My foot touches the accelerator pedal and there it is:
Burbleburbleburblevrooooooooom
I've read the window sticker. I know the V8 went away with the last-generation Sequoia.
What's under the hood of the 2025 Toyota Sequoia 1794 Edition Hybrid 4WD you see here is a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 paired with an electric motor---a hybrid---making much more than the last-gen Sequoia's V8 was capable of---381 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque in the V8 is 437 horsepower and 583 lb-ft of torque with the i-FORCE MAX. There's a ten-speed automatic transmission now and the old 13 mpg city/17 highway is now 19/22 (though I couldn't break 16.4). How does a twin-turbo V6 hybrid make that sound?
It doesn't, really. At least not at that volume, all by itself. It's sound from the intake, amplified and pumped into the cabin via the audio speakers. If you like it, great---if not, your dealer can disable it. I might be one of those consulting his dealer, if I owned the Sequoia. On a day trip to and from Lake Tahoe, a 230-mile drive, it started to wear on me a little bit. But then, I'm totally fine with silent electrics---don't miss engine noises, and as no less than Tigre' and Bunny told us back in '88, for some, noise is its own reward.
There's a pretty tight 12 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row seat.
The third row does not fold flat into the floor, making cargo carrying a bit clunky, but with them folded to the extent that they do, cargo space improves to 49 square feet. If you can fold the second row as well, there's 89 cubic feet to work with.
Second-row passengers get limo-like legroom---39.2 inches. The third-row is best left for kids, with only 33.7.
The base price of the 2025 Toyota Sequoia 1794 Edition Hybrid 4WD is $80,135 ($82,080 with destination). That buys a very well-equipped vehicle with standard equipment including a tow receiver hitch with an integral 4/7-pin connector, tow and haul modes, a comprehensive suite of active safety features, 20-inch machine-finished alloy wheels, auto-leveling LED headlights with LED daytime running lights and sequential turn signals, a power tilt/slide panoramic roof, a 14-speaker JBL audio system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio, three-zone climate control, smart key with pushbutton start, leather-trimmed, power-adjustable front seats with power lumbar, heated and ventilated front and second-row seats, a power-folding, sliding third-row with adjustable cargo shelf, and a power liftgate with flip-up glass.
Despite all that, our test vehicle did have some extra-cost options:
A ten-inch color head-up display: $600.
The TRD Off-Road Package (20-inch TRD Off-Road alloy wheels, all-terrain tires, TRD Off-Road badging, off-road suspension with Bilstein shocks, skid plates, red TRD engine start button, TRD leather-wrapped shift knob, aluminum sport pedals, electronically-controlled locking rear differential, multi-terrain select, multi-terrain monitor, crawl control and downhill assist control): $2,135.
TRD front skid plate: $385.
Wheel locks: $105.
Two additional years of Drive Connect and Remote Connect (in addition to the one-year standard trial): $325.
All of which leads to a bottom line on the window sticker that reads $85,630.
And yeah, that's just objectively a lot of money. If you bought the 2020 Sequoia I reviewed four and a half years ago and are thinking about trading for the new one, there's an $18,601 price difference.
A lot of that, though, can't be laid at Toyota's feet. A similarly-equipped Tahoe or Expedition is going to be right in that ballpark. If you're in the market for a full-size SUV with significant people, cargo and towing capacity, along with serious off-road capability, it's hard to find much fault with the Sequoia.
I'd still have the dealer switch off the engine noise, though. Could just be me.
