When it comes to manufacturers under pressure to perform, Toyota is right up there. The Japanese giant has built a commanding reputation for building vehicles that are excellent value for money, efficient, and ultra-reliable over the last several decades. When many buyers are after a new car that can be the perfect companion day to day, they look to Toyota. If standards start to slip, the company’s whole character disappears.
A few years ago, Toyota introduced a new Land Cruiser for the US market, and things haven’t got off to a great start.
Toyota Rethought The Land Cruiser For The US
2025-2026 Toyota Land Cruiser front 3/4 angle in blue while parkedToyota
The Land Cruiser has been a staple of Toyota’s US lineup for years, with the vehicle sitting towards the higher end of its range. While not quite as luxurious as Lexus’ offerings like the posh LX, the Land Cruiser had room to be more rugged. Although it still came with plenty of posh features that ensured the model could function well as a family bus. At the same time, the beefed-up underpinnings and off-road technology meant it could be used to explore Mother Nature when requested.
The trouble was, the previous J200-series Land Cruiser started to get a little too expensive to buy and run for many Americans, who would rather spend the money on a posher Lexus than a high-end Toyota. Even the cheapest examples of the J200, which came packing a thirsty 5.7-liter V8 engine, demanded north of $85,000. Combine that with an average of 14 miles per gallon, and you’ve got a vehicle that only those with very deep pockets could afford to buy. Annual sales had been stuck in the 3,000 to 4,000 range for years, so Toyota felt the model needed a change.
The J200 was discontinued following the 2021 model year, and the Land Cruiser nameplate took a break from the US until 2024. When it returned, the traditional luxury SUV styling of the J200 had been replaced by a more angular and utilitarian silhouette. Rather than use the new heavy-duty J300-series machine as the basis for the Land Cruiser in the US, the company used the light-duty Prado version usually offered in Asian markets instead.
Despite being classed as a lighter-duty vehicle, the new Land Cruiser was still taller, wider, and only an inch shorter than the outgoing J200 version of the SUV. Still, this reduced length meant the new SUV only had two rows of seating, whereas the J200 was a full-size three-row offering.
Its cheaper base price and increased efficiency clearly struck a chord with Americans though, as the Land Cruiser managed to find an impressive 45,000 new owners across the US in 2025.
The New Land Cruiser Was Set To Be Cheaper To Run
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser engine bayToyota
The point of using the Prado variant for the new Land Cruiser was to ensure it was vastly cheaper not only to buy in the first place than its forerunner, but also more affordable to run on a daily basis. It certainly ticked the first box, as the base 1958 variant can be had for $58,080, not far from $30,000 cheaper than the last J200 Series Land Cruiser would have demanded five years ago. The cost-cutting approach didn’t end there either, as the refreshed Land Cruiser was also sporting a new engine.
The V8 was gone, and there was now a turbocharged inline-four that was assisted by a small electric motor to help get the vehicle up to speed while using less fuel. According to Toyota, the new machine would be able to average an impressive 23 MPG, which isn’t bad on a huge vehicle that weighs well north of 5,000 pounds. It was also 9 mpg above that of the J200, which should have made it much cheaper to run at the pumps. Plus, the simpler four-pot internal combustion engine would be easier and cheaper to maintain than the outgoing V8.
The engine retained strong power overall though, with the turbocharger and hybrid system working nicely together to provide 465 lb-ft of torque, which was 64 lb-ft more than its predecessor. That said, the V8 did provide more horsepower, with its 381 hp figure beating the new rig’s 326 hp.
Toyota’s Updated Land Cruiser Has Come Under Fire
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser interior steering wheelToyota
While all that sounds like a good compromise in today’s world, the new Land Cruiser hasn’t exactly had an easy ride so far. Reviewers and owners have criticized the quality and feel of the Land Cruiser’s interior, with the more utilitarian exterior design somewhat reflected on the inside as well.
Some owners were left disappointed with Toyota’s decision to use hard plastic across the cabin trims, as opposed to using softer materials that would have given the $60,000 offering a more premium feel. Others were critical of the fit and finish of the vehicle, with one owner reporting via Kelley Blue Book that the hood on his 2025 example tended to rattle at high speed, making the car feel much cheaper than it was.
Extreme wind noise was also flagged up as a complaint by an owner, an issue that made itself known at higher speeds.
And then we come to the fuel economy. The Toyota gets a combined fuel economy average of 23 mpg, according to the EPA. However, owner reports online point to folks averaging 18.5 mpg to 20 mpg over thousands of miles in the real world. Granted, these figures are anecdotal because we don’t know what sort of driving mix these folks are doing. Yet, the numbers might point to the EPA figures being difficult to achieve for some drivers.
Various Reliability Concerns Have Also Cropped Up
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Exterior Rear 3/4 AngleCarbuzz
The Land Cruiser’s issues don’t end with subpar quality and fuel efficiency, either. Drivers have also reported a range of mechanical and electronic problems that affect the driving experience, with one revealing that his car was suffering from rough downshifting that made the car feel much rougher and cheaper than it is. Dodgy camera behavior in poor weather has also been reported, with screen flickering and glitches also being experienced.
The Land Cruiser has also been subjected to a few different recalls, with two of them regarding the car’s display panels failing to work as expected. The trouble is, given the young age of the J250 series Land Cruiser, there’s every chance that further mechanical and electrical problems could start cropping up in the near future. Even the earliest cars are around two years old, so the assortment of current problems doesn’t bode particularly well.
Of all the reviews posted via KBB, only 63% of the drivers recommended the vehicle to others, which is a concerningly low score.
The Land Cruiser’s Issues Flag Wider Issues With Toyota’s Slipping Standards
2027 Toyota Sequoia TrailhunterToyota
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the concerns over the latest Land Cruiser are limited to a single model. Toyota has seen its quality and reliability start to slip over the last couple of years, as illustrated by its performance in JD Power’s Vehicle Reliability and Dependability Study. The survey interviews buyers of pretty much every vehicle on sale in the US to find out how many problems they have suffered, which allows us to see just how dependable the entire range of a manufacturer is proving.
Toyota has tended to feature towards the top of the standings, with the brand ending up as the runner-up in 2024, behind only its luxury sibling Lexus. In 2025, though, it slipped to fourth in the order with a score of 162 problems per 100 cars, but things have only gotten worse in 2026. The marque fell to eighth overall, but the more concerning statistic is that its PP100C score rose significantly to 185, showing that owners were starting to suffer from many more problems with their vehicles than before.
This tracks consistently with the issues that buyers have found with the J250 Land Cruiser, as well as those who have run into problems with the problematic V35 V6 engine, which has been recalled on multiple occasions in recent times. The trend is concerning, and shows that potential cost-cutting is now starting to make itself known with Toyota’s latest offerings.
If it fails to get on top of these ailments swiftly, Toyota is at risk of being overtaken by some of its rivals as the pick for those after great value and dependable vehicles. Should that happen, there’s every chance the behemoth could find itself in some pretty serious trouble.
Sources: JD Power, Kelley Blue Book, Toyota.
