2016 Toyota LandCruiser GXL (4×4) Review
The 2016 turbo-diesel GXL is the only TD in the range with eight seats, which is what our large family requires. The GXL allows us to enjoy getting out and enjoying inaccessible areas such as National Parks and sandy beaches, as a family. In addition to steep descents when using low 4D in some tricky National Parks roads, the crawl control also works effectively on very soft sand.
- Reliable
- Fuel efficient
- Rugged with good ground clearance
- Spacious cabin
- Air conditioning very efficient and effective
- Lack of factory steering wheel controls
- Interior plastic marks/scratches easily
- Multimedia unit brightness not variable
- Multimedia unit touchscreen patchy
While seating numbers were our primary reason for selecting the GXL variant, it turns out the GXL is probably the better vehicle in terms of practicality with the knocks and bumps a large family car inevitably receives. For example, the rear electronic climate control switchgear on the centre console would, in our family at least, be damaged by now.
The noticeable issue in terms of quality of finish with the internal of the vehicle is the amount of plastic that marks and scratches relatively easy. The most noticeable (probably only) functional deficiency is the patchy operation of the multimedia unit touchscreen, hence the aftermarket steering wheel controls which cures this deficiency 100 per cent.
The horizontal split tailgate is also perfect to use as a food preparation table at the beach and/or as a nappy/clothes change table for the very young children after swimming. The GXL is a an extremely practical vehicle for a large family, reasonably easy to drive around town (although it fills supermarket parking bays), super efficient on the fuel, tows anything we need to tow and literally can go anywhere we need to go.
Chris H from Motorama Toyota at Morooka delivered our new MY16 GXL and organised key aftermarket gear we needed such as leather seats (easy to clean up spilt ice cream or drink), UHF, RedArc towpro and steering wheel controls etc.
While a very expensive vehicle, I can't recommend this vehicle enough for a large family who like to regularly get off the beaten track.