Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2021 review: GXL

Well, as I said, it looks big! It is handsome, but doesn’t have some of the visual appeal of a LandCruiser 200 Series, Land Rover Discovery HSE or other similar sized cars, But hey, it’s not all about looks!

It has a thick, chunky front grille, which looks more modern than its predecessors. Along the side there is a handy step to help get into the seat, which the kids and I certainly needed (plus it’s a bit of fun). The 17-inch alloy wheels come as standard and take the look of this car up a notch.

Along the side there is a handy step to help get into the seat.

You won’t be surprised to hear that inside the car is... big! The front seats, with optional leather trim, are extremely comfortable and roomy, and there are lots of bottle holders and storage spots for keys and phones.

The front seats, with optional leather trim, are extremely comfortable and roomy.

The rear is also very spacious, with a nice fold-down middle bench with cupholders for the back seat crew. The glove box is so large you could fit a small puppy in there (no puppies were harmed in this assessment, nor is it recommended for puppies).

There is also a third row as standard on the GXL, which can be folded flat when not in use. The back row is better suited to the littlies (or a flexible shorty), but when in use it really takes away from the boot space.

The third row is standard on the GXL, and can be folded flat when not in use.

The boot space is 553 litres (again, pretty big! More than enough for a week away), which crunches down to just 104 litres when the third row is in use. It comes with a tow bar as standard, so watch your shins.

The boot opening has an optional flat tailgate (the spare tyre is usually on the back, but in this car it is mounted under the floor).

There is a handy top window which lifts up for easy access (though I’m 165cm (5’4”) tall, and I could only really toss things through the window, I couldn’t reach up to get anything out).

The whole boot door does swing open to the side, like a regular car door, which is good for full access, but not if you’ve got someone parked behind you, as there simply isn’t the room to open it all the way out.

The door itself is also quite heavy, so if you only want to open it part way and not bump into anything it can be a bit tricky.

The Prado is very simple to drive, and would probably be most useful if you live in the country, do some serious off-roading, or need to tow or carry heavy things.

The Prado is very simple to drive, and would probably be most useful if you live in the country.

The sheer size of it doesn’t lend itself to practical city or inner-suburb driving, but it’s certainly not prohibitive. So if you’re a larger stature person, or like to feel very high on the road, this is certainly a good option for you.

The optional leather seats are heated and ventilated in the front and heated in the back. The cooling ventilation is a nice addition, especially in the Aussie summer when leather can get a bit warm.

The optional leather seats are heated and ventilated in the front and heated in the back.

The back seat has loads of space, directional air vents, pockets and cupholders, meaning the rear accommodation isn’t just for kids, adults could happily take a road trip in the back seat and be in real comfort.

I have two harnessed child seats, and getting them in and out was easy enough, but climbing into the boot to anchor them properly was... interesting.

Not something to try in a skirt. But once they’re in, clipping in my little one (who is in a five-point harness), was quite easy with the side step for access. The kids loved jumping in and out, and being so high up on the road gave them a new perspective.

The Prado has a maximum five star ANCAP safety rating as a result of testing in 2011, but be mindful that this is 10 years ago, which is a long time in car years.

Safety gear includes seven airbags, and those in the third row are also protected by side curtain airbags.

The second row has two ISOFIX child seat anchor points (one on each outer seat) and three top-tether points allowing for three kids seats.

On board the safety is bolstered by 'Toyota Safety Sense', incorporating AEB with pedestrian detection (day and night) and cyclist detection (day only), high-speed active cruise control and lane departure alert (with steering assistance via braking) plus trailer sway control.

There are audio reminders for things like school zones, and dashboard reminders for speed zones. There’s a lot to keep you and the family safe.

The Prado GXL currently starts at $63,690, plus on-road costs, but our particular example had premium paint ($600), and the premium interior pack ($3463), which includes leather trim, heated/vented and electric front row, and heated second-row seats. This brings the total price, before on-road costs, to $67,753.

Toyota offers a five year/unlimited km warranty, and capped price servicing under its ‘Service Advantage’ banner for $260 per service every six months/10,000km for the first four services.

Fuel consumption from my test drive was at 15.5L/100km, compared to the official combined number of 7.9L/100km. The majority of the driving I did was short trips in town, often in a lot of traffic, and a small amount of highway driving.