NEW Toyota Land Cruiser review – Has Toyota RUINED its legendary 4×4?

In this definitive Toyota Land Cruiser review, we find out if Toyota has actually destroyed its famous 4×4! The fifth-generation Land Cruiser 250 (called the Prado in some markets) has just gotten a significant update, adding a 48-volt mild-hybrid system to its 2.8-litre diesel engine. But there is a huge catch: the battery takes up a lot room that Toyota has actually entirely removed the third-row seats and raised the boot flooring!

And with a tremendous ₤ 80,708 cost and fuel economy that hasn't really officially enhanced, does this five-seat SUV have what it requires to beat the Land Rover Protector 110 and Ineos Grenadier? We hit the road– and the rough stuff– to discover if this update is a massive bad move.

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In this video, we take a detailed browse the upgraded 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser. We measure the recently shrunken boot to see precisely the number of luggage it holds compared to a Protector, complain about the missing third row of seats, and check out the durable (but somewhat utilitarian) interior with lots of physical buttons.

Lastly, we take colony Cruiser out on the roadway to see if the mild-hybrid tech has enhanced the 0-62mph time or the gruff engine note, before describing why you might simply be better off purchasing the cheaper business version rather.

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#ToyotaLandCruiser #LandCruiser 250 # 4×4 #landroverdefender 110 #toyotaprado

Video chapters:
0:00– Intro
0:19– The Land Cruiser history
0:53– Rivals
1:27– The brand-new mild-hybrid system
2:10– Fuel economy
2.44– Boot space & usefulness
4:53– No more seven seats!
5:24– Rear seat area
6:40– Driving position & interior
9:42– On-road driving
11:44– Off-road driving
12:38– Prices & decision

Comments

40 responses to “NEW Toyota Land Cruiser review – Has Toyota RUINED its legendary 4×4?”

@Bedurr888

March 28, 2026

Will what a great idea for a review of an iconic car look forward to watching

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@SathiyaprakashNaidu

March 28, 2026

Looks bulk yet sleek 😎

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@naferemix

March 28, 2026

Going for the defender as I want my local repair shop to do really well next year

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1. @MilanSrdić-t8k
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  No mate,you can’t afford one. Stick with your lease Focus.
  
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2. @mikadavies660
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Good thinking…. Support local businesses 😂
  
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3. @sid3924
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  😂
  
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4. @Xfg4637-h5p
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Sour grapes 😂
  
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5. @angrynortherner3805
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Had 3ltr Defender 5 years now and a Disco 5 for 9. Not had anything go wrong and have had more problems with Audi, Fords and Toyota’s in the business!! Audi windscreen leaks, Ford wet belts and Toyota head gaskets!!
  
  Yes JLR 2ltr chocolate engines are crap but so are a lot of other cars on the market!!
  
  Reply
@Bob-kp6bp

March 28, 2026

Awful who’s buying that for that price 💀

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1. @SnoopyenWoodstock
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Me, I have to tow a prety havy trailer for work. I dont want electric for several reasons. The land Rover is no option because of the useless backdoor in combination with a trailer. The last four years i had a chevrolet silverado wich is simply great but it is also verry big. So for me this is perfect.
  
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@whatcar

March 28, 2026

Toyota has turned the new Land Cruiser into a mild hybrid, but this hasn’t improved official fuel economy and the battery has taken up valuable boot space.

For £80,000, which 4×4 are you putting on your driveway?
A) Toyota Land Cruiser (I don’t care about the missing third row seats!) 🧗‍♂
B) Land Rover Defender 110 (I want seven seats and a smoother ride) 🇬🇧
C) Ineos Grenadier (I want an old-school workhorse without the hybrid fuss.) 🚜

Let us know your pick below! 👇

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1. @stevenjones916
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Non of the above. I have taste and common sense.
  
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2. @blakbanshee
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  None of the above. I’d spend the money on a triple locked 80 series and put the leftover money into upgrades and still have some left over for fuel and insurance.
  
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3. @guyosborne2696
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Land Rover Discovery 5 Metropolitan with a few options.
  
  Reply
4. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Land Cruiser overrated and overpriced and crude.
  Defender 110 can be had with seven seats or with a longer body and seven seat option [130] and with engine choices from the D250 D350 and a couple of straight six petrol and two V8 petrol engines to suit every whim. Superb choice of equipment specifications with even the seldom specified basic version being better equipped and a better drive than the 200hp HiLux four cylinder engine’ LC250 [the 250 bears no relation to engine power in Toyota’s case].
  Grenadier. Crude, very heavy, thirsty and noisy whether in petrol or diesel form and realistically, still a work in progress. Not sure what fuss you mean for the hybrid system, because in the Defender at least, unless you knew it had a hybrid system you could drive it in blissful ignorance for years and round the clock. There is no sign of it physically or in the driving experience, which is how it should be and it helps achieve outstanding fuel economy for the size and weight of the vehicle. It actually does only 2mpg less than the last of the Honda CR-V nine speed auto diesels I owned and six mpg better than my first new car, a 1977 Ford Fiesta 1300S which was a third of the weight and only had 66hp.
  
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@jondu-sud274

March 28, 2026

In France the Toyota Land Cruiser has an environmental tax penalty of…..80,000 euros. Due to emissions and weight. Yes you read that correctly. If you love the tax man in France buy a new Land Cruiser. Sales price around 160,000 to 180,000 with tax.

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1. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  In its home market of France, the Grenadier only sold one single unit in 2025 due to the same totally ridiculous tax. I bet Ineos regret very much their massive investment in France, since they are taxed completely out of that potentially huge market.
  
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@kuranglez

March 28, 2026

Where is Doug?

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1. @osm6435
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  He’s revolted. 😉
  
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@Dixxie59

March 28, 2026

Didn’t need the hybrid tech to remain a brilliant workhorse car. Still be running and reliable in 30 years time when the LR is on its 4th Ingenium engine.

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1. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  I still have a Land Cruiser Amazon 100 series. It died at 20 years of age and only 200,000 miles due to being uneconomic to repair its many issues. I can’t actually bear to scrap it. I also ran a Defender 110 HiCap pickup for 22 very hard working years. It did nearly 300,000 miles with hardly any major problems after its first two years. Finally died due to a broken piston and since everything about it apart from the chassis was very worn, it was also uneconomic to repair and was scrapped after lying in my yard dead for three years. Isuzu Trooper 3.1 also ran from new but it was scrapped after 145,000 miles. That was my father’s car and he wasn’t exactly hot on regular maintenance. The only ones to leave me stranded were an 80 series Land Cruiser which had an injector pump destroy itself and a BMW X5 which was carted back to the dealer three times in two years. I’ve had five Land Rovers and four Range Rovers and none have ever let me down yet, touch wood. My current L405 RR Autobiography with the Ingenium D300 engine has passed 61000 miles [100,000kms] trouble free and so has my D250 Defender with 20,000 on the clock.
  Nothing lasts forever without lots of money and time thrown at them, believe me. If someone makes a vehicle last 30 years, it is an act of extreme passion and dedication to the vehicle from relatively early in its life no matter what the brand or model.
  
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@neilwhittaker8021

March 28, 2026

Toyota please put a V6 diesel ⛽️ in this motor 🙏

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1. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  There is the 300 series for you. Not officially available in the UK though, mainly because it is uncompetitive with the Range Rover and Discovery5 let alone the Defender 110 with D350 engine. It’s a bit of a dinosaur and they lost the plot in Europe after the end of the 100 series. The 200 just didn’t sell and was soon dropped from European sale.
  
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@keithblackwood4475

March 28, 2026

Could never buy Land Rover with their reputation.

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1. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Their recent products are superb but the company and its attitude and actions regarding customer service is as appalling as ever. Their last debacle was the early four cylinder 2.0 diesel engine, especially but not exclusively when fitted transversally to vehicles assembled at their Liverpool factory. The pre-facelift Ingenium diesel equipped Evoque, Disco Sport and the smaller Jaguar models. However, every brand has their dodgy models, just look at Toyota V6 engines and GM V8 engines failing in droves in America currently. The measure of the company and brand is what they do about it and how quickly. Neither company seem to be doing any better than Jaguar Land Rover.
  
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@jkkchow74

March 28, 2026

Is this the same as Prado?

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1. @whatcar
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Hello – yes this is called the Prado in some other markets, but just the Land Cruiser in the UK.
  
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@AniketKumar-jn3yi

March 28, 2026

Actually the hybrid system in the boot is very small. In many other countries such as australia people remove that hybrid boot floor and but an aftermarket one which is much lower, almost like before but is actually much stronger than Toyota one’s.

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1. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Any references to this? Particularly video and pictorial ones.
  
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@jonothanhayman2932

March 28, 2026

It’s frankly unforgivable that Toyota have seemingly got this so “wrong”.

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@craigthomson3621

March 28, 2026

Is the fuel tank smaller in the hybrid?

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1. @whatcar
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  Hello – The fuel tank in the new mild hybrid is 80 litres.
  
  Reply
2. @craigthomson3621
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  @whatcarthanks
  
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3. @hedydd2
  
  March 28, 2026
  
  @whatcar
  90 litres in the hybrid diesel Defender and with a safe range of 675 miles per refill at 36mpg. Drove from Aberaeron to Suffolk and Nolfork and back in Defender D250 with ladder, side box and roof rack, all night to avoid traffic and achieved an overall true 36 mpg over 500 or so mile. Hundreds of miles across the Felixtow road to the M6, M54 to Shrewsbury and across to Aberystwyth and down, starting both ways at 1am.
  To Rhayader and back through the Elan Valley reservoirs and to Cwmystwth, which is a very challenging road, single track for much of it, and it averaged 39mpg which was a huge surprise and the best I’ve ever had without trying hard.
  
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@urbanstrencan

March 28, 2026

This latest Toyota LandCruiser is just simply great, especially design wise Toyota nailed it to me, has proper boxy rugged looks as it should have😍😍
Would just love to see Toyota giving us more powerful plug-in hybrid version, with maybe even more off-road focused GR version 🤟🤟🤟

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@sbomorse

March 28, 2026

This needs a 3.0ltr diesel to be competitive. It just isn’t powerful enough in this day and age.

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@hedydd2

March 28, 2026

Who is to say that the chassis gives it better durability off-road compared to a Defender’s monocoque? Prove it by pointing out some bent or cracked Defender bodies.

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@househunt5815

March 28, 2026

This is a superb car, for any need in any conditions. Delighted with mine and avoids the dumb as a Defender bias.

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@-PORK-CHOP-

March 28, 2026

You think that small floor hump is bad, We get the 7 seat version in Australia and that hump is twice as tall than the 5 seat version, it makes the carry space unusable, you didn’t show how tinny the doors sound when you close them, it’s like they put zero vibration absorption in the doors, they sound like a tin can, Toyota have dropped the ball with this one, considering it’s 15% more expensive in AU than the previous model.

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@SnoopyenWoodstock

March 28, 2026

I recoment you take also a look of what would you get back for the car if you sell it in let’s say five years compared to all the other cars you mention and especialy the Land rover wich is also spending a lot of time at the garage for repairs. I think one will be glad to have chosen a Land cruiser.

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