Should we crown the 2025 Toyota Crown?

Large sedans. They are a dying breed. Maxima. Avalon. La Sabre. They read like an all-star roster. Now, all dead. But there is another, and it’s actually an older and more revered name than all the others combined. Yes, I refer to this 2025 Toyota Crown. It’s a hybrid, it’s comfy, and it’s…sexy?

Let’s see if there’s any driving allure to be derived from those looks.

The 2025 Toyota Crown Nightshade Edition overview

What car is most synonymous with the Toyota brand? You might say “Camry!”, and you’d be right. But Camry actually means crown in Japanese (kanmuri). I can picture them all in a “How will they know? No one’s gonna know” meme.

Yet the car you see before you isn’t a large Camry. In fact, it might be the car Toyota is most proud of. It’s the first model they imported here in 1958, and has been around in Japan even longer. Only seven other automotive nameplates have been on sale for a greater length of time. You might as well crown this Crown. (The dad jokes come easy to me).

But you know what – all of that is irrelevant here. Toyota stopped selling the Crown in the US market in 1973, and they never brought it back despite the name being revered in Japan. Until now. We can call this a reboot – it’s not related to any previous Crown. This one is front-wheel drive based (with a hybrid all-wheel drive system), and has an odd sort of cross-over look to it. Imagine a Subaru Outback without the “back” part. There are other body styles, but the US only gets this one.

It has some Lexus-like features, and I’d say it’s pushing well into Lexus pricing: $50,344 for our Nightshade Edition. But can it deliver on its premium price promise?

Performance Score: 4. Stop rushing me

We enthusiasts are a fickle bunch. We want old-school feel, but love technology and speed. I’d say that adjustable suspensions and engines are getting better all the time, but the Crown Nightshade Edition doesn’t really take advantage of that kind of thing.

It’s time for daddy to relax kids.

Engine

You might think that all those curves promise some fun, but the Nightshade only comes with Toyota’s 2.4-liter four cylinder engine (no turbos), and three electric motors that combine for 236 horsepower. With 4,000 pounds to tug around, I’d call acceleration uninspiring.

The Crown will drive around town in fully-electric mode, igniting the engine only when it needs to – which is pretty much all the time. It awakens with a shutter and follows with a gruff sound that incites the question of “Why didn’t I just get an electric car?”. Indeed, why didn’t you? Range? Are you going to drive 500 miles in your Crown every day? Hybrids remains a terrible idea done well by most auto makers, including Toyota.

There is hope. Opt for the top Platinum trim, and Toyota will bolt a turbocharger to your motor (along with a six-speed automatic) for 340 horsepower. As cool as the Nightshade Edition looks, I’d head straight for that model.

Transmission

This might surprise you, but I don’t loathe the existence CVTs, in the same fashion I don’t loathe bananas. Fine for what they are, just not for me. And if you don’t push your Crown, you’ll probably never know the difference.

However, ahem, I do push cars. So when you floor it and the Crown holds the engine at the top of the rev range, all you’ll hear (and feel) is the constant rubber band whine and groan of the powertrain, like a drunken Captain Jack Sparrow being in charge of your transmission. It’s at five grand. Now four. Back at five!

Damn it, Jack.

The CVT bolts up to an all-wheel drive system that’s mostly front-wheel until you need it, and it works seamlessly. Remember – the Platinum trim ditches it for a six-speed auto, giving you another compelling reason to spend $4,000 dollars.

Chassis and Steering

The 2025 Toyota Crown as adjustable driving modes, and since I’m me, I placed it in Sport right away. To bad it doesn’t do much of anything – the Nightshade Edition’s suspension isn’t adjustable. As a result, the car leans, squats and dives like a lineman going through summer camp drills. Despite the gigantic 21-inch wheels, the Crown’s all-season tires are only 245mm wide, and the car is eager to lean because of SUV levels of ground clearance and a higher center of gravity.

The benefit here is a serene ride that never gets upset by potholes or dips in the road. Very Lexus-like. Sorry for spending your money again, but the Platinum trim gets adjustable dampers, which should help with some of the body control issues and manage to keep the nice ride.

Steering? Pretty good – I’d say there’s as much feedback as any other modern hybrid car. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Brakes

Those 12.9-inch front discs sure do look tiny behind the Crown’s 21-inch (!) wheels. There’s nothing exotic about them, and since this is a hybrid and not fully-electric, there is no one-pedal driving. They work well enough for street use, but they don’t seem to haul the Crown to a stop with much authority by offering SUV-like stopping distances.

Lifestyle Score: 8. Crown it

An SUV is an SUV because of two things; ground clearance and a wagon-style body. The 2025 Toyota Crown only has the ground clearance part, making it a sort of bizarre-world SUV. The first time you step into it, you’ll be surprised at how tall it really is.

But once you’re in, you’ll love the room. It’s a wide car, and there’s a lot of space in the front and rear for everyone to stretch out. Toyota has figured out a way to have the sloping roof line not interfere with headroom.

The trunk looks like it could be a hatch (it probably should be), but the small opening reveals a very deep trunk. I love the carpeted mat with nameplate too – so 90’s Japanese. The rear seats fold down, but the pass through could be a bit wider.

Up front are a pair of bucket seats that just don’t support me the way I like to be held. They look nice, but the effect is like a push-up bra – it’s for everyone else’s entertainment, not your comfort. No lateral bolstering and a short bottom cushion give more credence to the notion that this Crown isn’t meant to be flogged. But on long distance drives, they mostly stay out of the way without annoyance.

Fuel Economy: 7. Crown control

The EPA says the Crown will get 41 miles per gallon (good). There’s a 14.5-gallon tank that gives you 500 miles of range (also good).

Keep the speed low, and you won’t engage the engine at all until the Crown decides it’s time to charge the battery (remember, you cannot plug this in). It’s one of the few press cars that didn’t need me to put gas in halfway through the week, which is a breath of fresh air. The Crown is a large car too, making it all the more impressive.

Features and Comfort: 7. Wrong badge

The Crown is Toyota’s flagship, but it’s price encroaches upon several Lexus offerings. Life is about choices, so you’ll have to pick between the Crown’s size, or the lux of Lexus.

Premedium

If I took off the Toyota badges and replaced them with Lexus, would you be fooled inside the Crown? Maybe, but they aren’t exactly on the same level. The leather isn’t quite as soft, the plastics cheaper. But that’s not the Crown’s target audience. If you’re moving on from an Avalon or a Camry, it’ll look premium to you.

Everything you touch is soft, from the seats to the steering wheel. Everything else feels cheap.

There’s a lot here– heated and cooled seats, with real HVAC controls that work well but seem a bit vintage in appearance. A head-up display. And Toyota’s infotainment system, which isn’t bad, but one way they distinguish brands is the kind of graphic interface they use – Toyota’s isn’t as nice. Hey, I notice things, I’m a graphic designer by trade.

I hope you like black, because pretty much everything is, and it’s the Crown’s only leather color option when you pick the Nightshade or Premium trims.

At the end of the day, the features of modern cars are all the same. From wireless charging to distance cruise control, the Crown has everything and it works well.

Curvy-ota

This Toyota’s body writes checks its performance can’t cash.

Looks like a big Prius, no? Thing is, the latest Prius is…sexy? Is that okay to admit? Good, because the Crown takes that theme and hits “enhance” on the keyboard.

This being the Nightshade Edition, you get very Batman-esque options. This color is called “Nightshade”, but you can also go black if you’d like. There’s black badging, black door handles, and a set of black 21-inch wheels to complete the Goth teen angst look. It looks somewhat imposing, so why not make the more powerful engine available in it?

Thing is, the Crown can be just as weird without this package – check out some of the color names like Redline, or Bronze Age. And you can even get it in what Toyota called “Bi-tone”, where the top half of the car is painted black.

Like I said, weird.

Others sedans to consider

• Hyundai Ioniq 6
• BMW i5
• Hyundai Elantra Hybrid

The 2025 Toyota Crown Nightshade Edition hits the middle in every way

The Crown is priced like it’s from a premium brand. But if you’re coming from one, you might notice that this ‘Yota isn’t quite as high-end. Almost, but not quite.

The driving experience is also firmly in the middle of automotive land – neither fast nor slow. It’ll never inspire you to go for a drive, but never aggravate you or leave you stranded. 

And it offers all-wheel drive, with the taller ride height from an SUV. But it’s missing the utility body and go-anywhere promise. What the 2025 Toyota Crown Nightshade Edition is then, is a compromise. Makes a great daily, a good family car, and something you should leave at home on a weekend drive. My advice? Splurge for the Platinum trim and keep it in sport mode.

Regardless, you’ll be in Toyota royalty.