The 2025 Toyota 4Runner Is the Real Land Cruiser Replacement

About a year and a half ago, Toyota unveiled the next generation for the Tacoma pickup truck and, more surprisingly, the return of the Land Cruiser SUV. The Land Cruiser in particular turned heads in the off-road community, because it arrived built on the rest-of-world’s Prado chassis, and therefore wound up much smaller than expected and far more affordable than the previous generation.

Now, the 2025 4Runner joins Toyota’s 4x4 lineup, built on the TNGA chassis, with similar engine options: a turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four or the same gas engine with a bit of hybrid assist. More importantly, the interior steps into the modern era with a big touchscreen and digital gauges, plus improved ergonomics.

The Land Cruiser and Tacoma left me a little baffled back in 2023, but the new 4Runner only compounds the confusion because the pricing makes zero sense. How can a tricked out 4Runner TRD Pro or Trailhunter cost more than a base Lexus GX 550—and almost exactly as much as a GX 550 Overtrail? Why on Earth would Toyota decide to make the Lexus the most off-roady of the SUV trio, while inflating the 4Runner’s price to the point that it becomes, in essence, the new real Land Cruiser?

Witnessing A Serious Quandary for Toyota Fans

Toyota more recently held a drive program at Vogt Ranch, southeast of San Diego, to show off the new 4Runner’s newfound capabilities. And without a doubt, this truck at every trim level drives better than the previous generation. I fiddled with the touchscreen and the buttons and the switchgear, ripped around on-road and off to explore the body roll and suspension articulation of each trim package, even hit a fairly substantial jump in a TRD Pro to catch legit air.

On road, the TRD Off-Road package pairs bad tires—similar to the rubber that arrived on the Land Cruiser debut vehicles—with minimal body roll, likely thanks to the Bilstein monotube shock dampers and seriously beefy sway bars. But unlike the Tacoma, the 4Runner’s TRD Off-Road cannot disconnect a sway bar to improve wheel travel. On the 4Runner, only the TRD Pro and Trailhunter get a disconnecting sway bar.

But Toyota will sell the 4Runner Off-Road with a gasoline-only engine option, while the TRD Pro and Trailhunter both require the hybrid. Throw in the locking diffs, suspension upgrades from Fox and ARB respectively, a hilarious snorkel on the Trailhunter, and the prices almost seem justified. Almost…

Really, the hybrids contribute mightily to part of this debacle. On lower trims, selecting what Toyota calls the “i-Force Max Hybrid” adds about $12,000 to each 4Runner’s MSRP. So take that 12 grand off a TRD Pro or a Trailhunter and things start to look more reasonable. Plus, then the hybrid battery pack doesn’t take up a ton of room in the trunk, allowing for either a third row or more gear storage. And with the eight-speed automatic transmission—unlike the manual Tacoma I drove for over 1,200 miles in California last year—the 2.4-liter turbo-four actually serves adequately (even if it sounds like a tractor while getting the job done).

Is the New 4Runner Too Nice?

Without a doubt, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner drives better than the previous generation, and the interior and tech are also miles ahead of the previous version. Courtesy Image

Luckily, the 4Runner’s second row can actually seat a full-grown adult, unlike the Tacoma which offers just enough space for four-legged friends only. But as seen on the Land Cruiser, Toyota cut costs by keeping the vestigial third-row cupholders even in the hybrid 4Runner models. Don’t try to convince me that’s for spending nights sleeping in the back, either, since the second row folds by rolling forward rather than lying flat, and doesn’t match the floor level of the hybrid battery pack. Brilliant!

Unfortunately for my ranting, though, I must admit that the 4Runner held up to on-road and off-road driving quite well. We never aired down and yet especially the up-spec Fox and ARB suspension provided plenty of cushion for hard charging, light rock crawling, and jumping without too much crash and bang ruining my spinal alignment.

On the other hand, similar to the Tacoma and Land Cruiser, the wider-than-wide hood seriously ruined visibility over the trails. And Toyota’s incessant safety warnings that ding constantly often pulled up the wrong camera angles just at the wrong time. But as I adjusted to the dynamics and software, I discovered a bunch of trucks that can go just about anywhere within reason—especially with the up-spec control arms, dampers, and skids thrown in for good measure.

On the other, other hand, off-roaders worried about the small 18-gallon gas tanks of the Land Cruiser and Tacoma might want to double check their stash of Jerry cans, because the 4Runner only improves minimally on that number with a 19-gallon tank. And even with the hybrid powertrain, the 33-inch Toyo Open Country A/T III tires still keep the 4Runner TRD Pro—in 2WD, with the i-Force Max hybrid engine—at just 24 mpg on the highway, which translates to a range of 456 miles in the best of the best of ideal circumstances but undoubtedly far less most of the time.

Steep Pricing Worthy of a Land Cruiser

Selecting the “i-Force Max Hybrid” option adds about $12,000 to each 2025 Toyota 4Runner’s MSRP. Courtesy Image

A Lexus GX at least steps up to a 21.1-gallon tank, but hold tight for the most egregious stat: A base Lexus GX 550 starts at $63,935 and both the 4Runner TRD Pro and Trailhunter that I drove stickered for $66,900. That’s ridiculously close even to the GX 550 Overtrail package, which costs just $1,000 more. And a Land Cruiser, even while budgeting for a full set of replacement tires, can cost as much as 10 percent less! Simply put, no world exists where buying a top-trim 4Runner over a GX or Land Cruiser makes sense.

Now compare those prices to 1998, when the 100-series Land Cruiser joined the third-gen 4Runner in Toyota’s lineup. Back then, the Land Cruiser bordered on luxury status, fully featured and only just shy of the slightly more plush Lexus LX 470. But a Land Cruiser’s MSRP started at $46,370 while a 4Runner with 4WD basically took a Tacoma and popped on a permanent camper shell, and therefore cost just $26,268. An LX in 1998, you ask? How about $54,950 (and my beloved full-size Montero came in even nearer to a 4Runner, at $33,530).

Part of the pricing debacle comes down to the fact that the new Land Cruiser and GX share that 250-series Prado chassis, rather than the LX 600’s platform that today's, rest-of-world 300-series Land Cruiser uses. But keeping up similar ratios as the 1990s, the new 4Runner TRD Pro should cost maybe $40,000 and the Trailhunter maybe $45,000—Toyota probably deemed that kind of pricing impossible to hit in the current market with a hybrid engine as the only available option.

The Confusion Only Leaves One Good Choice

In reality, given the similar pricing tiers, choosing between a 4Runner, Land Cruiser, and GX comes down to priorities. The form factor for family life matters, or a roll-down rear window for pups in the back, and a few specific options. But on paper and in real life, the GX delivers a better engine in a more luxurious vehicle with more space and looks the best—no wonder I see about a million a day on the streets of West L.A.

The Land Cruiser’s interior does add a bit more creature comforts than the 4Runner, largely thanks to more comfy seats and the higher roof, plus when shod in similar tires, it drives better, looks better, and costs less as similarly equipped. But the third row disappeared and meanwhile somehow the 4Runner, despite offering three rows only on the lowest trims, hits dealer floors with a sky-high pricetag for a TRD Pro and Trailhunter.

Once upon a time, the 4Runner was little more than an affordable rough-and-tumble pickup truck with a built-in camper shell while the Land Cruiser was a much more serious SUV ready for off-roading. But now, the new 4Runner comes with the same interior tech, same hybrid engine, and is arguably more trail-ready in both TRD Pro and Trailhunter spec. And the price gap simply evaporated with the passing years, too, so now those 4Runners cost more.

Why not bolt a set of aftermarket shocks onto a Land Cruiser or GX, you might ask? Doing so would definitely change the equation. Paying the Toyota tax up front for a Land Cruiser always made sense, until now, because this mixed-up gradewalk turns the lineup into an entirely incomprehensible jumble—effectively turning the 4Runner into the new Land Cruiser.