2025 Toyota Crown Signia Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Rarely does Toyota get every design line exactly right, but that’s the case with the 2025 Crown Signia. There isn’t a strange angle, misplaced crease, wonky proportion, or garish detail on its clean and contemporary body. Even the Limited trim level’s dark 21-inch wheels escape criticism thanks to a metallic finish that highlights their appealing Y-spoke styling. This is a vehicle that will age gracefully for years to come.

However, note that the 2025 Crown Signia lacks dark-tinted rear privacy glass, which you’ll find on most other crossover SUVs including lifted wagons like the Subaru Outback. Why is this? We asked Toyota about it, and the explanation is that the Crown Signia is a wagon in its home market of Japan. The modifications made to bring the vehicle to North America do not meet regulatory standard allowing the use of privacy glass.

Unsurprisingly, Toyota will market the Crown Signia as a crossover SUV anyway, because that’s what people want to buy. In Canada, it launches in a single Limited trim level, priced at $60,515 including the $1,930 destination charge and other fees. Our test vehicle had extra-cost Oxygen White paint and the Advanced Technology Package, so the Canadian manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is $62,845, including the destination charge.

The Crown Signia comes with 21-inch wheels, a panoramic glass sunroof, ambient interior lighting, a JBL premium sound system, and a handful of other features. Black and Saddle Tan are the interior colour choices, and we prefer the latter for its upscale, high-contrast, two-tone appearance.

Every Crown Signia has dual 12.3-inch digital displays, quilted leather upholstery, and trendy bronze interior accents. Quality levels are high, and the Crown Signia seems nicer inside than a Toyota Highlander but not quite as luxurious as a Lexus RX.

Toyota equips the Crown Signia with a fourth-generation version of its tried-and-true hybrid powertrain. An Atkinson-cycle 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine pairs with electric motor/generators, a nickel-metal hydride battery, a regenerative braking system, and a continuously variable transmission (CVT) to deliver a combined 240 horsepower.

The CVT is the least appealing thing about the setup, because it allows steady-state engine droning under hard acceleration. However, most of the time you don’t notice the transmission, which is the best thing anyone can say about a CVT. At low speeds, you can use an EV Mode for brief electric-only driving, such as when stuck in heavy traffic or prowling a parking lot for a space. Otherwise, Eco, Normal, and Sport driving modes govern the drivetrain. Toyota estimates the Crown Signia will use 6.2 litres per 100 kilometres in combined driving, but we saw 6.9 L/100 km during a day trip from the city into the mountains.

That real-world fuel economy observation is common with hybrids. They’re typically more efficient in cities and when driving in traffic, where the electric assist motors and battery pack can rack up more electrified klicks. At higher speeds, with continued use of the gasoline engine, and especially in hilly areas, hybrids are not quite as efficient.

According to Toyota, a Crown Signia accelerates to 96 km/h in 7.1 seconds. By modern standards, that’s merely adequate, but good enough that you can merge onto a fast-flowing highway at prevailing speeds. Unfortunately, the harder you accelerate, the louder the droning coming from under the hood becomes. Fortunately, the racket is a temporary irritant.

The Crown Signia is remarkably quiet inside, with a supple ride and secure handling. You’ll feel sharper bumps, and the steering won’t inspire you to take the long way home, but this Toyota is a capable handler when the road ahead is anything but straight. Better yet, the regenerative braking system is sophisticated enough to feel absolutely natural when you step on the brake pedal.

Maybe Toyota should have called this new model the Comfort Signia. Soft, perforated leather upholstery and a dual-zone automatic climate control system are standard, and both front seats offer eight-way power adjustment, heating, and ventilation. The driver also gets a heated steering wheel and a memory function for preferred settings.

Though we spent only 90 minutes driving the Crown Signia, we found it comfortable on a warm and sunny day. Thoughtfully, Toyota shapes and pads the side of the centre console to be kind to the driver’s right leg, and the steering wheel feels good in your hands.

Rear-seat passengers won’t be quite as happy. There is plenty of room, the seat cushion offers excellent thigh support, and air conditioning vents deliver cool air. However, during a half-hour ride with the sun beating into the right rear window, we felt hot and uncomfortable. The Crown Signia needs that darker glass or rear window shades. On cold days, we’re sure passengers will appreciate the standard heated outboard rear seat cushions.

Interior storage space is acceptable, Toyota rightly choosing to emphasize style over utility. Still, there are dedicated spaces for two drinks and two smartphones, and trays embedded into the front door armrests can hold keys, gum, breath mints, and other items.

A hands-free power liftgate rises to reveal a 702-litre cargo area. A cargo cover is standard to keep your belongings out of sight, but only if you’ve packed light. Fold the 60/40-split back seat down to expand the space to 1,871 litres.

The 2025 Toyota Crown Signia comes with a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation display and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. They live right next to one another, but Toyota recesses the gauge panel in a traditional location while the infotainment screen sits proud atop the dashboard to be closer to the driver and front passenger.

For the most part, both displays feature pleasing graphics and intuitive operation. The infotainment system lacks a traditional Home page, removing that layer and simplifying with five icons on the left side of the display. In our experience, it is easy to forget what you’ll find in the Car and Settings menus, but once you’ve set everything up to your preferences, you may visit them infrequently.

The infotainment system comes with four connected services plans, each with available complimentary subscriptions so you can try them before paying any fees. In our opinion, Safety Connect is the most important one to have. It includes automatic collision notification, SOS emergency calling, quick access to roadside assistance, and a stolen vehicle locator.

Remote Connect is necessary only if you want to remotely access certain vehicle functions, start the Crown Signia from the comfort of your home, or find the SUV when you’ve forgotten where you parked. It also offers a digital key technology that turns your smartphone into the vehicle’s key.

Drive Connect includes a cloud-based navigation system and a conversational digital voice assistant. It works well, but since the infotainment system also has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, paying for this after the free trial expires doesn’t seem wise.

The Crown Signia comes with an 11-speaker JBL premium sound system. It’s decent, especially if you prefer music with heavy bass, but there are better offerings in some of the Crown Signia’s rivals. Audiophiles may want to consider alternatives.

The Crown Signia includes Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 (TSS 3.0), a comprehensive collection of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). Highlights include adaptive cruise control with lane-centring assistance and an exclusive technology called Proactive Driving Assist (PDA). The PDA technology can add subtle braking and steering inputs when you’re not using other safety features, adding an extra layer of security to the daily drive.

We’ve used PDA in numerous Lexus and Toyota models, and our opinion of the feature depends on the vehicle and the situation. In some cases, PDA is barely noticeable. In others, it is a regular source of irritation. You can turn this off through the ADAS menu in the digital instrumentation, but a dedicated button would be better.

The adaptive cruise control and lane-centring systems worked well, and as we left the suburbs for the mountains, the PDA proved mostly unintrusive on winding canyon roads. Still, we preferred to drive the Crown Signia with the PDA turned off.

Overall, the TSS 3.0 technology worked well. During our relatively brief drive, we experienced only one false warning. On a two-lane highway, as the Crown Signia approached a curve with cars parked on the shoulder, the forward-collision warning system sounded an alert, but ultimately did not engage the automatic braking system.

In addition, our test vehicle’s Advanced Technology option package installed Traffic Jam Assist, which allows for hands-free driving at low speeds, such as when crawling along in traffic. We did not get a chance to test this technology. Also, note that it requires an active Drive Connect subscription in order to work.

The Advanced Technology Package also equips the Crown Signia with a surround-view camera, front and rear parking sensors with automatic braking, front cross-traffic alert, and a lane-change assist function.

Though it tops $60,000 with fees, the 2025 Toyota Crown Signia is a cost-effective midsize crossover SUV. It delivers the style, comfort, efficiency, technology, and utility you want as long as maximum seating capacity, cargo volume, towing ability, and off-roading talent are not on your shopping list.

Also, when you consider Toyota’s long-standing reputation for reliability, you can trust that a Crown Signia is unlikely to incur significant repair costs over the long haul. And lastly, a Crown Signia won’t require nearly as many visits to the gas station as most of its rivals.

Those traits make it easy to recommend the new 2025 Toyota Crown Signia, but only if it matches your lifestyle.

Note: Images show a US model.