EVEN TOUGHER LOVE (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 101

The further improved version of Toyota's fourth generation 'J150'-series Land Cruiser launched in 2018 was the preferred mode of transport in some of the world's harshest environments, so it's a safe bet that it will be up to pretty much anything you could put it through. It's not cheap but it is tough, dependable, will hold its value and probably out-last you. Even better off road and slightly better on it, this revised version of this J150 model was safer, smarter and a little easier to live with but remains as honest a large, luxurious 7-seater SUV as you could want.

Modelsword count: 11

3/5 door family 4x4 (2.8 D-4D diesel [Utility, Active, Icon, Invincible])

Historyword count: 436

In an age of Crossovers, soft roaders and various other permutations of pretend SUVs, it's refreshing once in a while to come across the real thing. And this is it. Toyota's Land Cruiser. The Land Cruiser model line goes back nearly 70 years - to the BJ series model, a Willys Jeep-like design introduced by Toyota in 1951 and used by the military in the Korean War. In 1955, this vehicle was re-named the 'Land Cruiser' and marketed to private buyers looking for rugged go-anywhere transport. A more car-like 'Station Wagon' version, arrived in 1966 but the key change in this model line's history came in 1985 when two separate Land Cruiser product lines were launched. One super-large design, in our market variously badged 'VX', 'Amazon' and 'V8', campaigned in luxury Range Rover territory. The more affordable alternative was what Toyota called its 'Light Duty Series' model, which targeted family-orientated SUV rivals that were merely large - models like Mitsubishi's Shogun and the Land Rover Discovery. The car we're looking at here is from that more accessible Land Cruiser 'Light Duty Series' bloodline and was badged 'Prado' in quite a few of the 190 countries it was sold in around the world. Since the mid-Eighties, we've had, 'J70', 'J90' and 'J120'-series 'Light Duty' Land Cruisers, before this fourth generation 'J150' design arrived in 2009, available in our market only with 3.0-litre four cylinder diesel power. In 2014, Toyota's importers decided to stop selling the bigger alternative V8 full-luxury class Land Cruiser model in the UK, so pushed this 'Light Duty-series design a little more up-market with a facelift and an interior upgrade. Then in 2015, the 3.0-litre diesel engine made way for the slightly more efficient 2.8-litre unit. Finally, in early 2018, we got the further enhanced version of this MK4 model that we're looking at here, with its smarter looks, stronger standards of safety and interior improvements. As before, around the world typical owners of this car could be anyone from a Kenyan safari guide to a Siberian mining contractor and it's these people, rather than green wellied housewives, that this rejuvenated Land Cruiser was primarily created to suit. Hence its continued use of the kind of separate traditional ladder framed chassis and live rear axle set-up that more car-like European rivals had long abandoned in search of tighter tarmac performance. That limits this big Toyota's market appeal of course, but loyal customers won't care. They buy this car because it's tough, spacious, it'll go anywhere and it'll probably out-live them. It sold in this form until late 2023, when an all-new J250-series model arrived.

What You Getword count: 531

In a world of stylised luxury SUVs, there's something about this Land Cruiser's bluff-fronted suitability for purpose that's rather refreshing - if you like that sort of thing. With other cars, aesthetic changes to existing models are all about making them appear smarter. When Toyota changes the look of the Land Cruiser, the updates are all about making it even better off road - as was the case here as part of this 2018 update. The LED headlights and grille were moved up so that there would be less chance of them being blocked or damaged. The re-profiled bonnet gave a clearer forward view when inching over challenging terrain and the square front wings made judging the extremities easier. Plus the bumper was re-shaped to give the best possible approach angle for steep slopes. At the wheel, as you'd expect, you sit high up in a pleasingly commanding position. Not so good are the dashboard ergonomics you survey from this elevated perch. The switchgear distribution has always been a bit muddled in previous Land Cruisers and to be frank, in this form it still was, despite the attempts made as part of this update to tidy things up. Some things were better; the re-designed controls for the off road and suspension settings in the middle of the centre stack are easier to use. But there are still plenty of switches hidden away by your knees and the graphics used on the 'Toyota Touch 2' multimedia screen seem very dated. And the second row? Well once inside, you'll find excellent standards of head and knee room aided by the way that on most models, you can recline the seat backs and slide the seat base. What about the third row seating? You won't necessarily get that on cheaper Land Cruiser variants, though this is mandatory on a plusher derivative. Once you get yourself back into the third row, you'll certainly find it better than the kids-only zone offered by most cars of this kind. If you've second row passengers prepared to help out and slide forward a little, you'll find that two adults could happily cope back here, provided they weren't too tall and the journey wasn't too long. Finally, let's examine your luggage capacity options - at which point you'll find yourself dealing with this Land Cruiser's most annoyingly distinctive design cue, its side-opening tailgate, a real pest in tight supermarket carparks. True, to compensate, Toyota has provided an opening tailgate glass section, but getting your bags in through the opening it creates is an awful lot of work, so high is the window line from the ground. With the third seating row upright, there's predictably very little luggage space - just 104-litres. Much of the time though, you're probably not going to be requiring the extra boot-mounted chairs and when they're not needed, you can use electric controls mounted inside the tailgate and behind the nearside second row seat to retract them neatly into the boot floor via Toyota's slick 'Easy Flat' folding system. Once the third row seating disappears, a 621-litre space is revealed. If that's still not enough, dropping forward that bench frees up 974-litres of total capacity.

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