Toyota Land Cruiser long-term test
Our chief photographer wants a car that'll take him off the beaten track when he needs, while effortlessly carrying all the tools of his trade on long motorway trips...
The car Toyota Land Cruiser Run by John Bradshaw, chief photographer
Why it’s here To find out if this luxury SUV really can cope with anything you throw at it
Needs to Shrug off challenging terrain, soothe on the motorway, carry tonnes of kit effortlessly
Mileage 1046 List price £77,115 Best Price £77,115 Price as tested £77,845 Official economy 26.5mpg Test economy 29mpg
9 April 2026 – High and mighty
I like to think of myself as a relatively modest bloke, and as such, I don't like to draw a lot of attention to myself. But avoiding that is tricky when you're driving a hulking great SUV like my Toyota Land Cruiser. I have found, though, that I feel remarkably at ease behind the wheel of the 'cruiser, despite its immense dimensions.
For starters, it's impossible to feel intimidated by other vehicles when you're in such a rugged, purposeful-looking machine. The driving seat is up in the heavens, putting me eye-to eye with London's legendarily assertive van drivers, and even Scanias don't tower above me.
In traffic, the Land Cruiser is what you might call imposing, but somehow in a different way to a Land Rover Defender, a Range Rover or a even a Bentley Bentayga. I've driven all of those, and other road users haven't always seemed keen to let me out of side turnings. People seem to love the Land Cruiser, though, and when I'm in it, I don't feel so much like I'm showing off as I did in the others. I feel more like I'm on an important UN peacekeeping mission, maintaining harmony in South West London.
Being so high up has other advantages, too, not least the kind of view over traffic that you'd need a drone or a helicopter to beat. Hazards that I'd be blind to in a family hatchback are clear to see, and this further increases my confidence in the urban melee. There's even a pretty decent vista over my shoulder.
That's just the direct vision; the enormous side mirrors show me everything that's going on to my left and right flanks, and the rear-view camera (which replaces the view from my rear-view mirror at the touch of a button) is one of the best I've encountered; often these provide an unnatural view that I find more distracting than useful, but the field of view from this one feels very natural, but is broad enough to help counter blind spots. Speaking of which, blindspot assist warning is built into the side mirrors.
And, despite its considerable girth, I've found the Land Cruiser easy enough to manoeuvre into parking spaces, helped substantially by the surround-view camera and the fact that the steering has quite a lot of lock to it. The only thing about the car that's hard work is getting in and out; I'm very grateful for the step, but if it was much shorter I'd need an escalator.
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