Toyota Tundra Limited 2025 Review

The Toyota Tundra is initially available only as a Limited model priced from $155,990 plus on-road costs (ORCs). And Toyota has flagged it will bring in another variant that’s set to step that price up even more.

That makes the Tundra the most expensive of the big American pick-up trucks by some margin. The Ram 1500 starts at $119,950, the Chevrolet Silverado at $130,500 and the Ford F-150 at $106,950 (each excluding ORCs).

Keep in mind that a chunk of that cost – maybe $20,000 – is attributed to the conversion from left- to right-hand drive.

The Tundra leaves its Texas factory with the steering wheel on the left before being shipped to Melbourne and stripped back to bare metal.

It’s then rebuilt as a right-hand drive vehicle that covers a vast array of components (there are a few omissions, such as the volume dial for the sound system and the 4x4 badge on the tailgate).

The Toyota Tundra Limited comes with dual-zone ventilation, heated and ventilated front seats, power adjustable front seats, parking sensors front and rear and smart key entry.

Memory buttons for the seats allow them to be saved for two different people.

There’s also a rear window that slides open to allow access to the tray. Perfect if a dog is out back!

The Tundra gets a patterned material for the main part of the seat along with faux leather on the outer edges.

There are also 20-inch wheels, although the spare is a space saver.

Toyota also throws in a tow kit, inclusive of the tow hitch and electronic brake controller.

The Tundra is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. However, if you use the vehicle for commercial purposes there’s a 160,000km limit on the warranty.

Servicing is required every six months or 10,000km and the first 10 services are capped at $450.

There’s another thing that can’t be ignored with the Tundra: it comes with Toyota’s unmatched reputation for reliability and durability.

Plus you have access to the largest dealer network in the country, so if something goes wrong when you’re out and about you’re a fair chance to be vaguely near somewhere that can rectify the problem.

That said, our test car has some less than stellar attention to detail, especially around the bumper. There were inconsistent gaps out of step with other Toyotas.

As with rival large pick-up trucks the Toyota Tundra Limited hasn’t gone through the ANCAP testing process.
So there’s not much independent data on how it protects occupants.

Clearly having so much metal around you is advantageous in impacts with smaller vehicles. But for other road users – particularly cyclists and pedestrians – the thought of 2.8 tonnes of ute bearing down on you isn’t as appealing.

There are eight airbags and a smattering of driver assistance features designed to reduce the chances or impact of a crash.

That includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning with lane trace assist, rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot warning. But no exit warning or front cross-traffic alert, among others.

Keeping gadgets charged is easy in the Toyota Tundra Limited.

As well as a wireless phone charger there are five USB ports, one of which is high on the dash to perform the data connection for the phone connectivity.

The central touchscreen is 14 inches and incorporates wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay.

The instrument cluster is digital and measures 12.3 inches across.

There’s also a 12-speaker JBL sound system and a 360-degree camera.

Toyota markets the Tundra as having a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 engine, but with a cubic capacity of 3445cc it’s officially a 3.4-litre.

Either way, it’s a decent size and the pair of turbos gives it a thoroughly respectable 290kW and 649Nm.

There’s also a small electric motor making 36kW and 250Nm.

Combined the two can muster 326kW and 790Nm, which is more than the V8s it competes with.

They drive through a 10-speed auto transmission with a dual-range transfer case.

For regular driving around the suburbs the Tundra sends its drive to the rear wheels.

Dial up 4H and it apportions drive to all four wheels, while 4L has a set of lower gears for rough road crawling.

Despite boasting hybrid tech the Toyota Tundra Limited isn’t particularly fuel efficient.

Like its rivals it uses petrol rather than diesel and it can slurp a fair bit of it.

While there’s no official fuel figures (because it’s classified as a commercial vehicle) even during gentle driving we were using 13L/100km.

With more suburban driving in the mix that increased to 15-16L/100km.

Still, with a 122-litre fuel tank you should still get 800km out of a tank.

The Toyota Tundra Limited feels big because it is big. It pokes out of standard parking spaces and needs respect generally when negotiating tight streets.

But the steering is light and visibility respectable by large truck standards; wing mirrors poke out from either front door prominently, adding to the vision.

From the driver’s seat, though, the Tundra doesn’t feel as big as it looks. But it requires added precision when piloting it around tight city streets.

There are some nice touches, too. Pop the transmission into park and it automatically engages the electronic handbrake, for example.

The rear-end jolts around occasionally when unladen, something common across the ute segment.

But body movement is helped by the big wheelbase that quells any tendency to pitch.

The 20-inch tyres end up working hard around bends to contain a lot of mass, but ultimately it’s well behaved.
Still, it doesn’t have the cushiness and compliance of a LandCruiser 300 Series, which is in some ways one of the Tundra’s biggest competitors.

One big surprise is the noise of the V6. Engineers have clearly tried to embrace some of the classic V8 aural accompaniment and they’ve largely done a good job of it. The Tundra sounds beefy and purposeful, the associated rumble a nice touch.

And it’s loaded with thrust, the hybrid system chiming in with excellent torque the second you graze the accelerator pedal.

It’s hearty and responsive, the engine quickly adding to the effortlessness of the electric motor once you sink your right foot closer to the floor.

The Toyota Tundra Limited is an off-roader but it’s not designed to follow a LandCruiser deep into the scrub. There’s 216mm of clearance, ensuring less chance of underbody hits. So for rough road touring and maybe sand driving it should be handy.

But the long wheelbase and long-ish overhangs at either end mean it’s not going to be as adept at tackling challenging terrain as other off-roaders.

A low-range transfer case provides gearing for low-speed work, something we didn’t put to the test.

In a word, the Toyota Tundra Limited is big.

That’s part of the appeal, and means that the back seats are beautifully set up for humans of any size. Even a trio of big blokes across the back seat are unlikely to have much to complain about.

Up front, too, there’s acres of space between the front seat occupants. It’s filled by a vast console that has two cupholders ahead of it.

Lifting the lid to access the console storage bin reveals some cheap clangs with the plastics, something not quite up to the price tag.

Similarly, the cloth trim adorning parts of the seats doesn’t shout six figures.

Obviously a big part of the appeal of a Tundra is what it can carry. But its payload is less than a Hilux, at 758kg.

Instead, the emphasis is on towing, with up to 4.5 tonnes of capacity. To tow that maximum you’ll need to buy a 70mm towball to replace the standard 50mm one that’s rated up to 3500kg.

None of the big pick-up trucks are particularly cheap, in part because something like $20K of the price goes into shuffling the steering wheel from one side to the other (yes, it’s a lot more complex than that).

But the hefty price tag on the Toyota Tundra Limited makes it a bigger stretch than rivals.

In reality, it’s top-end LandCruiser buyers who are most likely to toss up between the more traditional ride and the newcomer.

Looking at it from that perspective, the Tundra goes backwards on everyday comfort and a sense of luxury but makes it up with cabin space and the ability to tow 4.5 tonnes.

Its engine and on-road manners are highlights. But arguably the biggest appeal is the Toyota reputation and the brand’s unrivalled dealer back-up.

For many that will be worth the extra spend.

It’s really the only way to justify that big price tag.

2025 Toyota Tundra Limited at a glance:
Price: $155,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 3.4-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol-electric
Output: 290kW/649Nm (electric motor: 36kW/250Nm)
Combined output: 326kW/790Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: Not quoted; about 15L/100km on test
CO2: Not quoted
Safety rating: Not tested

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