Tag Archives: Toyota Crown

2025 Toyota Crown Nightshade

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It isn’t just the dark color scheme that makes this stealthy. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Quick: what is the top-of-the-line car model offered by Toyota?

As you’ve probably read the headline, you made a correct guess.

And I’m guessing that it was a guess because the Toyota Crown is something that is not as well known as it ought to be in the lineup.

The Crown was introduced in the U.S. as a model year 2023 vehicle. It replaced a vehicle that also didn’t have the visibility it deserved, the Avalon.

(Arguably in the case of the Avalon there was reduced promotion because it was so well executed that the owners of Lexus dealerships probably wouldn’t have liked that the Avalon would give the Lexus ES a run for the consumers’ money.)

While you might think that this is a bit of an exaggeration to talk about the relative invisibility of the Crown, consider this:

Through the first three quarters of 2025, there were 8,669 Crowns sold in the U.S. (The Crown Signa, which, in effect, replaced the Venza, a crossover, had nearly double the sales of the sedan: 16,277.)

The GR86 sports car—even available with a manual transmission, so this is not designed and engineered to take the kids to school or to shop at Costco—nearly had as many sales at the Crown: 8,107.

And the Crown is the kind of vehicle that you can take the kids to school in and to shop at Costco (it is a hatch that offers 15.2 cubic feet behind the second row, so there is space for stuff).

Toyota Crown: a stylish hybrid that, even if it wasn’t in the Nightshade trim, is still stealthy. (Image: Toyota)

The Crown has stylish sheet metal, which is certainly not unusual for Toyota models of late. It could be said that one of the reasons why Toyota still has cars on offer while Chevy and Ford have abandoned them (yes, yes, there is the Mustang, but it is hardly a “car” in the sense of the classic four-door architecture: the GR86 is a car, too, but the “sports” modifier separates it) is because it has freed up its designers.

For the Nightshade edition there is that “dark” theme, with Storm Cloud paint, 21-inch, 10-spoke wheels with a black finish, and dark door handles, mirror caps and rear badging.

Inside there’s a black leather interior and features and execution that may bring Lexus to mind, but not in the way the Avalon did (and if I had to think of a Lexus that might be Crown-like it would be the HS 250h, the brand’s first hybrid sedan, which had but a short (2010-12) run in the U.S.). The front seats are heated and cooled; the rear seat is heated. There is a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen (which has, just below it, a volume knob for those so inclined to take advantage of the JBL 11-speaker system).

The Crown is a hybrid that produces a system horsepower of 236. (For those who want more power, there is the Platinum trim providing 340 hp.) By and large the 236 hp is certainly sufficient for the aforementioned daily drives. This is an all-wheel drive vehicle.

 The vehicle EPA rated at 42 mpg city, 41 mpg highway and 41 mpg combined. Given that it has a 14.5-gallon tank that is filled with regular fuel, if you were to drive the Crown such that you’d leave one gallon in the tank just in case, you’d have a range of over 550 miles.

Which means Crowns are certainly not seen that often at gas stations.

2025 Toyota Crown Signia Limited

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Crown is taking the place of other Toyota nameplates and is doing a good job at doing so. . .


By Gary S. Vasilash


There are probably more people who are familiar with the Roxy Music album of the same name than the Avalon, Toyota’s former top-of-the-line sedan in the U.S. market.


Which is a shame because the Avalon, which was introduced in model year 1995 and had a five-generation run until it became unavailable in the U.S. market, was, year in and year out, generation after generation, a fine automobile.


Perhaps a problem for the flagship that it was simply eclipsed by the Toyota Camry which, year in and year out, generation after generation (it is now the ninth), simply sold in tremendous numbers.


Someone would walk into a Toyota dealership and likely drive out in a Camry because it probably took little in the way of convincing. But for another car that cost a few thousand more, nice as it was, the persuasion would have been more challenging. So if you were a commissioned salesperson, wouldn’t you take the path of least resistance? (It has been the best-selling sedan in the U.S. for 22 years running, and this year it will likely notch 23.)


The product planners at Toyota know they need to have something at the top of the line. Something that isn’t the Camry XSE AWD (the highest trim level of the eight available).


For model year 2023 Toyota introduced the Crown to the U.S. market, the top-of-the-line that was the Avalon replacement.


Initially the Crown was positioned as a sort-of hybrid crossover, with the “sort-of” predicated on what it called a “lift-up” design.


As Toyota put it: “Crown has a raised overall height that’s nearly four inches higher than Camry. The unique height of this sedan offers increased road visibility, along with easy entry and exit.”


But sort-of isn’t enough.


So for model year 2025 Toyota is adding the Crown Signia to it lineup. This vehicle is categorized as an SUV.


And just as the Crown replaced the Avalon, the Signia Crown replaces the second-generation (the all-hybrid one that had a run from model years 2021 to 2024) Venza.
Clearly the “Crown” moniker, which has been a fixture in the Toyota Japan lineup since it went into production in 1955, is taking its place in the U.S. market in a notable way.
The Crown Signia is quite an impressive vehicle.

If there is any problem that the Crown Signia may have (though not for me) it is that the roofline resembles a small wagon more than an SUV. (Image: Toyota)


No, this is not because its hybrid powertrain’s 240 combined net horsepower (188 hp from the four-cylinder engines and the balance from its 134 kW front and 40 kW rear permanent magnet synchronous electric motors) or from its standard electronic on-demand all-wheel drive (it works when it needs to; the driver need not engage buttons or knobs or tap a selection of the 12.3-inch infotainment screen).


It’s not because it has the capability of towing 2,700 pounds or, with the second row seats folded, a 6.5-foot long cargo area.


It is because it is clear that the level of attention to detail executed in both the exterior and interior designs bring to mind the style and sophistication that had been characteristic of the Avalon.


For example, the leather-trimmed seats that are in the Limited grade have double-stitching, quilting and fillet piping. While leather seats can provoke a shrug, it is the fact that there is the double-stitching, quilting and fillet piping that takes them to a level that is not characteristic of an offering from a mass-market brand.


The vehicle as-driven has an MSRP of $51,799. That’s $47,990 for the vehicle and the remainder for the options. (There is also an addition of $1,450 on top of the $51,799 for delivery and handling.)


The options include things like premium paint ($425) and mudguards ($155). The biggest one if the advanced technology package ($1,865), which includes things like various sensors and monitors and associated functions.


So it comes to $53,249, certainly a reasonable sticker for what is a premium hybrid.