Toyota LandCruiser 300 GX vs Toyota LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon

The braked rating is identical at 3,500kg, which is where most comparisons stop. The number that settles it is GCM, the maximum vehicle and trailer may weigh together. The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon carries 7,010kg against the LandCruiser 300 GX's 6,750kg, plus a 3,510kg GVM against 3,280kg, and it is 180kg lighter at the kerb. Hook 3,500kg to each and the 70 keeps meaningfully more legal room for people, fuel and gear. One caveat: the 70's tow ball download figure in our data fails a plausibility check and has gone back for re-verification, so treat ball weight as unconfirmed.

The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon locks its front and rear differentials as standard. The LandCruiser 300 GX locks neither. The 300 has a locking centre differential instead, which it needs because it runs full-time four-wheel drive, while the 70 is part-time with auto-locking hubs and has no centre differential to lock. Those are different architectures rather than different amounts of the same thing, but on the trail two axle lockers is the more decisive tool. The 70 also clears 290mm against 245mm and takes the approach angle, 33 degrees against 31. The 300 wins departure, 25 against 23, and adds Crawl Control.

The LandCruiser 300 holds a five-star ANCAP rating awarded in 2022 and valid until the end of December 2028. The GX carries ten airbags, with adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist standard. The LandCruiser 70 has no ANCAP star rating in its current form, and ANCAP's 2025 commercial-vehicle grading covered the 79 single- and double-cab utes, not this wagon body. It runs two airbags and cruise control without the adaptive part. Both do have AEB with pedestrian detection, so the 70 is not without active safety. Unrated does not mean equivalent, though. It means unmeasured, and that is a different thing to weigh.

This is the result most buyers get backwards. Toyota's capped price servicing puts the LandCruiser 300 GX at $420 a visit and $4,200 across five years. The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon runs $545 a visit and $5,450 over the same stretch. Both sit on the same demanding schedule, six months or 10,000km, so you are making the same number of visits either way, and both carry an identical five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty. On fuel the 300 is the more efficient car on paper at 8.9L/100km against 9.6, though the 70's figure predates the AdBlue update fitted for 2026, and Toyota had published no revised number as of August 2026.

The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon carries 130 litres against the LandCruiser 300 GX's 110. On the published combined figures that lands somewhere near 1,350km for the 70 and near 1,240km for the 300, so the smaller, thirstier engine takes touring range on tank size alone. Treat both as approximate. Lab figures rarely survive a loaded touring rig or a trailer, and the 70's consumption number was measured before its AdBlue exhaust treatment system arrived, so it may move. The 70 now needs AdBlue as a running consumable. The 300 does not.

The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon runs manual air conditioning against the LandCruiser 300 GX's dual-zone automatic system, and a 6.7-inch touchscreen against eight inches. Neither is a luxury car inside and the GX is cloth-trimmed too, but the gap in ambience is real. The structural difference matters more. The 70 rides on leaf springs at the rear and live axles at both ends where the 300 has independent front suspension and a multi-link rear, and that shows up on corrugations and bitumen alike.

For genuine remote touring the LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon has the stronger case. The numbers that constrain a loaded rig all fall its way: a 7,010kg combined ceiling, a 3,510kg GVM, 1,210kg of payload, 130 litres of fuel, 290mm of clearance and lockers on both axles. The boundary is equally clear. You are touring in a vehicle with two airbags and no current safety rating, and paying more to service it. Read the LandCruiser 300 GX as the better buy if your trips are long but the loads are moderate, where refinement across thousands of kilometres is worth real money.

The LandCruiser 300 GX, because every measure a family buyer weighs points the same way. Ten airbags against two. A current five-star rating against none. Adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and dual-zone climate as standard, plus independent front suspension where the 70 runs live axles and rear leaf springs. The boundary is seat count. The GX is a five-seater, so if you need seven the GXL grade above it is the move, not the 70. The LandCruiser 70 GXL Wagon is a capable vehicle, but a cramped second row and unmeasured crash performance are hard to recommend around children.

For most fleets the LandCruiser 300 GX, and the deciding factor is rarely the spec sheet. Many corporate and government duty-of-care policies require a current five-star ANCAP rating, which the LandCruiser 70 cannot supply because it has no star rating. Read the 70 GXL Wagon as the better tool where that policy does not bind and the work is load-carrying in remote country, since its higher GVM and payload make a real operational case. Factor in availability either way. The 70 Series was off the market from September 2025 while Toyota re-engineered its diesel for tougher emissions rules, with orders reopening in July 2026.