the 4Runner, but it also positions itself as an off-road-first SUV, versus the 4Runner’s broader appeal.
For the full comparo of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser and 2025 Toyota 4Runner — including the metric you really wanna know about (price) — follow the link below to the No. 5 finisher on this month’s countdown of most-read stories.
In smaller-Toyota news — note the hyphen, as the Toyota is smaller, not necessarily the news — the Corolla Hatchback’s 2025 incarnation has an official starting price for those seeking SUV-style utility without the size or expense. As new-car prices show signs of stabilizing after reaching a high north of 50 grand on average late last year, the Corolla hatch holds the line in the new model year, with the unchanged car going unchanged in price. The Corolla Hatchback starts at a palatable $24,600 for the base SE trim; the Nightshade and range-topping XSE trims go for $25,600 and $27,900, respectively (all prices include a destination charge).
For the full pricing scoop on the 2025 Toyota Corolla Hatchback — including a trim-level breakdown of features and equipment — follow the link below to the No. 6 news story from the month of May.
Beyond all that, we’ve got headlines on the Hyundai Palisade, Tesla Model Y, Kia EV9, Toyota Prius Prime and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past month:
1. What’s the Best 3-Row SUV for 2024?
2. After More Than 2 Years and 22,000 Miles, We’ve Said Bye-Bye to Our Tesla Model Y
3. State of the EV: Lessons Learned Road-Tripping a 2024 Kia EV9
4. How Far Can a 2024 Toyota Prius Prime Go on Electricity Alone?
5. Off-Road Toyotas Compared: 2024 Land Cruiser Vs. 2025 4Runner
6. Not Cheap, Affordable: 2025 Toyota Corolla Hatchback Priced From $24,600
7. What’s the Best New-Car Deal for Memorial Day 2024?
8. Are Hybrid Cars More Expensive to Maintain or Repair Than a Gas Car?
9. 2024 3-Row SUV Challenge: Repeat Champ Hyundai Palisade Proves Hard to Beat
10. What Are the Best Used Cars for $20,000?
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