Toyota Kluger GX – Ideal recipe for work rest and play

– Article/Photos by Rod Fuller –

Take six cylinders, seven seats and eight gears. Add AWD, two tonne towing capacity and a stylish and attractive look; and you have a great recipe for a fantastic all round vehicle for the family and work.

Toyota with the Kluger has blended all the right ingredients to create an outstanding SUV, helping it along the way to becoming one of the nation’s favourite family haulers.

The largest AWD in the Toyota range and as a seven seater, Kluger has space and lots of it to accommodate your family and all the stuff they bring along. Head and leg room for all passengers is excellent with plenty of room wherever you’re sitting, front, rear and even in the third row seats. Access to the third row seat is simple and easy with the rear seat sliding forward when required.

Driving the Kluger is a comfortable affair. You’re sitting up high and have excellent visibility. Adding to the comfort is the copious amount of power available from the 3.5Lt V6 (218kW 350Nm) engine. And coupled with the eight speed auto transmission the drive is just effortless, whether you are doing a school run or clocking up the km’s on the highway.

The engine also has a satisfying growl to it, not intrusive or raucous, just loud enough to let you know it’s there, it’s powerful and doing the job for you. Fuel economy is surprisingly good for a big V6 in a larger SUV, with Toyota listing a combined average of 9.5Lt/100km.

Kluger GX is an impressive looking vehicle with a strong road presence. It has 18” alloy wheels on 245/60R18 Michelin tyres, which fill the wheel arches nicely and a full size spare wheel (alloy) is provided as well.

Inside Kluger there a numerous storage compartments to hide the family’s bits and pieces and the centre console bin is HUGE – be careful the little ones don’t fall in! And if you can’t find a cup or bottle holder you’re seriously not looking – they’re everywhere.

The GX doesn’t get climate control air con, but does have separate controls for front and rear seat passengers. Three 12v outlets (2 front, 1 rear seat) and only one USB in the front is provided. A 6.1” touchscreen controls the six speaker infotainment system in the GX, with Bluetooth connectivity, CD player, AM/FM radio and AUX input. The touchscreen doubles as the reverse camera display. No Sat Nav or lumbar support for the driver’s seat though (have to look at the GXL or GRANDE for that).

TSS+ (Toyota Safety Sense+) is standard for all Klugers incorporating Lane Departure Alert, Automatic High Beam, Hill Start Assist, Active Cruise Control and a Pre-Collision Warning system (Forward Collision warning, Brake Assist and Autonomous Emergency Braking). Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert are available on the upper models only.

Toyota offers a three year 100,000km warranty for Kluger with a capped price service program (up to 60,000km).

Kluger is probably Australia’s favourite family SUV and with good reason. It is practical and comfortable with enough room for the entire family. It is a pleasure to drive and very easy on the eye. In short, for your next novated lease; all the ingredients are there for Kluger to be the ideal SUV recipe, to help your family, work, rest and play.

What does it look like as a Novated Lease?

This data is from the 2018 Novated Leasing Guide produced by Fleet Auto News.