Last Call: 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser is Big & Spacious, On-Road and Off

11th December 2025 Sam Gomez

If it acts like a truck, drives like a truck and is still a whole lotta fun under one roof, it just might be the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser.

This big boy is really a midsize luxury SUV that is a wee-bit short on luxury IMHO but solid when it comes to utility and practicality, especially when you go off-road (or if you spill a lot of coffee).

4-Wheel-Drive is standard, along with a 2.4-liter turbo that delivers 326 horses and 465 pound-feet of torque. This is some serious power for when you want to Climb Every Mountain – and not in a Julie Andrews / Sound of Music dainty kind of way.

There are just two trims (or styles) for the 2025 model: the base trim is called ‘1958’ (in honor of the year the Land Cruiser first landed in the U.S.), and the top-tier trim is called (simply) Land Cruiser.

Lotsa nice stuff comes standard on the 1958, like heated front seats, underbody protective skid plates, crawl control (low-speed cruise control for off-roading), forward collision mitigation, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist. The Land Cruiser trim adds roof rails, power liftgate, a bigger infotainment screen, synthetic leather upholstery and better sound, to name a few.

There is plenty of room inside for four Bears and maybe one otter. You’ll get 22 city / 25 highway, and that’s pretty good for this class of midsized SUVs, which really do take up a lot of room, despite the ‘midsize’ label.

Simply put, at a price of around $60K (maybe) to $70K US, this is an off-road beast that, much like your Great Dane or Saint Bernard, needs a ranch where it can run and its own cottage to stay at night. If you don’t have a ranch or a farm or a nice big garage, you may want to look at getting a car that’s a little less needy.

Much like Yukon Cornelius of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer fame, the 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser needs to go out and conquer (though it does not come in a Winter Ginger exterior color).

Last week, a friend of mine (a former Mr. Leather) had his car stolen. It was a Kia from about ten years ago, when Hyundai / Kia cars were notorious for having incredibly bad factory-installed security systems that even a middle school tech class could crack.

What might have helped is if he had a strategically-hidden Smart Tag (like the Apple Air Tag) in the glovebox. That still might not have helped the cops – and yet it might have.

Here are some links to buying GPS tracker systems for your car that can help the cops should your vehicle get nicked. If your car already has a security system, you should be okay, but truly, you can never be too secure.

And if you have an older vehicle, understand that thieves are always looking for easy hits, particular cars where they can grab and go with little effort….. and that easy-to-pinch car just may be your older vehicle utilizing off-street parking.

Also, don’t leave your holiday shopping purchases exposed in your car while you shop or have lunch – or while you sleep overnight. Almost no insurance policies will cover personal items left inside cars in the event of theft or a break-in, like your bear gear or drag accessories.

Tis the season for goodwill and merriment. And for taking time to protect yourself – and your property.