Practicality
Rating: 4.2/5

Perhaps it’s obvious that an SUV as large as the Toyota Land Cruiser will offer impressive interior space. Certainly, the additional width it has over smaller crossovers and SUVs means there’s plenty of room for burly rugby players in each row of seats.

The Land Cruiser’s available with a few configurations of seating. Short-wheelbase models come with three doors and seat five, with the back seat occupants clambering in just like they would in any three-door hatchback. Long-wheelbase models have five doors, and models in Active trim can be specified with five or seven seats.  Top-spec Invincible cars are seven-seat only.

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The front seats are rather palatial, with a wide armrest and plenty of adjustment. Those in the second row are also well catered-for with a soft, supportive rear bench and plenty of leg and headroom. They also recline. The third row, which pops up electrically, matches the Land Rover Discovery in being able to seat adults in surprising comfort.

Boot space and storage

Boot space for the three-door model is 380 litres, while five-door cars get a respectable 640-litre load bay when the third row is folded flat. That near-enough matches the Land Rover Defender, and does so again with a paltry, supermini-sized area when the third row’s up.

Like the Defender, but unlike its Discovery sibling, access to the Land Cruiser’s boot is also quite awkward. Instead of a lifting tailgate you get an enormous, side-hinged door. It’s very heavy and requires a lot of room behind the car – don’t plan on reversing into spaces at the supermarket or you simply won’t be able to load up properly.

If you’ve only one or two things to toss in, the rear glass opens separately, but it’s high for shorter owners and a long drop for delicate items. We’re also not huge fans of the tonneau cover for the boot, which is awkward and feels flimsy and at odds with the rest of the car.

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Storage space for smaller items is good. The door bins are large, as are the two cupholders in the front, while the centre compartment is cavernous on lower-spec models and, on ‘Invincible’ cars, it’s refrigerated to keep cans or bottles cold as you drive.

How easy is it to park?

The Land Cruiser is a huge car, especially in long-wheelbase guise, but its square dimensions mean it’s not as onerous a task to park as you might think. You’ll need a large space, of course, but the front corners are visible from the driver’s seat, and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard.

Safety
Rating: 3/5

The Land Cruiser hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP, though with its strong body and standard seven airbags it’s likely it would perform quite well in protecting its occupants. Many of Toyota’s other cars have five-star safety ratings.

Advanced safety tech is rather lacking on all but top-spec Invincible models, however, with autonomous emergency braking, road sign assist, auto high beam, LED headlights, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert all reserved exclusively for this most expensive model.