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When Toyota launched the Crown sedan, it surprised me. New sedans are now low-volume affairs. The few that remain entrenched in the market are outstanding, high-volume, and have an extremely high value. So why inject a new sedan into that ultra-difficult segment? People who buy sedans are aging out of the car market. Pretty much everyone wants a crossover or SUV now, and trucks are as popular as ever.
With that said, I am a long-time Toyota owner, and I “get” the brand. I understand that Toyotas are, first and foremost, reliable. They are also very economical. Practical is also a word that jumps to mind, though sedans are not generally the most practical shape of vehicle.
Here’s our review of the 2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan. We hope we can shed some light on why the Crown was introduced in light of the 2025 Camry.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - What Is It?
The Toyota Crown is a midsized sedan aspiring to the premium family car category. It is virtually identical in size inside to the Toyota Camry. We compared all the dimensions since Toyota, oddly, left out the interior passenger volume on its spec sheet. Cargo space in the trunk is also virtually identical to the Camry at about 15 cu ft. The difference between the two is that the Camry is a typical low-slung, ground-hugging sedan. The Crown, by contrast, is lifted a bit and has a higher stance.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - How Much Does It Cost?
Our top-trim Crown had a consumer cost of $55,140, including the Toyota Delivery, Processing, and Handling fee, but not including the dealer Doc fee. That stunned us. The vehicle feels about $10,00 high in price to us, given that a top-trim 2025 Camry XSE AWD costs about $38K.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - What Powers It? What’s Its MPG
The top trim of the Crown uses Toyota’s Hybrid Max powertrain. That includes electronic AWD. Torque is rated at 400 lb-ft. The EPA estimated Combined rating is 30 MPG for this vehicle. However, in our testing, we carefully measured the fuel economy in two ways. First, the gauge display was observed, which reported 33.6 MPG. Second, we measured it at the pump over a full tank by dividing miles driven by fuel added, and we found a 33.8 MPG result. This is typical for Toyota hybrids in our testing. Even though we ran the AC full blast most of the days, logged about 30% highway miles, and the temps were close to 100F on many of our drives, the hybrid system still exceeded its EPA MPG rating. The 2024 Toyota hybrid we own does the same thing and does it in all weather conditions.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - The Drive
The Crown we tested had massive 21-inch rims with very low-profile 45-series tires. Yet, it was never harsh, even over very rough roads. We even found it comfortable over dirt roads. Potholes were absorbed with little drama and railroad crossings were comfortable and nearly silent. The suspension does have a bit more vertical (up and down) motion than sporty cars do, and the handling is not sports-car-tight. Which is great since that is not this vehicle’s mission.
The brake pedal feel and actuation were a bit odd, but we became accustomed to it over a week of driving. It requires a firm push to get the expected result. Maybe the regen is the reason.
The Hybrid Max powertrain is very good. It is almost always silent (and I have outstanding hearing). You can hear the gas engine sometimes, but it is never a negative. For the most part, the Hybrid Max drives like an electric vehicle. Because it is, in fact, using electric motors to push the car around a lot of the time
Torque is very good, but honestly, it didn’t feel much different from our 2024 Venza in normal driving. The Venza we have uses a powertrain that is very similar to the base version of the Crown. The Max version of the hybrid has about 100 hp more. But that is PEAK horsepower. And we only tapped that one time in a week of driving.
We have a road near us (Rt. 2) that has stop signs and yield signs as one enters the 55 MPH roadway, on which pretty much all the traffic is traveling at over 60 MPH. So, we had to wait for a gap in traffic and then nail it. Even with AWD, the Crown can chirp its wheels and simply leap forward when floored. The official 0-60 MPH time is 5.7 seconds, and it feels even quicker than that. More performance is simply not needed for a car of this type. We merged into traffic with ease, and we noted the difference between the Crown’s acceleration and what our capable Venza could do. Here is where the Max hybrid difference lies. And here only.
The Crown is a joy on lonely back country roads and mountain passes. It is also superb on the highway. We used the lane tracing and adaptive cruise control, and it was excellent - but not hands-free. Around town, the Crown is comfortable and the slightly higher ride height is welcome.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - Interior, Infotainment, and Features
Inside, the Crown is 90% a Lexus and 10% a Toyota. I checked with Toyota, and the “Leather” inside is actually animal-derived, not SofTex. It is very good. The perforated, ventilated, and heated seats are sized right for grown-up Americans. Very comfy, and also supportive.
The infotainment system features wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It worked well in our testing, though we had one or two drops and re-connects. The screen is rectangular and large. Under the screen is a long row of real buttons and switches for HVAC controls. This is ideal. There is a perfect volume knob in the center of the infotainment area, easy to reach for passenger or driver use. We would say this is one of the best systems on the market today.
The interior is roomy, and we carried five passengers at one point with minimal backseat drama. With four passengers, the car is very comfortable. The roofline is not as high as a crossover’s, but the car feels spacious.
There is a compact spare with tools under the cargo floor. We love that. It’s odd that the wagon version of this car, the Crown Signia, deletes that safety feature.
Speaking of safety, you’re going to turn off the driver attention monitor on day one of your ownership. You can’t even look at a stop sign without the warning chime.
Warranty and Value
The Crown has the normal 3/36 and 5/60 warranty, but the Hybrid Max system is covered for a very long ten years and 150,000 miles. That means you will never need to deal with any battery issues before this vehicle is fully depreciated.
2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Sedan - Our Conclusions
The 2024 Toyota Crown Platinum is a very nice sedan in every way imaginable. The odd thing is that it is almost identical in size to the very nice Camry sedan. Where it differs is its ride height. The Hybrid Max powertrain is great if you need a burst of power, but given a choice, I think my pick would be the standard powertrain with its 35% better fuel economy. The Crown will appeal to those Toyota shoppers looking for the most luxury the brand offers, plus a ride that is not low to the ground.
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John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work at our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.
Image of Crown infotainment system courtesy of Toyota. Other images by John Goreham
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