The Land Cruiser’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Model Y doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Land Cruiser are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model Y doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Land Cruiser has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Model Y doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, Full-Time Four-Wheel Drive is standard on the Land Cruiser. But it costs extra on the Model Y.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Land Cruiser’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The Model Y doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
The Land Cruiser offers an optional Multi-Terrain Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Model Y only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Toyota Land Cruiser offers an optional Multi-Terrain Monitor and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the Tesla Model Y doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
The Land Cruiser has standard Safety Connect™, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model Y doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Land Cruiser and the Model Y have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The Toyota Land Cruiser weighs 962 to 1291 pounds more than the Tesla Model Y. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Land Cruiser is safer than the Tesla Model Y:
|
Land Cruiser |
Model Y |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
25 |
42 |
Chest Movement |
.3 inches |
.6 inches |
Abdominal Force |
82 lbs. |
145 lbs. |
Hip Force |
109 lbs. |
216 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
19 |
358 |
Spine Acceleration |
20 G’s |
45 G’s |
Hip Force |
217 lbs. |
567 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.