2024 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series: Five things we love and five we don’t

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series is without a doubt the oldest new vehicle on the market today and yet it continues to draw droves of fans and (well) paying customers, resulting in delivery wait times of well over 12 months and an order book that’s been closed since July 2022 and won’t reopen this year.

Toyota ambushed the world earlier this month when it debuted the first facelift for the 70 Series in 15 years, in the lead-up to the new Toyota Prado’s global reveal.

The 2024 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series facelift is a major one in that it brings not only a fresh front-end design for the first time in eons, but also a new engine and transmission, more safety gear and some extra multimedia mod-cons including smartphone mirroring.

Indeed there’s so much going on with the updated 70 Series that we thought we’d list five of our favourite – and least favourite – aspects of the upgrade to help you get to grips with what’s changed.

We love…

1. New design

What better way to signify the arrival of a ‘new’ Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series than to make it look different to the aged existing version and, while some disagree, we love the retro-inspired touches applied to the facelifted workhorse.

The new look might be retro-inspired, but it adds a new level of sophistication to what’s ultimately an ancient vehicle and reflects the new level of standard multimedia and safety technology. We do miss the bonnet scoop though.

2. Four-cylinder fuel consumption

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8 has a claimed combined fuel consumption figure of 10.7L/100km, which admittedly isn’t as bad as some would expect, but it’s still a lot more than the HiLux SR5 automatic that sips 7.9L/100km.

Toyota reckons the 48-volt mild-hybrid 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel coming to the HiLux next year – the same one being made available in the LC70 – will bring a 10 per cent improvement in fuel economy, translating to a theoretical 7.1L/100km.

LandCruiser-specific figures are yet to be announced, but we’re sure they’ll be lower than the V8’s.

3. Automatic transmission

Besides the new engine, the most significant mechanical change to the LandCruiser 70 Series is the inclusion of the six-speed automatic transmission it’ll exclusively be available with, which in addition to adding convenience will give the utilitarian model even broader appeal.

Manual 4x4s, especially in the ute segment, are a dying breed and so it’s good to see Toyota jump on the automatic bandwagon and provide fans with a more useable and perhaps even more capable option for those not keen on three-pedal motoring.

4. Smartphone mirroring

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series has always been about commercial and off-road capability, but even miners, farmers and adventurers need a bit of connectivity and so the addition of smartphone mirroring for both Apple and Android phone users is a welcome one.

If such technology isn’t your thing, just don’t plug it in and stick with the Bluetooth – but don’t touch your phone while driving if you get a notification.

5. More active safety

Last year’s GVM upgrade was paired with the addition of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the first time on the 70 Series, and now the facelift will introduce lane departure warning, speed sign recognition and automatic high-beam.

While there’s no advance lane keeping system, lane departure warning is a core safety feature on modern day cars and key to helping prevent avoidable accidents, especially on the open road.

Not so much…

1. Still ancient

Look past the new styling and the latest powertrain, multimedia and safety development, and you’ll realise the LandCruiser 70 Series is still pretty much the same vehicle it was back when it was first released in 1984.

Sure, the latest model brings more gear and a new four-cylinder/auto option, but it’s still based on a 1980s platform, design, body and hardware, and yet 70 Series pricing still starts north of $70,000.

2. Expired five-star safety rating only applies to single-cab

As we reported back in 2016, chassis upgrades that allowed the LandCruiser 70 Series to achieve a (now-expired) five-star ANCAP safety rating were only ever applied to the fleet-favoured single-cab pick-up and not the Troop Carrier – nor the family-oriented five-door wagon first released in 2007 or the four-door dual-cab ute launched in 2012.

That hasn’t changed with the facelift and with the 70 Series now being deemed a medium goods vehicle courtesy of last year’s GVM upgrade in order to sidestep ADR side impact requirements, there’s no change to structural safety and both dual-cab and wagon versions still don’t offer the same level of safety as the single-cab, and continue to be ‘unrated’ by ANCAP.

3. V8 rendered pointless, on paper

On paper at least, the upgraded mild-hybrid 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel being introduced with the LandCruiser 70 Series facelift renders the existing 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 pointless.

It generates just as much power as the V8 (150kW), monsters it for torque (430Nm versus 500Nm), comes with the added convenience of an automatic transmission and will almost certainly use less fuel, making it a no-brainer for those who care more about logic than a lovely V8 burble.

4. No more bonnet scoop

This is a minor gripe but one of the LandCruiser 70 Series’ most defining design elements has long been its wide bonnet scoop – a feature introduced with the venerable 4.5-litre V8 first introduced in 2007.

Toyota Australia has confirmed to carsales the updated front-end design will apply to both the four-cylinder and V8 variants, meaning the 70 Series will lose its signature scoop and we think that’s a shame because it added an extra sense of muscularity to the exterior design.

5. Prices to keep rising

Toyota loves a price increase and often doesn’t need a model update to implement one, but the extra equipment and safety technology crammed into the 2024 LandCruiser 70 Series is sure to inflate its bottom line by at least a couple of grand.

The worst part is Toyota no longer price-protects existing or unfilled orders, meaning patiently waiting customers will need to either pay extra or cancel their order.

How much extra we don’t yet know, but the existing 70 Series is currently priced from $71,000 plus on-road costs in wagon form, increasing to $72,550 for the single-cab ute, $74,950 for the Troopie and $75,100 for the dual-cab, which tops out at almost $80K in flagship GLX guise.

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