Toyota LandCruiser Sahara ZX 2022 review

How does it look?

It’s a beast of a car, high, wide, and good looking. It’s quite square-ish in shape and has definition wedged into the bodywork.

With a huge grille on the front, the rest is understated and it lets the size speak for itself. This is the car version of The Rock in a suit. 

Being the top model the interior is luxe. The one I tested featured a black and red theme though it comes in beige and plain black.

There’s a wide centre console area that is nicely designed, very functional and feels premium, much more so than any Toyota I’ve ever driven. 

The steering wheel is leather-trimmed with a carbon look finish, and there are wood panel accents throughout. It’s definitely a big player in this premium category. 

What’s the tech like?

The multimedia screen on this model is 12.3 inches and you’ll get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connected by a USB cord.

That means instant connectivity with your phone’s main apps and you can use Google maps to navigate and a streaming app to listen to music or podcasts. There are 14 JBL speakers in this car, so turn the sound up, it’s worth it. 

How easy is it to use every day?

The LandCruiser Sahara features power everything including power adjustable front seats and a power tailgate. 

There are two cupholders in the front, a large centre storage bin that’s also refrigerated and is genuinely good for keeping drinks cold, with a swish double door opening.

There's a wireless charging pad, and bottle holders in the doors. 

My kids loved this car, the height, the space - they’ve been a bit critical of cars recently but as soon as they got in and saw the screens - well, you know how kids feel about screens, so it was an immediate winner.

They spent the whole week changing the radio station over. And over. And over. Besides that you’ll have to get them something else to do on these screens, which I didn’t do.

You’ll get your own climate control in the second row, cupholders in the centre armrest and bottle holders in the doors. 

How spacious is it?

Space is enormous in the front, there’s loads of leg and headroom for taller people, and it’s so high off the road it feels like a mini house on wheels.

There’s plenty of room in between the passenger and driver’s seat. You won’t feel like you need more room. 

Space in the back is great. You can fit three child seats across, I did it with two boosters and a baby capsule.

I’m 161cm and there’s loads of room for me. Taller adults and teenagers won’t have any issues fitting in the second row. 

The square shape also makes the boot functional, and large, with 1131L on offer with the second seat upright.

Fold that second row and the available space grows to no less than 2052L.

You might be surprised to find this big SUV is only a five seater, and you can certainly get seven-seat LandCruisers, but the Sahara ZX is all about storage space.

How does it drive?

Driving in the Sahara is pretty great. There’s a large 3.3L diesel engine which means it has loads of power and you can feel it as soon as you get in.

The car moves with little effort, speeds up hills and you can overtake on highways easily. There’s a heaviness on take off, but that’s to be expected with such a heavy, large car, and nobody’s expecting this to be nimble. 

It handles well and you do quite honestly feel as though you are queen of the road in the Sahara. It feels very safe and solid, and you feel confident driving it. 

Parking is not too bad, but it is such a large car, you won’t fit into parks that you ordinarily would. I stuck out a lot in the local outdoor carpark. It takes up a lot of space.

Other than that the parking is fine, you can still reverse park when there is enough room for you and there’s a good reverse parking camera, plus a 360-degree view to help you out. 

How safe is it?

For safety there are airbags for driver and front passenger and side airbags for the first and second row.

You’ll get auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, active cruise control, lane departure alert, rear cross traffic alert and blind spot monitoring. 

The latest 'Toyota Safety Sense' suite includes AEB with daytime cyclist and vehicle detection, nighttime pedestrian detection, intersection turn assist and steering assist.

There are two ISOFIX points and three top tether points to secure child seats in the second row.

How much does it cost to own?

The Toyota LandCruiser Sahara costs $138,500, before on-road costs. The official combined Fuel consumption figure is 8.9L/100km and I averaged 12.3L/100km this week. 

It’s covered by Toyota’s five year, unlimited km warranty and will need a service every six months or 10,000km which is quite short. 

However, the 'Toyota Service Advantage' program has been extended from three years/60,000km to five years/100,000km, including capped-price servicing on the first 10 services at $375 each.

Verdict