2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Drive Review: Brief taste shows promise, but 1958 questionable

BARRETT JUNCTION, Calif. – This may be our literal first drive of the all-new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, but we’ll be trying to get one for a more substantive test as soon as possible. Our drive was restricted to a few laps of a specially created off-road course, and not even an especially long one, plus a half-hour of road time on a winding rural highway with long sweepers and hefty grades. In short, this was not the venue for a thorough or fair evaluation, even within the usually limited scope of a typical first drive event.

The story of the 2024 Land Cruiser also got a lot more complicated because of what happened the night before our drive: The equally all-new 4Runner was unveiled. While 4Runner pricing won’t be announced until the fall, the current generation would suggest that the 2025’s hardcore off-roading trim levels should be in the same ballpark as the Land Cruiser’s starting price of $57,345. Considering those trim levels share the Land Cruiser’s new body-on-frame platform, strong hybrid powertrain, have similar dimensions and provide far more equipment, both of the mechanical and creature comfort variety … well, why get the Land Cruiser?

Toyota describes that entry-level “Land Cruiser 1958” as a “blank canvas” for more dedicated off-roaders who want to make their rig their own. Seats are covered in a sturdy fabric, door and dash surfaces are rock-hard plastic, frills are kept to a minimum and options are scarce. You can’t get the new manually disconnecting stabilizer bar, skid plates or roof rails, including the latter as an accessory. This DIY concept seemed intriguing when the new Land Cruiser was unveiled, and there could definitely be those happy to spend $6,000 less than the starting point of the upper “Land Cruiser” trim level. However, I would contend the disconnecting stabilizer bar is hardly a frill, and they’d get that, plus a whole bunch of other hardware in the new 4Runner TRD Pro or Trailhunter – hardware they wouldn’t have to spend money adding to a stripper Land Cruiser.

I kept asking various Toyota representatives some variation of, “What are the reasons someone might choose a 1958 instead of a 4Runner TRD Pro or Trailhunter?” No one