The story
In December 2020 Toyota confirmed that the Land Cruiser would leave North America after the 2021 model year, ending the run of the V8 200 Series. The gap lasted two model years. On 2 August 2023 Toyota unveiled the J250. Most of the world knows it as the fifth-generation Land Cruiser Prado, but in the US it is sold simply as the Land Cruiser. It is a two-row midsize SUV rather than a three-row full-size one, it is boxier, and it starts at a much lower price than the 200 did. In North America it comes only as a hybrid. The full-size flagship, the 300 Series, still isn't sold here.
A PRADO BY ANY OTHER NAME
Americans have owned Prados for years without being told. The previous J150 Prado was sold in the US as the Lexus GX 460, and the J250 has a Lexus twin of its own in the GX 550, which uses a 349-hp twin-turbo V6. This time the Toyota-badged truck came too. It sits on the GA-F body-on-frame platform shared with the 300 Series. Toyota claims frame rigidity is up 50 percent and overall rigidity 30 percent, and the 250 is the first 'light-duty' Land Cruiser with electric power steering, which is what makes lane-tracing assist possible.
Outside the US the engine list is long. Depending on the market, the 250 is offered with a 2.4-liter turbo petrol, a 2.7-liter petrol four, the familiar 2.8-liter 1GD-FTV turbo-diesel, or that diesel with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, which is what Australia and Western Europe get. Europe mostly calls it plain 'Land Cruiser' and keeps the Prado name only where the 300 is also sold. The US and China get the gasoline hybrid only. Every version is a four-cylinder.
BACK TO THE BOX
Wikipedia credits project chief designer Yoshito Watanabe's team with returning to practicality, durability and dependability, following a basic direction set by former Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda. They also made it look like a 1980s Land Cruiser again. The square body draws on the 60 Series. The base '1958' grade and the launch First Edition get round LED headlamps behind a TOYOTA heritage grille, and the mid-grade 'Land Cruiser' uses rectangular lamps that Toyota says were modeled on the FJ62. Toyota also says it optimized the A-pillar position so you can see more of the trail.
The US launched with three grades: the 1958 at $55,950 plus $1,395 destination, the Land Cruiser, and a First Edition limited to 5,000 trucks for North America. The First Edition came with a roof rack, rock rails and a front skid plate. Car and Driver's First Edition test car reached 60 mph in 7.7 seconds. The magazine's staff liked the slimmer size and the 40- and 80-series design cues. They complained about the thin sheet metal and doors you have to slam.
THE HYBRID IN THE ROOM
The US powertrain is the i-FORCE MAX: a 2.4-liter turbocharged four with a 48-hp electric motor in the bell housing of an eight-speed automatic, for 326 hp and 465 lb-ft. The hybrid battery is a 1.87 kWh nickel-metal-hydride pack. The EPA rates it at 22 city, 25 highway and 23 combined, compared with 14 combined for the last V8 200, and Car and Driver averaged 20 mpg over its test. Full-time four-wheel drive with a two-speed transfer case is standard, and so are locking center and rear differentials on every US grade.
The catch is the fuel tank. It holds 17.9 gallons, and with the mileage above, overlanders start looking at the fuel gauge sooner than they would like. Slee Off-Road's Arctic Trucks build swaps in a 29-gallon tank, which is more than 50 percent more. Owners also note that the battery's location gives the cargo area a sloped floor. On long, steep descents, several owners on LandCruiserForum.com report brake fade from relying on Downhill Assist alone. At the Pikes Peak brake check, a ranger measured one owner's rotors at 575°F.
SO FAR, SO TOYOTA
Americans bought it. Wikipedia counts 29,113 US sales in 2024 and 43,946 in 2025. With the First Edition gone, Toyota's 2027 line-up is two grades: the 1958 at $58,180 and the Land Cruiser at $64,255 (base MSRP, per Toyota). New options are an 'Inked' paint color and a $980 raised air intake, which Motor1 is careful to point out is not a watertight snorkel.
The recall list so far is mostly software and paperwork: an instrument-cluster update for displays that can go blank at start-up, a corrected load-capacity label on some distributor-accessorized 2024 trucks, a rear-camera fix, and an interim notice in 2026 for a fuel-pipe connector that can come loose. None of it is the kind of mechanical horror story that gets a truck a reputation, though it also isn't the 'never needs anything' legend some buyers expect. Notably, the US 250 doesn't use the V35A twin-turbo V6 whose bearing recalls have affected the Lexus LX, Tundra and some 2024 GX 550s.
SIDEBAR · THE WALRUS
The 250 on 37s, done properly
Slee Off-Road and Arctic Trucks North America built what they describe as the first US-spec Land Cruiser 250 AT37, nicknamed 'The Walrus'. It isn't just a lift. Arctic Trucks enlarges the wheel wells and moves the rear axle, which extends the wheelbase, so 37-inch BFGoodrich KO3s fit at full compression on a minimal lift.
Slee lists 11 inches of front wheel travel (2 more than stock) and 12 inches at the rear (3 more), from three-way-adjustable R53/AT dampers. The truck also gets 4.56 gears, an ARB front Air Locker to go with the factory rear locker, Slee aluminum skids and SliderSteps, and a 29-gallon fuel tank in place of the stock 17.9. It's the most complete answer anyone has given to the 250's two weak points: tire clearance and range.
