eBusiness Weekly
Toyota’s new LandCruiser 300 Series has been a big story of late, with a touch of soap opera.
In 2019 Toyota celebrated 10 million LandCruisers sold, over ten percent of them finding homes and worksites Down Under.
Australians love Prado, 70 Series and the ageing, now-replaced 200 Series wagon. 2022’s arrival sees unprecedented times: vehicle demand explodes (in contrary to some forecasts), supply becomes strangled and pricing goes bonkers across much of the motoring landscape.
Our country’s critical mass of LandCruiser lovers want – no, need — them more than ever.
Mid-turmoil, an all-new 300 Series arrives. The beloved V8 retires yet there are whopping price hikes across the new wagon range. Initially, there were just 500 available examples.
Crook supply, go-slow production, pesky semiconductors or something . . . demand and price gouging hits Defcon Five amid concocted conspiracy theories and much finger pointing.
All I want is for someone to pass the popcorn so I can watch from the sidelines, but I’m charged with sensibly reviewing the new 2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 GX in nonsensical times. I’m tempted to just stick ‘For Sale: best offer’ on its windscreen, packet the mother-load and disappear to a Greek island, Jason Bourne-style, for the next decade.
You see the way things currently sit, I could probably ask what I want for a clean base-model LandCruiser…
How much does the Toyota LandCruiser 300 GX cost? Well, how much have you got? I’m only half-joking…
Officially, Toyota Australia recommends you pay its recommended list for a new example through its dealer network and that figure is $89,990 before on-road costs.
That’s $9000 up on the 200 Series GX version it replaced.
This means a new base LandCruiser is not far from six figures drive-away.
For reasons we’ve forensically examined elsewhere in our wider LC300 coverage – good luck with achieving the quoted figures when it comes to the actual changeover in these strange times.
2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series GX
The two immediate variants above the GX include the GXL ($101,790) and then the VX ($113,990) – or at least those are the figures published on the official price list for brand-new examples.
Beyond that microcosm, it’s ‘welcome to the wild west’.
What are the rivals for this entry-grade, steel-wheeled, five seat only, diesel-six powered, upper-large sized 4WD?
Nissan’s Patrol Ti-L, at around $95k, is close in outlay and girth but it’s petrol V8 exclusively.
If the LandCruiser’s rubber mats, plastic snorkel, basic fit-out and Toyota network ownership experience are your thing, you’re not realistically considering fancier diesel SUVs from Audi, BMW, Land Rover or Volkswagen.
Premium paint, such as our tester’s Silver Pearl, commands an extra $675.
What do you get?
◆ Landcruiser 300 GX highlights:
◆ Five-seat interior
◆ Single-piece lift-back tailgate
◆ LED headlights, DRLS and tail lights
◆ Dusk-sensing headlights
◆ Adaptive cruise control
◆ Mud guards and snorkel
◆ Keyless entry and start
◆ Dual-zone climate control
◆ 9.0-inch infotainment system
◆ DAB+
◆ Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired)
◆ Nine-speaker stereo
◆ 4.2-inch trip computer display
◆ Reversing camera
◆ One-touch windows for all doors
◆ Six cupholders
◆ Trailer sway control and wiring harness connection
You don’t get rain sensing wipers, parking sensors, sat-nav, side steps or any more than one USB-A outlet. It does at least come with rubber mats.
There’s plenty of cost consciousness and trimmed fat as you’d expect in a cut-priced model, although the GX’s asking price hardly qualifies as ‘cut-priced’.
Is the Toyota LandCruiser 300 GX safe?
The 300 Series was tested by ANCAP in early 2022, receiving a rating of five stars for five of the six available variants, including the base GX.
Its rating was based on an adult occupant protection score of 89 per cent, child occupant protection of 88 per cent, pedestrian protection of 81 per cent and safety assist of 77 per cent.
Standard safety features include:
◆ Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
◆ Pedestrian detection (day/night)
◆ Cyclist detection (day)
◆ Lane departure warning
◆ Brake-to-steer runoff mitigation
◆ Traffic sign recognition
Despite the full five-star ANCAP rating, that’s a pretty slim active safety fit-out.
There’s no active steering intervention as the steering system is old-school hydraulic. And you need to step up to the GXL and higher to get blind-spot monitoring and rear-cross traffic alert, while Lane Trace Assist active centring is offered at mid-spec VX and above.— Auto.com
