Review: 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Commercial
The Toyota Land Cruiser. For over 70 years it’s earned a reputation for being tougher than a farmer’s hands in February - reliable, durable, and utterly dependable. Now, for this latest generation, Toyota have decided to give it a commercial twist, and lucky me received an invite to visit Toyota’s Burnaston plant, not only to have a play in one, but to watch them being converted.
You see, Toyota’s Burnaston site, officially home to the Business Revenue Conversion (BRC) centre, is a bit like a makeover studio for Toyotas. It’s not just where the Corolla Commercial was born or where the Land Cruiser gets its van treatment with blanked-off windows, bulkhead and rubber-lined load space. The BRC also handles jobs like fitting tow bars and roof racks, converting vehicles for police duty, and even refurbishing lease cars so they can go back out onto the road instead of the scrapyard. All of this ties neatly into Toyota’s wider push to reduce waste and keep vehicles in service for longer, squeezing every bit of use out of them. In short, Burnaston is where Toyotas either get a second life or a whole new purpose.
First Impressions – SUV in Work Boots
From the outside, the Commercial is almost indistinguishable from the passenger version — until you peer through the rear window and realise there aren’t any seats, just steel panels, a mesh-topped bulkhead, and a load bay you could host a small ceilidh in (look it up). Toyota says this is for customers who don’t need the open load bed or extra seats of a Hilux, but still want off-road clout, on-road civility, and a decent helping of comfort and safety kit. Sounds reasonable, though it’s still no lightweight.
This thing will carry 820kg and tow 3.5 tonnes, so it’s basically a Hilux in a suit. The load bay? Fully lined, edge-to-edge tray, rubber matting, and big enough for 2,000 litres of kit. That’s 1.09m high, 1.68m long, and 1.28m wide at its broadest, or in more relatable terms, enough to fit a week’s worth of muddy camping gear, a sheepdog, and half of B&Q.
Spec-wise, there’s just one version, the five-door, long-wheelbase job. This isn’t a stripped-out poverty-spec workhorse either; you get most of the toys from the passenger model, including heated and cooled seats, dual-zone climate control (with actual buttons — praise be), a 9” infotainment screen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, permanent 4WD, selectable drive modes, plus the fancy off-road gizmos — Crawl Control, Hill-Start Assist, and Downhill Assist.
The Playground – Toyota’s Burnaston Test Track
Not only is the commercial conversion created at Toyota’s Burnaston plant, but it’s conveniently home to their off-road test course where we I spent a happy chunk of the day.
Originally built to test the hydrogen 2WD Hilux, the track is a mix of steep climbs, deep descents, tight woodland, grassy embankments, a gravel pit, log obstacles, and potholes big enough to lose a small hatchback in. We got three laps, each time playing with different drive modes and control systems.
The route eases you in with a gentle grass section, then turns into a tight left-hander onto a high grassy embankment. From there it’s a narrow woodland squeeze with slanted ruts, then a proper steep hill you crest and descend back into long grass, through the elephant footprints, and finally into a deep gravel bed.
If you just stick it in low-range and let it do its thing, the Land Cruiser Commercial will get you round without breaking a sweat. It’s that good, smart enough to adjust to whatever you chuck at it, yet never feeling like it’s taking over completely.
One highlight? Testing Crawl Control on that big hill, something I didn’t get to play with when I had the First Edition Land Cruiser. At the bottom, I set it to the middle crawl speed, and it edged forward like it was thinking, “Right then, let’s have a go.” Then it just walked up the hill without slipping, no drama, or fuss. Going down, I selected the slowest setting, and… same story: no jerks, no sliding, just steady, safe progress. It’s beginner-friendly off-roading at its best, the sort of thing that’ll have the agricultural crowd grinning.
Honestly, I could have spent the whole day looping that course. It felt more like a theme park ride than a serious mechanical test, but the clever systems were quietly working away to keep everything pointing the right way. At no point did it feel like the car was panicking, or like it was wrestling you for control.
Back on the Road – Derbyshire Style
After all that bouncing about, it was time for something more civilised: an hour’s run on local roads. Derbyshire’s a decent test for on-road manners, with its blend of motorways, town centres, and country lanes.
It’s no Lexus, you still know you’re in a ladder-frame off-roader, but the ride’s perfectly respectable. It deals with motorway cruising just fine, sits high so you can see trouble coming, and the light steering makes town driving far less of a workout than in some rivals.
Inside, it’s a pleasant place to spend time. Leather seats are comfy, armrest’s in the right spot, and the cabin feels like it’s built for long jaunts. As I wrote in my First Edition review, you can’t fully with off the ADAS and it can be a bit intrusive, but hey-ho.
Visibility’s generally great, though those panelled-in rear windows mean you’ll rely more on your mirrors. The rear tailgate’s glass lets you use the central mirror, so reversing’s not a nightmare. Safety kit like blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert takes the edge off manoeuvring, too.
Everyday Practicality
Shove open that rear tailgate and the load lip is sensible — low enough to not feel like hauling a piano. The bay’s toughened and easy to hose out, and the steel bulkhead means you’re not going to end up with an angry toolbox on your lap if you brake hard. It’s also a doddle to strap loads down, clearly designed by people who’ve actually had to tie stuff in.
And then there’s the towing, 3.5 tonnes of it, so whether it’s livestock, machinery, or your mate’s broken-down project car, the Land Cruiser Commercial is ready to oblige.
Fuel, Tax & Running Costs
At £51k ex-VAT, it’s not exactly cheap, but it’s pitched at the premium end of the commercial 4x4 market, up there with the Defender Hard Top and Ineos Grenadier Utility Wagon. Being a commercial vehicle, the tax picture’s a little friendlier for business users, but you’ll still want to check the numbers with your accountant.
Fuel-wise, the 2.8 diesel is no saint but isn’t ruinous either, and the mild-hybrid version coming later should add a smidge more efficiency.
Rivals & Reality Checks
Against the Defender Commercial, the Toyota’s less flashy but probably more reliable. Compared to the Grenadier, it’s more comfortable, easier to live with, and doesn’t feel like it’s trying quite so hard to prove its ruggedness. The Hilux? More load bed space, but less weather protection and on-road comfort.
Verdict
The 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Commercial is proof you can have your off-road cake and eat it without remortgaging your house. It’s more comfortable, better equipped, and more refined than its predecessor, without losing an ounce of go-anywhere toughness.
Yes, the Land Rovers are more polished on tarmac, but the Toyota claws back points with bulletproof reliability, a 10-year/100,000-mile warranty, and a reputation for getting the job done long after the others have gone home on a flatbed.
Is it expensive? Yep. Is it the plushest? Nope. But will it keep going long after your neighbour’s “lifestyle” SUV has given up the ghost? Almost certainly.
If you want a commercial 4x4 that’s as happy bouncing through a muddy farm track as it is sitting outside the builders’ merchants, and you like your heater controls as actual buttons, not buried in a screen, this might just be your next set of wheels.
Later this year you’ll even be able to get it with Toyota’s mild-hybrid setup, but for now, diesel orders open 1st August, with deliveries in September.