FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 TOYOTA KLUGER GX

The storage in the front of the Kluger is very good, there is ample storage for everything, so much, in fact, that I don’t know where to start!!!

I’ll begin with the two super-sized cup holders in the central console, I'm pretty sure even a huge cinema popcorn bucket would fit in these cup holders!! They are soooo big they have to come with an attachment to make them smaller and more usable for the Australian market!! My large refillable water bottle fitted in with ease. Re-usable and disposable coffee cups fitted and a 600ml bottle fitted in using the insert to grip smaller vessels.

The door pockets were very plasticky and not lined so anything put in there did rattle. They weren’t actually very practical, they weren’t very deep and only 600ml would fit in them, not a large refillable water bottle, and they slid around.
The handles in the doors were not enclosed wells, which was a shame as I prefer it when handles are enclosed as I often use them to hold keys when putting Bub in her child seat.

The central console storage box was enormous! It doubled as an armrest which was plenty big enough for both the driver and front passengers arms. The lid had a two-way slide mechanism which I found unnecessarily difficult to use. Inside there is a removable shelf which I found difficult to position or move around.

The gargantuan dash of the Kluger had an inset shelf running the length from the drivers left knee to the door on the passenger side. It is lined with brown leather making it a great place to put things, as they didn’t slide around, it looks great and is very convenient. BUT I would warn you: After just a week it was clear this would be the dumping ground for every child nick-nack, dummy, flyer, tissue, half-eaten teething rusk and anything else that will fit!!

This aside it is a very cleverly designed space for your mobile phone. There is a 12V socket, a headphone socket and USB port positioned behind the gear lever. Above the USB socket is a hole with a plastic insert that you could post the USB wire through to the inset shelf, which is a fantastic feature for keeping your mobile phone on the shelf and keep the wire from dangling into the footwell.

The glove box was enormous too! I fitted the vehicle manual, my wallet, iPad, keys and glasses case in there and there was plenty more room still as it is surprisingly deep.

There is a single glasses case in the ceiling which doubled as a conversation mirror; this is fabulous for being able to keep an eye on all the little passengers in the back without having to turn your head, so you can keep your eyes on the road! There are also lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

For the second row of passengers, there are generous map pockets in the back of the front seats which would fully conceal an iPad.

Although the cup holders in the front were enormous, storage in the second row was a little leaner. The door pockets were even smaller with just space for a 600ml bottle and baby bottle but nothing else and again they were not very deep.

There was also a fold-down armrest in the central seat with two moulded plastic cup holders, which being much smaller than those in the front, were the perfect size for a disposable or re-usable coffee cup and my large refillable water bottle fitted in them too.

For the third row of seats, there were two cup holders on either side wheel arch, which similarly to the central row they were perfect for medium size take away coffee cups and a large refillable water bottle fitted in them too.

These were also REALLY useful when the third-row seats were folded away and I was loading it up as a boot space.

When I head out on a journey with Tulsi I usually take a travel cup of tea with me! Mainly because I’m tired and need the caffeine like most new mums! Also in case she falls asleep so I pull over and have a few minutes still time with a cuppa! Or I have water bottles that although they all say they don’t leak inevitably after they have been dropped a few times they all leak so it is a juggle to keep vessels upright and away from bubs or interested toddlers!
So I go to the boot of the car with bub, bags, drinks, snacks and I hope the boot has automatic opening as I don’t have a hand free and basically dump everything in there whilst I strap bub into her seat and organise everything. Having drinks holders in the boot helps so much as you can just pop your drinks hot and cold in there out of the way. Knowing they are not going to spill or fall over or burn anyone!

Storage space in the boot was fantastic too! With the third row of seats down I got 19 bags of shopping in there. That is three more than the Kia Sorento and one more than the Mazda CX-9.

With the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot, I could get ten shopping bags in with it.

With the Britax Flexx tandem stroller in the boot, I fitted eleven shopping bags in with it.

With the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle, you can fit eight bags in with it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with fourteen shopping bags.

Or you could fit a very large dog.

There is a recess to the left of the boot that would hold one bag and I found this really good for putting either the bag with breakables or frozen food in or Tulsi's lunch box for example. It was great for separating something from the rest of the contents of the boot.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

With the third row of seats in use, without anything else in the boot, I could fit eight shopping bags. That is three more than the Kia Sorento and one more than the Mazda CX-9.

The boot also had room for the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller, with the back wheels removed, and two shopping bags!! This is AMAZING storage!!

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted in the boot with one shopping bag.

I could also get the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller in the boot, one rear wheel removed, with three shopping bags.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with five shopping bags.

The boot space and seats are really versatile in terms of configuration in the Kluger. If you need six seats you can put just one of the third row of seats up and use the boot space of having the seventh seat down. Or you can put two of the second row of seats down and one of the third row of seats, giving you four seats still and a long boot space. (If you need to carry something home from IKEA!!!)

The cargo blind is stored in a compartment in the floor of the boot, in the same way as those of the Isuzu M-UX and Holden Trailblazer. The space in the underfloor storage compartment also doubles as a handy area to put sandy shoes, wet and muddy gear to keep it separate from everything else in the boot. Also being a plastic compartment it is much easier to clean out than the carpet on the boot floor so even more reason to use it to store mucky things.

The cargo blind in the Kluger is quite heavy and unwieldy to lift and reaching back into the boot to install it was difficult being 162cm, I also found there was a big gap between the fixed bar of the cargo blind and the second-row seatbacks that people could see into the boot.

The height of the boot floor and its flat level is comfortable for lifting things in and out; there is no bending down and in like in a sedan. Which also makes it great for an emergency nappy change!

The Kluger comes with a beeping quartet of its own!
The touchscreen has a beep with each press, which could thankfully be turned off in the settings, as it would have driven me mad!!

The reverse parking sensor has a shrill beep, you can turn them off altogether with a button by your right knee but not mute them.

You also get a sensor visual in the digital display in front of the steering wheel.

The lane departure warning was equally vocal and rather sensitive, but it could be turned off altogether with a button on the steering wheel. I also found the Kluger was quite forceful with its steering when the lane keep assist was activated.

The indicator volume is not adjustable but it is a nice flat sound, nothing intrusive or alarming that would wake a sleeping baby!

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

You can alter the sat-nav voice in the screen settings on a scale of 1-7, as well as being able to alter the verbosity of the instructions. You can’t mute it until you need it though.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

The opening and closing of the doors and windows in the Kluger is especially quiet, which I found surprising for such a big vehicle as most seven-seaters I have driven the doors and windows are one of the worst noises. Quiet doors are good so you can hop out or open the window when you park up with a sleeping baby in the car without waking them up. This is if one of the other alarms hasn’t already done it!!

The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound. With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!

I found you can come to a stop, select park, take your seatbelt off and get out of the car with the engine still running.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

The doors and windows can be locked from the driver's door control panel, but they do not automatically lock.

The Kluger's Audio system remembers the last thing it was doing, which was great if the last thing I did was travel with Tulsi listening to nursery rhymes with my phone connected via the USB. Then when I plugged it in next time it remembered where we’d left off and continued. Not so good if the last thing I did was drive on my own with the radio blaring!! The Kluger doesn’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which is something I’d not only expect but would want to use in a big, expensive family car!

The Kluger wasn’t a silent car to drive and you wouldn’t expect it for a vehicle of this size. It had a revving grunt up hills but was surprisingly quiet on the flat around town and out on the open roads.

The Kluger is a generous seven-seater; two at the front, the three seats across the second row and two in the third row. The third row is spacious, so if you tend to put your bickering teens in these seats they will have space between them! I found at 162cm that I needed to slide the second-row seats forward a little to give more leg room to the third row.

There are three top tether points situated in the seat backs of the second-row seats, they are within plastic guides and easy to connect.

The ISO Fix points are very conveniently located in the two outer seats between the backrest and base of the seats. They are clearly visible and although they were not in plastic casing they were prominent and easy to connect to.

Because of the easy access to the top tethers, in the two outer seats, I found installing the child seats quite simple.

It was still a surprisingly snug fit to install three child seats across the second row of seats, I couldn't use the ISOFix because there wasn't enough room I had to use seatbelts for all three child seats. I installed a rear-facing Britax infant capsule on one side and the Britax Maxi Guard Pro and Platinum Pro in the other two seats. I was expecting there to be plenty of space between the seats given the size of the vehicle and its family SUV purpose but it was actually rather tight!

The central seatbelt comes from the right shoulder rather than the left. This seemed to make accessing the seatbelt clip of the central seat much easier. I think because it is positioned where the seats divide rather than coming from the seat base it has much more extension and flexibility. Although the child seats are touching like in most cars, the seatbelt clip is not underneath the booster seat at all and you have easy access.

When accessing the third row of seats in the Kluger, the second-row seats have a 60:40 split and slide forward and backwards. If you only have two child seats installed and can use the ISOFix rather than the seatbelt you could slide the seat far enough forward for a passenger to climb through to the third-row seats.

The third row of seats has no top tethers or ISOFix but is very spacious.

Posting children into the child seats was simple with the nice open doorways and from the inside too as the Kluger is very spacious.

Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed Bub in either back rows of seats. In the second row, it would be more comfortable with only one child seat installed.

The Kluger GX seats are upholstered with a woven fabric, which wouldn't wipe clean as easily as leather, but they were more comfortable than the leather seats in the previous model Kluger Grande I tested.

When I tested the Kluger Grande last year it had leather seats and electric adjustment and I just found them so uncomfortable. This Kluger GX with no leather and manual adjustment was much more comfortable. Either that or I now have more padding on my bum!!! Or the woven seat covering allows you to sink into the seat a bit more than the leather did.

One thing I didn’t need to adjust was the headrest!!! I could happily sport my ponytail without its interference!!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The second row of seats is ponytail friendly too! The outer seats were most comfortable, the middle seat the backrest is very firm because there is a fold-down armrest with a double cup holder in it, and you can really feel this with your back.

There is a lot of leg room and the seat base slides and adjusts a lot. It slides all the way forward to almost meet the front seats! Even with the seat base on the most forward setting, I had plenty of leg room. The backrests are adjustable too; they can recline really nice and far back, but as the seats are divided 60/40 two of the seats have to recline together. The seatbelt clips were sunk into the seat bases and did stick into my bottom, especially in the central seat.

I found the third row of seats to be the most comfortable in the whole car!! Each passenger can adjust the backrest angle individually. And there is so much room around you sat back there!! These seats are also split 60:40, the 60 is the driver's side seat and it is big enough for two really!! Two adults could comfortably travel beside each other in the third row seats and I found (and I am just 162cm tall) that with the second row on the farthest back setting that my knees were just off touching the seats in front, but if you slide the second row seats forward slightly so the third row have leg room then there would be plenty of room for grown adults or lanky teenagers!!

The second-row seats slide so far forward that you can access the third-row seats without having to bring the backrest forward. This is a FANTASTIC BabyDrive feature! Very few seven-seater SUVs have this option. It means your third-row passengers can get in and out of the car without you having to uninstall the child seats in the second row if you are using the ISOFix to connect the child seats.

The steering wheel is fully adjustable up, down and in and out. The cruise control is very simple to use and relatively accurate on motorways but I found it wasn't on undulating roads at 60kmph, it is set on a stick behind the steering wheel.

The fuel light comes up on the digital display of the Kluger at 20km left in the tank. I think this is a little late. Most car fuel lights come on at 50km and this is great for giving you enough warning to get fuel.

The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!
For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.

There are four air conditioning vents in the front cab, two in the centre and one at either end of the dash. They are all very large, like most things in the Kluger! And are ample to cool the vast cabin!

In the back, each row of seats has two narrow strip air vents with touch on and off lights, on either side of the car in the ceiling.

They can be shut off individually and there is a control panel on the back of the central console box as well as there being controls on the front dash. This is a really good feature as the adult driver needs to be able to have the ability to control the temperature and flow of the air to younger passengers in the back  who may not be able to reach the controls or vents and also if there are any disagreements between passengers then you have the ability to take charge from the front!!

The system is relatively easy to use. I found the buttons are a little spread around across different types of control; there were round dials with buttons and digital display with other buttons. With the addition of the rear controls also it is a bit of a mish-mash and you do just need to get used to it. The flow was ample and auto was good for cooling the cab down quickly.

Visibility in the Kluger is varied, as the driver I felt like I sat high on the road and my vision out was good but my vision of the car's extremities was not.

The windows give a fisheye lens or tunnel vision effect, as though everything is very rounded, especially out of the front and rear windscreens. I think the windows' rounded corners increase this effect and as the driver using the rearview mirror to look behind you, as your eyes are drawn down to this long narrow, bulbous back window.
I think the fisheye lens effect is unpleasant for the rear passengers too. Making them feel so removed from the outside world with a distant tunnel-vision view had a kind of seasickness effect. This is especially bad in the second and third row when looking forward but at least they do have nice, big side windows that are better to look out of. For a rear-facing baby, it must be awful and may be another reason why Tulsi really hated travelling in the Kluger Grande we had a year ago.

You don’t even need to wear sunglasses when you drive the Kluger. You sit so far back in the cab from the actual windscreen that you’re shaded from the sun from all directions.

The Kluger was an interesting car to drive. I found it best on motorways, but everywhere else, especially around town, I had to drive soooo carefully so as not to rock and roll the little passengers around. It is bouncy even when you come to a complete stop and have the park brake on (which is operated by a pedal) it still rocks to and fro for a few seconds.

So when going around any corners or roundabouts, the car really tips and the passengers roll around inside. Added to this is the visibility problem with the Kluger. Where the car ends in your sight, there is then inches of bulbous car that you can’t see so it is really hard to get a real sense of where your car ends, making parking very difficult!

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

There is a vanity mirror with light for the driver and front passenger and a well-positioned handle in the ceiling for the second row of seats which is good for hanging a baby toy on.

There are two 12V sockets. One in the front dash, behind the gear lever, with the USB port. The second is in the back of the central console. It's a good position for the second row of seats to use for charging a portable DVD player etc. I was surprised to not find a third 12V socket in the boot for a family Esky to plug into.

The Kluger Grande I tested last year had a more luxurious interior than this Highlander model, so the Highlander felt like more of a workhorse than a luxury family SUV. The vehicle still looked good on the outside but the interior was not as pleasant. A lot of the interior comforts were missing like rear window binds etc.

Most of the interior surfaces were all wipe cleanable but the same seating fabric was used on the armrests on the doors which would, of course, be difficult to keep clean in the same way as the seats. The floor mats are carpet in this model rather than rubber like they were in the Grande.
The model I drove did not have keyless entry or a powered tailgate. This is only standard in the higher priced GXL and Grande models.

The Kluger has a five-star ANCAP safety rating and seven airbags as standard. These are the driver and front passenger airbags, a driver's knee airbag, side airbags for driver and front passenger and head curtain airbags the length of the vehicle, including for the third-row seats.

Scoring a total of 35.57 out of 37, 14.97 out of 16 for the frontal offset test, 16/16 for side impact and 2/2 for the pole test. Pedestrian protection was scored as marginal.

All models come with anti-lock braking system ABS, brake assist, electronic brake-force distribution, vehicle stability control with traction control.

For 2018 Toyota added more safety systems to the least expensive GX Kluger such as autonomous emergency braking, active cruise control, lane departure alert, lane-keep assist and automatic high beam, The GXL also has been upgraded to include blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert. All of these were on the Grande I tested last year.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!