I recently featured the Land Cruiser Business in a J3 focus on 4x4s and this week I’m reporting on my recent test drive of the Land Cruiser, which is different to the full Business version. While the Land Cruiser is rated for its durability, this new Business version is all about the price.

Apart from the price reduction, there are of course some styling changes, but it’s that price drop that motivates most of us to look a second time.

In simple terms, moving to the new generation Land Cruiser Business model, with a full five-seat capacity and classed as a commercial vehicle for Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) purposes, gives you a price reduction from around €75,000 to €53,995 – that’s a decrease of €21,000.

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This has been possible because Toyota got the Land Cruiser, in a particular specification, approved by the Revenue Commissioners (who are responsible for vehicle registrations) as a commercial vehicle. This lowers the VRT tax band and shaves the €21,000 off the price.

There remains an issue in the running cost equation around the road tax rates. There are some reports of local taxation offices allowing the Land Cruiser Business to be taxed as a commercial, which is a competitive €333, but others are not. That would mean a road tax bill of €1,200.

If your Land Cruiser falls into this latter category, then it cannot be considered to be a commercial vehicle, for business write-off as an expense. That makes it a more expensive 4x4 to own than the standard two-seat commercial or van-type 4x4.

We will be following up on this issue in the coming weeks, but there is a lot of confusion there.

This reworked Land Cruiser Business, which will be more widely available in the next few weeks, has some great exterior style changes, including more chrome on the grille and new headlight clusters. These are set up higher off the ground than previously to give them more protection for off-road driving.

The interior changes give the car a higher-quality feel. The centre console has gained a new switch panel that brings together the controls for the on- and off-road driving technologies.

These include a new dial for the selection of the five-mode multi-terrain option and five-step crawl control, flanked by switches for the all-wheel-drive and adaptive variable suspension.

The speedometer and tachometer have a new look, with thinner needles and blue illumination. The centre console has a new brushed metal finish for the upper audio control panel, above the central seven-inch colour display.

Land Cruiser will continue to use its proven 190bhp 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and the performance is the same in the new Business version as it is in the more expensive passenger version.

The four-cylinder engine is powerful, but a bit rough and noisy when it is cold or at low revs. It is a 16-valve unit that has been revised to meet the new lower Euro 5+ emissions standards, but with no reduction in performance.

The maximum torque of 420Nm is available from 1,600 to 3,000 rpm. The test version that I drove was fitted with a five-speed automatic transmission.

The 0km/hr to 100km/hr acceleration is 11.7 seconds and the CO2 emissions have been reduced slightly to between 209g/km and 213g/km.

Fuel economy performance is poorer than with the likes of the Land Rover Discovery.

My test drive results were 30% lower than the rated figure for the automatic gearbox version, that is because it is possibly heavier than the new Business version.

With a fuel economy rating of 30% less than the rated figure of 12.2km/litre (8.1l/100km or 34.8 mpg), this is not an economical 4x4 to run.

The Land Cruiser has a towing rating of three tonnes gross weight, which is lower than some with of the competition such as the Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Pajero, both of which are also available as similar lower tax vehicles. CL

Toyota Land Cruiser

Engine 3.0L diesel

Engine power 190bhp

0-100km/hr 11.7 seconds

Economy 12.2km/litre

Fuel tank capacity 87 litres

CO2 emissions 213g/km

Road tax band C (€333)

Main service 20,000km

Euro NCAP rating NA

Towing rating 3,000kg Warranty Three years Entry price €53,995

NI price NA