2025 Toyota Kluger Grande Hybrid review

For years, the Toyota Kluger was the go-to family seven-seater. So much so that it was voted Drive Car of the Year Best Large SUV three years in a row in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

That was, until the arrival of the new Hyundai Santa Fe shook things up for 2025. It knocked the Kluger off the top spot with its high levels of standard equipment, even in the base variant, which starts at around $53,000.

Fast-forward to now, and the Kluger has come in for a midlife update. But with just minor additions made for the new model year, is it offering enough to tempt buyers away from its more modern and stylish rivals?

Let’s find out.

There are three variants in the Toyota Kluger range, the entry-level GX, mid-spec GXL and top-of-the-line Grande.

The Grande I have on test here comes with a price tag of $85,135 before on-road costs. For the money, you are getting everything the line-up has to offer. Meanwhile, the GX can be had from $62,410, and the GXL from $71,930.

Standard kit on the Grande includes dual 12.3-inch screens for the infotainment and digital instrument cluster, integrated sat nav, a wireless phone charger, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and (wired) Android Auto, a head-up display, 360-degree camera, ambient lighting, and an 11-speaker JBL sound system.

There’s also a hands-free powered tailgate, a panoramic sunroof, as well as heated and ventilated front seats that are electrically adjustable with memory, and 20-inch wheels over the lower-grade 18s.

There are six paint choices on offer, five of which cost an added $675, with only Eclipse Black available as standard. Our test car is decked out in Frosted White, which is a little too taxi or rental-car spec for my liking.

Under the bonnet of all three Kluger grades is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine paired with three electric motors to produce 184kW, with power sent to all four wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).

The cost of getting into the Kluger range has risen by up to $1490 for 2025, and its new $85K asking price is much higher than the top-spec Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy, which costs $77,150 before on-roads.

Its pricing is more in line with a top-of-the-line Kia Sorento GT-Line at $84,660; however, that comes with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Stepping back to the equivalent regular hybrid AWD grade drops the price to $73,330.

Only Mazda’s CX-80 P50e Azami is more, costing $87,450 plus on-road costs, but that’s a plug-in hybrid too.

On the outside, it’s the same old story with the pre-update Toyota Kluger, with no design or structural changes made for this new model year.

It is 4966mm long, 1930mm wide, 1755mm tall and has a 2850mm wheelbase.

While the aesthetics on the outside of this Kluger are relatively dull, they are in stark contrast to what’s found on the inside.

Whereas the exterior lets the side down, the interior lifts the Kluger’s game, with the cabin swathed in a combination of cream and grey across the dash, centre console, doors, and steering wheel – at least in my tester's specification.

The seats are made of cream leather, which are comfortable to sit in and supportive on the back, if not particularly on the thighs where the bolstering lies quite flat.

Where there are plastics used in the cabin, they are not hard or unattractive, with only a touch of piano black surrounding the infotainment screen letting you know this isn’t actually a luxury car despite its hefty price tag.

While the dark grey wood-look trim on the doors and centre console is a little dated, it’s not especially unpleasant either.

There are lots of little pockets of space littered around the cabin. As well as the usual space in the doors and glovebox, there are cut-out shelves on the dash for small bits and pieces, a phone storage shelf, and possibly the deepest centre console storage bin I’ve ever seen.

I’m not kidding, putting your arm down to reach the bottom is reminiscent of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. There’s also an additional small shelf in there, plus the wireless phone charger, and the lid to it retracts horizontally rather than your usual lifting up/down style.

In the second row, there was a lot of space too. I’m around 167cm and had lots of room in front for my legs, as well as above my head. 

Thanks to a low transmission tunnel, there was also plenty of room for passengers’ feet, whether it be in the middle or on either side, and the seats are comfortable too.

This row of seats can also slide forwards in a 60:40 split to give third-row occupants more room, but unless moved all the way up, it’s not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul – there’s still more than enough space for everyone.

With the second row moved forward just a few inches, it unlocked enough room for the third row, even for an adult, and the seatback can be adjusted too. Although I’m not sure I’d recommend it for long journeys, it’ll do in a pinch. 

There’s just the small matter of getting in or out, which for families with child seats in situ using a seatbelt to keep them in place rather than ISOFIX, will mean doing an awkward shuffle as you lose the ability to recline them forward.

For the younger members of the family, there’s room for two child seats on the outboard seats, which is where you’ll find ISOFIX anchors for capsules or convertibles. 

You could possibly fit a third if it were a tall or narrow-style booster that is fitted with a seatbelt, or just a booster base, or you could even squeeze three adults at a push.

There are three top-tether points, one for each seat across the second row, though disappointingly there are none for the third row, which would be handy for transporting older kids’ friends. It’s a bit of a letdown for a seven-seater family SUV.

A slightly redeeming factor is that the Kluger gets both rear privacy glass and pull-up blinds, which are helpful for protecting little ones’ eyes from harsh sun.

Each row gets space for drinks too. You can fit a slim bottle in the front doors and the two centre console cupholders up front, and in each of the rear doors. Or alternatively in the map pockets on the back of the front seats, or in the centre seat armrest if it’s folded down for the second row as well.

There are also another two cupholders on both sides of the third row as well.

You won’t find yourself struggling for space in the boot of any three-row SUV, but in this Grande Kluger there is less than is offered by its closest competitors.

Behind the third row, there is a reasonable 241 litres, which is enough to accommodate four to five shopping bags and is on par with its rivals. The Santa Fe doesn’t quote a figure in this configuration, but the Sorento can offer 179L and the CX-80 258L.

But with the third-row seats flat to the floor there is 'just' 552L, which can increase to a maximum 1150L if you put the second row down too.

By medium SUV standards, 552L is plenty for a family daily, and you could fit a pram in four times over and still have room for bags, coats, and shoes, but put the Kluger’s boot up against its large SUV challengers and it doesn’t stack up quite as well.

The CX-80 has a touch more room with the back seats down at 566L, while the Sorento and Santa Fe offer 608L and 628L, respectively.

But the most dramatic difference can be seen when all five rear seats are folded, with the Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia wiping the floor with the Toyota, offering 1971L, 1949L and 1996L of space, respectively, versus the Kluger’s 1150L.

For family practicality, though, there is still plenty to be had from the former Drive Car of the Year Best Large SUV winner. 

The tailgate itself in this top-spec variant is hands-free, meaning it can be operated by triggering a kick sensor to help you when you’ve got your hands full.

With the key in hand, all you have to do is swipe your foot gently under the rear bumper, and it will open or close, or alternatively, just a light tap on the handle at the base will open it for you as normal.

The Kluger uses dual 12.3-inch screens for the infotainment and digital instrument cluster, and the former works well with all the basic functions laid out clearly. 

However, there isn’t much for you to get confused about, as the number of features you can select is minimal, and even less so on the go, when it limits what you can activate until you are parked.

The wireless charger can be glitchy, though, only seeming to charge your phone if you take the case off. Otherwise, it starts to charge and quickly stops.

A major win is that the screen is not used to control the heating and ventilation system, with actual physical buttons nestled underneath for fan speed, the heated and ventilated seat functions, and dials to change the temperature. This is so nice to see as it is becoming a real rarity in many types of cars.

Fiddling with air-conditioning controls inside an infotainment screen is difficult to do while driving and often does trigger vehicles’ driver attention warnings to go off – not something you want to be doing with your precious cargo on board.

Even better is that the Kluger’s climate control is tri-zone, meaning your passengers behind can tweak their desired temperature as necessary. 

In the second row, there's access to two USB-C ports – making five in total when you factor in the two USB-Cs and one USB-A in the front. 

And there are two 12V sockets too, one in the cabin and one in the boot.

The cluster displays everything you need to know, such as speed, fuel economy and safety warnings, but not much else. By a long press of the ‘OK’ button, you can customise some features through the settings, such as the position of the head-up display, turn lane-keep on and off etc. 

The Kluger also has access to Toyota Connected Services via the Toyota Connect app, which includes safety and security features, remote locking and unlocking, and trip data. However, this is only free for the first year.

When it comes to safety, the Toyota Kluger is well equipped. It has a five-star ANCAP rating dating back to 2021 when the new model was introduced. 

When testing according to its now defunct older protocols, ANCAP awarded the Kluger 90 per cent for adult occupant protection, 88 per cent for children, 76 per cent for vulnerable road users and 82 per cent for its safety assist tech.

The Hyundai Santa Fe and Mazda CX-80 both have five-star results given in 2024, while the Kia Sorento’s five-star rating dates back even further to 2020.

In good news for Kluger buyers shopping lower down the range, you don’t need to go for this top-spec Grande to access most of the safety technology Toyota has to offer.

All variants get autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist detection and intersection support, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, speed sign recognition, front and rear parking sensors, and seven airbags.

New for this updated Kluger is also tyre pressure monitoring.

All the Grande gets you on top of all that is a 360-degree camera over the GX and GXL’s reversing camera, to make parking, particularly in tight spots, a little easier. 

Annoyingly, it cuts out when you put the car back into drive from reverse, rather than continuing to show you the picture at low speeds as a Mazda’s would.

In practice, the advanced driver assistance technology does its job well and isn’t overzealous. The lane-departure warning is a simple, quiet ding combined with a visual warning on the cluster, while the lane-keep assist gently nudges the wheel back in the right direction.

The adaptive cruise control, however, is a little sluggish. It’s slow to respond and can leave unnecessarily large gaps between you and the car in front if the traffic stops and starts.

And the speed limiter just doesn’t know what the speed is a lot of the time. Aside from misreading school zones, which many vehicles’ systems do, sometimes for no reason at all it will quote a different figure, such as 70km/h when in reality the limit is 50km/h.

The Toyota Kluger comes with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with service intervals set at every 12 months/15,000km, whichever comes first.

In comparison, Hyundai and Mazda offer the same terms. While Kia’s servicing periods are the same, it has a longer seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Toyota offers capped-price servicing for the Kluger at a cost of $280 per year for the first five years, or 75,000km.

The Toyota Kluger Grande was quoted $1897.47 to comprehensively insure based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male, living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The 2.5-litre hybrid is notably down on power and torque compared to the previous Kluger powertrains, but the trade-off is improved fuel economy, which, on paper, is rated at 5.6 litres per 100 kilometres on the WLTP combined cycle versus 8.5L/100km in the now defunct 2.4 turbo.

On test, I managed to get that figure as low as 5.1L/100km and around 800km from a full tank, but my average was much higher at 6.5L/100km. At worst I saw 7.5L/100km.

One way to improve fuel performance is to put it into EV Mode with a little button on the centre console. The purpose of this is to allow the Kluger to operate solely on electric power for a short time or distance. In stop-start traffic, for example.

But the good times, unfortunately, don’t last, and if you go over 30km/h or hit the accelerator even a smidge too hard, it’s back to petrol power you go.

Beyond EV, there are three driving modes, Eco, Normal and Sport, though even in Sport there’s really not a night-and-day difference in performance; it’s just slightly worse on fuel. 

Buyers looking for outright environmental benefits or just lower fuel bills may feel more inclined to favour either the Mazda CX-80 and Kia Sorento, which have more to offer in this regard thanks to plug-in hybrid powertrain options. 

The Mazda claims a fuel economy of 2.7L/100km, while the Kia claims an even slimmer 1.7L/100km. 

The regular hybrid Sorento and hybrid Santa Fe match it more closely, claiming 5.7L and 5.6L, respectively.

According to reports out of China, the next Kluger could launch there with a PHEV option as well as a range-extender hybrid, which could change the game. 

So far this year, the Sorento is outselling the Kluger by 5165 sales to 4611.

As of mid-2024, the Kluger range has gone hybrid-only, with the 2.4-litre turbo-petrol engine that was brought in to replace the outgoing V6 in 2023 also ditched.

All three Kluger grades are powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine paired with three electric motors to produce 184kW combined, with power sent to all four wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) with six integrated steps.

The 2.5-litre four-cylinder has got grunt, and makes the most of the available power and torque, but you couldn’t describe it as quick. It’s got enough poke for everyday tasks such as overtaking, lane changes and setting off from a standstill, but it’s in no particular rush.

Any kind of acceleration, hard or otherwise, will elicit a whole lot of noise from the engine, making it sound laboured when it really isn’t.

Add to that a lot of rumble coming up through the 235/55 R20 Toyo A44 Open Country rubber, plus roaring wind at higher speeds, and the cabin is just quite noisy a lot of the time. The exception is on start-up in EV mode, when it’s quiet, just like other hybrids.

Turning up the JBL sound system, which is fine but not as good as other brands used in other top-spec models, won’t help much either unless you jack the volume right up.

While the engine might not quite get everything quite right, when it comes to ride, the Kluger is smooth and relatively unfazed by any kind of bump, large or small. 

It’s well planted too, making it nice to drive around town or commute in. It’s particularly impressive over harsh speed bumps in residential areas. 

And the steering just works well. It’s not especially agile, but it’s nicely balanced and isn’t going to leave you in the lurch in tight corners. In the wet, the front wheels can spin up a bit despite all four wheels being driven.

Yes. The Toyota Kluger has a braked towing capacity of 2000kg and an unbraked capacity of 700kg.

While it's not a go-to hauler like an Isuzu MU-X or Ford Everest, it is relatively on par with the hybrid Sorento that claims 2000kg braked and 750kg unbraked, while the hybrid Santa Fe falls behind with a lower 1650kg braked but 750kg unbraked.

The Mazda CX-80 is the strongest of the bunch in this regard, with a claimed 2500kg braked and 750kg unbraked towing capacity whether you opt for the petrol or PHEV.

As ever, the Kluger is a solid, dependable SUV with enough space and seats to accommodate larger families or those who need to transport extra people around on a regular basis.

If you want a car that is quite simple, no fuss, and gets the job done, it will certainly do that.

But I can’t quite escape the feeling that $85,000 is a lot of money for something that is not a luxury car, and you can get just as many features, plus more space and better fuel economy, in a Santa Fe or Sorento for a lot less cash. And, in my view, they’re more stylish too.

There’s a lot to be said for brand loyalty, which is perhaps why it has been so popular for so long. But in 2025, the Kluger is playing things just a bit too safe while not offering the same value for money as its rivals.

A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.

Read more about Kathryn Fisk