Video: Is the Toyota Land Cruiser Daily-Driver-Friendly?

But what happens when you take it away from the rocks and the mud and you bring it back home and you have to live with it every day? Well, we're here to find out. Get out of here. The Land Cruiser is an SUV after all. So let's take a look at its cargo area. We perform our own standardized cargo testing and it performed well in our tests. And part of that is because it's a very upright vehicle and the way that we measure cargo is we measure up to the top of the seat back, not all the way up to the roof. We think there should be some room left for visibility. And the Land Cruiser's seat backs are very tall, so that gives you a lot of usable cargo space. We measured as much cargo space as a Ford Bronco, less than the old Land Cruiser, which was just the behemoth of a vehicle. This is much smaller, but more than a Jeep Wrangler, and about the same as Lexus GX 550 because they're very similar vehicles. Now using the cargo area, one thing I was turned off by was just how high the load floor is. You do have this extra space here for the standard hybrid battery that's underneath the floor. So it's a little higher off the ground than you would really want, but still it's flat, it's big. You have some hidden compartments here to store stuff. There's one flap at the back of the cargo area here that has a first aid kit. There is a load limit rating on this part of the cargo area though of about 130 pounds. And then there's also a cargo area in the back that you can flip up and store little items too. Now in addition to the space, there are some amenities back here, including this 2,400 watt AC outlet for household devices. A lot of cars that aren't hybrids will have a maximum of about 400 watts. That limits what you can use. You can't power any big air compressor or power tools, but you can in the Land Cruiser, which would be great for being on the trail or camping, recharging batteries, whatever accessories that you need to use. Now there are some other things back here that don't make quite as much sense. In the US market, the Land Cruiser is only a two-row five-occupant vehicle. Global markets you can get a third row up to seven occupants, but they haven't eliminated any of the amenities for third row passengers. There's a USB-C outlet on both sides behind the back seat. There are cup holders and AC vents. So yes, your dog is gonna be very comfortable back here with their Stanley Cup and iPhone that they need recharged. But really for most people there's not a lot of need for all of that gear behind the backseat. On some level it probably made sense to leave it for the bean counters, but it's just strange to see that back here and no seats. So the last convenience feature of the Land Cruiser is the rear glass that pops up, gives you access without having to open the whole lift gate. And then also if you had lumber or something you wanted to haul out the back, this is a nice option for that. Some of us on staff did miss the rear clam shell style lift gate of the old Land Cruiser because it was easier to get dogs out of. But for me, I don't have a dog so this rear lift gate worked just fine. The Land Cruiser's ride is exceedingly comfortable and that comes from multiple parts. The first part I will say is suspension tuning and the wheel and tire package absorb big bumps without upsetting the cabin. So you will hit some road imperfections or some rough roads and you'll not be disturbed driving the car. Also, road noise doesn't really intrude into the cabin. There's this refinement in how it drives that is not how it looks. So you look at it and you think, oh, it's an old looking vehicle, it's a nostalgic off-roader, it's gonna drive rough and be loud. Not at all. This is so much different than driving a Jeep Wrangler. More along the lines of Bronco, but even more refined than Bronco. Granted, the doors and roof do not come off of this, so that is of course a reason that this might feel so solid and refined compared to those. But even compared to the Lexus GX 550, the 18 inch wheels and tall sidewall tires do a very good job of reducing those impacts versus the GX 550, like the premium, premium plus versions with its larger wheels and narrow sidewall tires. Now the second part of the comfort equation in the Land Cruiser are the seats. And the seats just hit in all the right places for my body type. I've got support on my thighs, my lower back, my mid back, even up near my shoulders. Everything just forms really nicely to my body. And that combined with the ride quality, I could really drive this car all day. It is something that you can get on the highway and cruise at 70 miles an hour and feel really good about. Although, the wind noise does start to intrude into the cabin. Granted, you have this very upright windshield, you have these massive mirrors. So there is some wind noise, but it's not as bad as I would expect. Now where there's not as much comfort is in the backseat. And like the GX 550, if you have small kids in car seats, you're gonna be at a space deficiency for the front passenger and driver because there's just not a lot of room to negotiate. The backseat doesn't slide and when you have a rear facing car seat or an infant seat, it does take up a lot of room. You're gonna have to adjust the seats. My kids are older, they're in a booster seat and a forward facing convertible. I didn't have as much of a problem, but this might be a car that's best if you have older kids because also the rear doors don't really open to 90 degrees, actually not even close to 90 degrees. They open enough to get in and out, but it's a very narrow passage into the seat. And if you have to put something big in there like a car seat, there's just not a whole lot of room. So let's talk fuel economy. Now the turbocharged four cylinder and hybrid system is standard on the Land Cruiser. And its fuel economy ratings are 22 miles per gallon in the city, 25 miles per gallon on the highway, and 23 miles per gallon combined. Over 260 miles, we've been averaging 20.7 miles per gallon according to the trip computer but also, this wasn't a fuel economy test. We're driving for evaluation and so we've been ramping on it quite a bit to get a feel for the power and performance, which is quite good in this big vehicle. You feel a lot of acceleration around town where the electric assist is really helpful in getting you up to speed. And its fuel economy is good compared with other off-road competitors, especially compared to the GX 550, which has that twin-turbocharged V6 because it is getting teens for fuel economy. But, the thing that you have to note is that the sucker takes premium and it's not just a recommended for maximum performance in fuel economy, it is use premium or you will experience engine knocking which could lead to engine failure according to the owner's manual. Now, if you fill up with 87, are the pistons gonna shoot through the cylinder head? No. But it's best to use the recommended fuel, which in the Land Cruiser is premium 91 octane or above. You know what? I didn't expect the Land Cruiser to be as enjoyable to drive as it was. To be honest, I could leave most nostalgic-themed off-roaders. Most of them I just don't find enjoyable to drive or live with every day for its actual off-road capability that I won't really experience. Wrangler, Bronco, you name it. Land Cruiser's different. The Land Cruiser drives more sophisticated and refined than those vehicles, and I really could live with this every day as your daily driver. But we gotta talk about its price because at an as tested $60,000, which is the base model with just a couple of options, you're looking at something that's $60,000 but has the interior quality of a car half its price. You don't get the feeling while sitting in the driver's seat that you're driving a $60,000 SUV. Now, if that sounds familiar, well, the 2021 Land Cruiser that I reviewed last had a very similar quality, but at a much more expensive price. And when you're looking at the Wrangler or the Bronco, the other nostalgic off-roaders, the Land Cruiser's listing price in cars.com's national inventory is $10,000 more than a Bronco and $13,000 more than a Wrangler. So if that price is a deal breaker, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that, what you might wanna do is just wait, but not for the Land Cruiser. There's gonna be a Toyota 4Runner coming out that could be very similar to this, but at a more affordable price. If you learned something in this video, be sure to like, subscribe and do the other thing.