Toyota Crown Expert Review

Design & Build Quality

The latest Toyota Crown is what happens when Toyota decides a luxury sedan should stop looking like someone's respectable accountant's car and start looking considerably more interesting. Its proportions are long, low and unusually dramatic for a Toyota. At more than five metres long, with a 3,000mm wheelbase, the Crown has genuine executive-sedan presence. The hammerhead-inspired front end gives it a sharp face, while the wide body and narrow lighting create a planted stance. The fastback-like roofline adds some visual drama without sacrificing the rear-seat practicality expected from a large sedan. The enormous 20-inch wheels on the Z grade complete the expensive-looking package. They look superb, although Bangladesh's roads may regard those tyres as a personal challenge. The rear is cleaner and more restrained, with a full-width lighting signature that makes the Crown immediately recognisable at night. There is no unnecessary spoiler or collection of fake vents; Toyota has kept the design relatively mature. For Bangladesh, the biggest exterior weakness is not styling but clearance. Around 130mm is low for roads containing speed breakers apparently designed by people with a grudge against suspension systems. It is also a very large car. At 5,030mm long and 1,890mm wide, parking in central Dhaka requires planning. Still, visually, the Crown succeeds brilliantly. It finally looks like the flagship Toyota it is supposed to be. For more visual detail, open the detailed image gallery. The full specifications and features gives the key dimensions and exterior equipment in one place. Toyota Crown stands out through the combination of its proportions, lighting and wheel package, which matter when choosing a car you will see every day.

The Crown's interior is where the car begins to justify its price.

The dashboard is modern without becoming a giant touchscreen experiment. A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster sits ahead of the driver, while the centre display provides the expected navigation, smartphone connectivity and vehicle functions. The driving position feels distinctly premium, while the long wheelbase creates the kind of rear-seat space that makes passengers stop asking whether they can sit comfortably.

Higher-spec versions use Premium Nappa leather, and the Z grade goes considerably further with heated and ventilated seats, including rear-seat heating. The rear passengers also benefit from electric sunshades and a strong emphasis on quietness.

This is a car designed to carry important people, not merely groceries.

The cabin's biggest strength is its sense of calm. Toyota has invested heavily in insulation, ride quality and vibration control, so motorway journeys feel remarkably relaxed.

There is little to complain about regarding space, although the sloping roofline sacrifices some of the airy feeling you get from a more traditional three-box luxury sedan.

For Bangladesh, the leather, powerful climate control, rear comfort equipment and excellent sound insulation are particularly welcome. Dhaka traffic is exhausting enough without having to spend an hour sitting inside an unpleasant cabin.

The Crown gets this part very right.

The Crown is loaded with technology, but thankfully most of it serves an actual purpose.

The Z grade gets a large digital instrument display, touchscreen infotainment, smartphone integration, wireless charging, navigation, voice controls, premium audio, digital key functionality and an extensive collection of connected-car functions.

Then there are the features you notice after driving for five minutes rather than five months: heated and ventilated seats, electric adjustment, rear sunshades, hands-free trunk operation, automatic climate control, panoramic-view monitoring and Advanced Park.

The 360-degree camera is particularly useful in Bangladesh. Parking a five-metre luxury sedan beside a rickshaw, CNG and three motorcycles is not a task that should be attempted without technological assistance.

Toyota's driver-assistance package is equally comprehensive. Adaptive cruise control, lane tracing, pre-collision braking, road-sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic assistance make the Crown considerably less tiring on long journeys.

Some connected functions depend on the original market and T-Connect subscription, which is important for imported cars.

What is missing? Very little. The Crown already has more technology than most Bangladeshi buyers will use.

The clever part is that Toyota has avoided turning the cabin into a technology showroom. It remains a car first, computer second.

Safety & Driver Assistance

Safety is one of the Crown's strongest areas.

Toyota has fitted the latest sedan with a comprehensive version of Toyota Safety Sense. Pre-collision detection and automatic emergency braking monitor traffic ahead, while lane-departure warning and lane-tracing assistance help keep the vehicle where it should be.

Adaptive cruise control makes highway driving much easier, particularly when traffic constantly changes speed. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic assistance are invaluable in Bangladesh, where motorcycles can appear beside a vehicle with the stealth of a military aircraft.

The Crown also includes multiple airbags, ABS, EBD, brake assist, stability control, traction control, TPMS, ISOFIX mounting points and hill-start assistance.

The panoramic-view monitor is another major advantage. It gives the driver a far better understanding of the vehicle's surroundings when manoeuvring.

Higher-spec cars also receive Advanced Park, which can automatically assist with parking. It sounds unnecessary until you attempt to squeeze a five-metre sedan into a Dhaka shopping-centre parking space.

Real-world safety, however, depends heavily on condition. A reconditioned Crown with repaired front-end damage may have radar or camera calibration issues that aren't obvious from the outside.

Therefore, Bangladesh buyers should inspect ADAS calibration as carefully as the engine and hybrid system.

The Crown is technologically very safe, but the quality of the imported example still matters enormously. For the complete equipment breakdown, see the full safety review and the full specifications and features. The full features review puts the safety kit alongside the rest of the vehicle's technology, while the driving experience review explains how the car behaves on the road. You can also browse the detailed image gallery, owner reviews, and all variants.  These details give the Toyota Crown  a clearer safety picture for everyday use.

The Crown's driving experience is fundamentally different from that of an ordinary Toyota.

The 2.5-litre A25A-FXS hybrid combines petrol power with electric motors and Toyota's unusual Multi-Stage Hybrid transmission. The result is approximately 239 hp, rear-wheel drive and acceleration to 100 km/h in roughly 8.6 seconds.

It is not violently fast. Instead, it is smooth, immediate and extremely quiet.

The electric motor supplies instant response when pulling away, while the petrol engine becomes more involved at higher speeds. The Multi-Stage system gives the drivetrain a more natural spread of ratios than a conventional CVT, making highway acceleration feel surprisingly sophisticated.

Then there is the chassis.

The Crown uses a rear-wheel-drive platform with a long wheelbase and sophisticated suspension. It feels stable and composed at speed, while the steering has enough precision to remind you that this is not simply a chauffeur's sofa.

Long-distance driving is where the Crown really shines. The quiet cabin, excellent seats and relaxed powertrain make several hours behind the wheel surprisingly effortless.

In Dhaka, however, the Crown's size becomes noticeable. It is wide, long and low, and its 130mm clearance demands attention around speed breakers and damaged roads.

Fuel economy is impressive for a large luxury sedan, although Bangladesh traffic will naturally reduce it.

Overall, the Crown drives like a proper executive car: quiet when you want it, powerful enough when necessary and remarkably composed everywhere else.