2024 Toyota Land Cruiser

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a famously capable and trustworthy off-road specialist that’s been totally redesigned and thoroughly modernized for 2024. Pricing starts at $57,345.

The rugged Toyota Land Cruiser is among the most storied, most respected, longest-running nameplates in the history of mechanized transportation. Not only because it can take people far into the wild, but because of the reputation it’s earned for consistently and reliably getting them back home again. Off-road prowess matched by toughness and reliability. Totally redesigned for 2024, the new, more athletic Land Cruiser doesn’t just live up to its lofty expectations, it raises the bar again.

We’ve spent hundreds of hours driving and evaluating this collection of midsize SUVs, including this Land Cruiser.

This is an all-new generation of Land Cruiser, moving away from the larger, almost-luxury SUV aspirations of its predecessor and heading more toward its original reason for being: a highly capable off-roader.

There’s nothing quite like the Land Cruiser, but a range of competitors — with a range of starting prices — include the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler, the Ford Bronco, and the Land Rover Defender. The Land Cruiser’s more well-to-do cousin, the Lexus GX, starts at closer to $65,000.

Before buying a Land Cruiser, check the Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price to know what you should really pay. The Land Cruiser retains its value famously well, and we fully expect that to continue. Recouping more money when you sell a vehicle can mean a bigger down payment and lower monthly payments on your next one.

The new Land Cruiser is motivated by a turbocharged 4-cylinder powertrain that actually generates more torque than the outgoing model’s big ol’ V8. We found it responsive, strong and refined, helping to establish this as the Land Cruiser of the 21st century. Steering and brake feel are similarly crisp and contemporary. This is a far cry from the relatively lumbering and disconnected driving feel of the previous-generation LC.

The fact that every Land Cruiser includes full-time 4-wheel drive with high/low modes plus center and rear-locking differentials speaks volumes about what this vehicle is designed to do. To no one’s surprise, the new Land Cruiser traverses rocks and ruts with aplomb. We took full advantage of the off-road cruise control, Multi-Terrain Select, and Multi-Terrain Monitor systems, all of which complement the impressive hardware to make off-roading even less taxing and more satisfying.

Fuel Economy

The 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser is rated to return 23 mpg in mixed city/highway driving. That’s a huge improvement over the outgoing model’s abysmal 14 mpg rating. At 15,000 miles per year and $3 per gallon, that’s a savings of about $100 per month right there.

Unlike its predecessor, which offered seating for up to eight, the new 2-row Land Cruiser is capable of delivering only five people deep into the bush. We love the open, airy greenhouse and the excellent outward visibility it provides. Big, physical knobs and switches are welcome in both practice and presentation. Our tallest tester had enough legroom in the second row even with the driver’s seat positioned for him, and far more than enough headroom. We found personal storage to be at a premium up front, especially for a vehicle this size. An 8-inch infotainment touchscreen is standard, with a 12.3-inch screen available on higher trims. At a starting price approaching $60,000, we’d expect to see the larger screen included as standard equipment. Overall we think Toyota’s designers succeeded in creating a cabin that’s both sufficiently modern and necessarily business-like.

Using what it describes as a “heritage-inspired design,” Toyota takes a novel route with the different trims of the 2024 Land Cruiser. The 1958 version has round headlights, paying homage to the original Land Cruiser that debuted in the United States in, you guessed it, 1958. The Land Cruiser trim has rectangular headlights like later iterations. The range-topping First Edition has the round headlights. It also comes with a roof rack, rock rails, and offers 2-tone paint schemes. Land Cruisers feature the Toyota name spelled out across the grille in upper-case letters, just like their predecessors.

Virtually the same length as the Jeep Grand Cherokee, this new generation of Land Cruiser is a little smaller and narrower than its predecessor, with the aim of making it more suitable for off-road excursions. The front overhang is shorter, enabling a better approach angle. It sure looks like it can conquer the tundra, outback, savannah, or wherever else a Land Cruiser driver wants to go.

Multi-Terrain Monitor
Sometimes the difference between conquering an obstacle and calling for help is a matter of inches. The Land Cruiser’s available Multi-Terrain Monitor uses cameras to let you negotiate underbody terrain more precisely and confidently.

Use your phone as your key
You can lock, unlock, and start the Land Cruiser with your phone. The car senses your phone just like a key, so you don’t need to take it out of your pocket. You can even “send” a key to a friend.

CRAWL Control
This low-speed, off-road cruise control lets you modulate speed with just the brake pedal, instead of having to dance back and forth between both pedals. We found it so much easier to be smooth and precise with power delivery, which also freed up more focus for steering.

Proactive Driving Assist
This is one of those features you need to experience to appreciate. In everyday driving, the system can apply subtle steering and braking to slow you down for an upcoming curve or help keep you a comfortable distance from vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. It makes some of the same small adjustments you’d make, and lightens your load just a little bit.

Stabilizer Disconnect Mechanism
For more serious off-roading, the Land Cruiser now offers a disconnecting front stabilizer bar. Free up the suspension at the push of a button to help keep both front wheels on the ground while traversing extremely uneven terrain.

Lane Tracing Assist
On longer highway trips, especially, we’re happy to let a vehicle shoulder as much of the driving as it can. We’ve found Toyota’s self-steering capabilities to be among the most accurate and confidence-inspiring.

On the combustion side of the new Land Cruiser’s hybrid drivetrain is a turbocharged 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine. Adding an electric motor results in a total output of 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. This energy is sent through an 8-speed automatic transmission to a sophisticated full-time 4-wheel-drive system. Maximum towing ability is 6,000 pounds.

3-Year/36,000-Mile Warranty

The 2024 Land Cruiser’s basic new-vehicle warranty is for three years or 36,000 miles, whichever happens first, with powertrain coverage of five years or 60,000 miles. These are usual terms from mainstream manufacturers. Hybrid-related components have a warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles, and the hybrid battery is covered for 10 years or 150,000 miles. Toyota also includes free maintenance for the first two years or 25,000 miles, and two years of roadside assistance with unlimited mileage.

Safety

Standard safety equipment includes forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian/cyclist/motorcyclist detection, lane-keeping/lane-tracing assistance, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert.