I’m super excited to see the return of the 250-series Toyota Land Cruiser and if you are also big fan of boxy family haulers like me then you are about to get little disappointed by the results of 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser Crash test. now i am thinking that having an exterior built for strength doesn’t guarantee a family vehicle is safe.
Rear seat problem
When I look at a massive, body-on-frame SUV, I automatically assume it’s going to protect my passengers. But the IIHS’s updated moderate overlap test completely exposed a weak spot in the back seat, and frankly, it makes me nervous.
Watching the crash footage from multiple angles, I saw a rear dummy “submarine.” While that sounds alarming, it is just the lap belt riding up and going beneath the pelvis and abdomen. The data also indicated a moderate risk of head, neck, or chest injury to the dummy in the back seat. Because of this, the IIHS gave the dummy a “Marginal” rating in this situation.
If you’re buying a mid-size SUV that costs upto $60,000 dollars and more to be used by your family, you shouldn’t have to worry about your friends or kids submarining underneath their seatbelts during a crash.
The LATCH system also only received an “Acceptable” rating, as the lower anchors on the passenger side are set too deep in the seat. If you will be using this car to repeatedly swap car seats and if you have young children that require car seats, this is something that you will need to consider, because it is going to be frustrating.
Good Points
We are not only going to highlight negative points of this 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser Crash test, there are some really good points which might make you still trust this car’s safety.
- FRONT IMPACT SAFETY: The driver-side and passenger-side overlap tests showed that the cabin structure was in excellent condition after the tests. which is a good safety point for the front passengers.
- SIDE IMPACT SAFETY: During the side impact tests, the side safety cell performed as intended. it did not broke or cause any harm to the dummy placed in the side seats.
- FRONT CRASH PREVENTION: The front crash prevention technology was outstanding, and as a result, the technology was positively recognized for the prevention of crashes involving pedestrians and other vehicles.
Different headlights has different ratings
Here is a weird twist that I personally find fascinating. The Land Cruiser’s safety score literally changes depending on which face you choose.
In my opinion, base model which cost you around $57,880 is better with the retro round headlights than their more expensive model with the square headlights.
Luckily for 1958 trim buyers, round headlights happen to out perform square ones, getting a good rating from the IIHS, while the Land Cruiser trim ($63,955) square headlights only received a marginal score for excessive low beam glare with poor high beam performance.
So, if you are considering buying the more expensive trim, you will be paying for worse headlights, which I still believe is a poor decision.
Should you buy it or not?
This has same platform as of Tacoma and 4Runner along with i-Force Max hybrid engine specially for the U.S market. I still believe you should buy this one.
If you are buying this strictly as a two-person overlanding rig, I suggest going for the upgraded Land Cruiser grade which offers wider all-terrain tires, the front stabilizer disconnect system, and those nice SofTex seats.
But if you’re like me and you wanted this to be a primary family vehicle, these rear-seat safety flaws are hard to ignore. I personally think Toyota has some homework to do on their rear restraint systems before I can fully get behind it.
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