First, let’s address the elephant in the room and get it over with. The 2025 Toyota Crown Signia is NOT a station wagon. How do I know this? Because Toyota said so, and that’s good enough for me. Besides, there is no Country Squire option and the Griswolds wouldn’t even try to go to Roy Wally World in it, which is the ultimate determining factor. So, if you want woodgrain running down the sides, you’ll have to arrange that yourself.
In the meantime, I bring you a much-anticipated new SUV from Toyota, the Crown Signia. This is the second offering in the Crown line. Amy and I have both reviewed the Crown sedan (with which the Signia shares the chassis), and now comes the SUV variant of Crown, which is an upscale model of Toyota. It is not quite a Lexus, but I have to say, the interior gets pretty close. As I noted with the Crown sedan, the Signia sits up higher for easier entry and exit, and pay attention to how wide the doors are, again for ease of getting in and out. The Signia sits a full 7” higher than Toyota Camry.
Exterior
The looks are stunning, and this car has attracted attention everywhere I’ve been. My followers on Facebook were quite smitten with the overall appearance. This is the top-of-the line Limited edition, but you can drop down to the XLE if you want to save about $4,500. These are the only two trim levels, and there is only one choice of engine and transmission. Toyota does not refer to the Crown Signia as the replacement for the Venza, but clearly that is what is going on here.
As with everyone else, I love the looks of this vehicle. There is really nothing else on the market with a similar front fascia or side profile, it is refreshingly unique in a world of look-alike SUVs. The 21” alloy wheels look fantastic, I love the chiseled fenders that create a distinct line down the sides, and just the right amount of black trim accents adorn the sides between the wheels of this Storm Cloud Blue beauty, and the Batmobile-ish front end is cool. It is only offered in five exterior colors (check out the Bronze Age) and it only comes in tan or black interior.
Powertrain
Let’s talk about what’s under the hood. This is the fabulous Toyota hybrid system, which features a turbocharged 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, aided by two electric motors, one in front and one in back. This makes it an all-wheel drive SUV. The numbers are actually unimpressive to look at: 240-horses and 178 pound-feet of torque, and I cannot explain this, but it feels like double that. You should have no fears about lack of acceleration. It is mated to an electronic continuously-variable transmission that you can actually shift from paddles on the steering wheel. For you CVT conspiracy theorists, no worries ever with the Toyota CVT.
I just want to touch on the all-wheel drive system for a second. It is an on-demand system, so it is primarily a front-wheel drive power train for fuel economy, but the Signia can seamlessly shift 80% of the power to the rear wheels when needed. This SUV will also run on all-electric power at slower speeds, using no gas.
Interior
When you enter the cabin, it has the feel of a Lexus, with soft, leather, heated and cooled seats that are slightly bolstered. They are large and super-comfortable. I love the stitching and soft materials all around. Everything blends together beautifully. The interior is-no offense to Toyota-uncommonly luxurious and Lexus-like.
Hit the start button to illuminate a 12.3” gauge cluster that you can configure and gives you all sorts of useful information. Everything is colorful and easy read. There is a large gauge on the left side to tell you about battery usage and fuel consumption. If you can stay inside the Eco area, you are maximizing fuel economy.
Mid-dash is another 12.3” multi-media touchscreen that houses the 11-speaker JBL audio, navigation system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, settings, and a cool screen to show you the energy flow. There is a Wi-Fi hot spot, and SiriusXM as well. There is a fairly large standalone knob for your volume, and you can control it from the heated steering wheel also.
The center console has a terrific standup cell phone charger with a light to tell you when you are fully charged. There are also two cup holders, the auto brake hold, USB ports, the electronic parking brake, and a soft center glove box that opens from both sides.
This is also where you change the drive modes. You can choose Custom, Sport, Normal, and Eco. There are distinct differences in the way the Signia drives between the modes. Sport, of course, is my favorite and it makes the 4-cylinder seem even more responsive.
Back seat room is spacious, and those riders get their own air vents (but not controls), more USBs, and a pull down armrest with cup holders. Leg and headroom are both very generous, especially leg room, and the back seat is as comfortable as the front ones are.
Cargo space is massive at 68.8 cubic-feet with the rear seats folded down, and the seats fold flat for a large load floor.
The seats are also easy to fold down and put back up with one handle on each side, on the top of the seatbacks. Simple and easy.
This Limited comes fully equipped with heated and cooled dual power seats with power lumbar, a huge fixed panoramic moon roof with power-sliding cover, heated steering wheel and heated back seat, a hands-free power liftgate, LED headlights, and a digital rearview mirror.
It also has Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which includes pre-collision detection, pedestrian detection, full-stop adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, blind-spot monitoring, and front and rear parking sensors with automatic braking, and a terrific backup camera.
If you are not usually distracted when driving, you may want to turn off the over-eager driver attention camera mounted on top of the steering wheel. WOW, it has gone off on me more times than I can count, which is probably why I should leave it on, but you be the judge.
My tester has the $1,865 Advanced Technology Package which gives you traffic jam assist, lane change assist, automatic emergency braking, and puddle lights. This option gives you some tech and the missing pieces of the semi-self-driving capability. It has a key glove ($20), carpeted floor mats ($319), mud guards ($160), and illuminated door sills ($345).
The ride in the Crown Signia is exceptional and the higher stance gives it amazing visibility. Toyota is proud of the extra emphasis they put on making the cabin quiet, and it shows. Handling is great, more car-like than an SUV typically is, and the steering to me is fine.
I need to emphasize the acceleration again, and you know I have a heavy foot. The Signia will flat get-up-and-go, and the engine noise is not even detectable as many 4-cylinders are when under heavy acceleration. At the same time, Toyota eked out extremely impressive MPG numbers at 39 city, 37 highway, and 38 overall. It will also tow 2,700-pounds which is more than I expected.
Total MSRP is $52,149 as you see it here, which I find to be a truly exceptional value.
I glanced at a few other reviews on the Crown Signia, and some of the reviewers called it dull, unexciting, and bland. Not sure what the hell they are looking for to be honest, cripes, it’s a Toyota. They are not known for excitement and thrills, but if you want an exceptional SUV that you can rely on for hundreds of thousands of miles, that is well thought out, great fuel economy, and a very reasonable price: It’s the Crown Signia.
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