Toyota Prado J150 VX (2009-2023)

I purchased a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2021 with confidence, believing it to be a durable, premium SUV backed by Toyota’s reputation for reliability and strong warranty support. Unfortunately, my experience has been the complete opposite. With only 90,000 km on the clock and a full service history (all completed at Brian Hilton Toyota), the… Read more

vehicle developed a serious engine fault in May 2025, just 3.5 years into ownership and still under warranty. After a head gasket repair, it became undrivable due to a “Low Oil Pressure” warning, and has now been in the workshop for over 11 weeks.

Toyota has been unable to identify the fault, despite dismantling the engine. More frustratingly, I have received no clear communication or updates from Toyota Australia. My formal rejection of the vehicle under Australian Consumer Law has gone unanswered, and I’ve been forced to rent a vehicle at my own expense, with no replacement or reimbursement provided to date.

Even though Toyota promises a strong warranty and customer care, they’ve shown no urgency, no transparency, and no accountability. I’ve now escalated this issue to Fair Trading NSW and the ACCC, as my family and I cannot afford to keep waiting indefinitely while Toyota delays without action.

The Toyota Prado 2021 may be a great car on paper, but when something goes wrong, you’re on your own. I can no longer recommend Toyota based on this experience, nothing better than empty promises.

Toyota Prado Never Again – Toyota Prado VX 2018 goes into limp mode when towing a Caravan, the car is regular serviced by Toyota. ( what a waste of money) Our local Dealer doesn’t not know what the problem is. Toyota is well aware of the problems but will not fix it. DPF and other problems. That Engine is Toyota’s worst nightmare The 2019 model has also the same problems.… Read more

After driving Toyotas 4x4 for more than 20 years I believe there are better cars for that money. Looks like we have sell the car to tow our Caravan again.

An Aussie icon – We drive a lot in our household. We have had our 2022 VX Prado for four and a half months and have already clocked almost 12,000 kilometres. In that time, we have become very familiar with the car. We initially wanted the flat tailgate but were glad to get the additional tank capacity (they are not the most fuel-efficient vehicles). Some things… Read more

you might read about elsewhere worth reiterating:

- It beeps as you for everything. My wife often leaves her keys in the car inside of a handbag she left and when you attempt to lock the vehicle using the sensors on the door handles, you get a loud long beep. Step out of the vehicle while it's running and have your key? You'll get a beep saying the key cannot be detected. It beeps at you for everything.

- The interior is very old school Toyota. Unlike competing vehicles in the late $70-80k range, the inside while being tidy and spacious isn't very modern. You don't buy a Prado for it to be pretty, but an interior refresh wouldn't hurt.

- Only one USB port (and it's not very high wattage).

- The quality of the reverse camera is terrible. I've driven other older Toyota vehicles like Corolla's which have reverse cameras that look better and function better in low light too. I wish Toyota would fix this and offer the improved camera to existing owners.

- Adaptive Radar Cruise Control does not support stop/start. This means when the vehicle drops below a certain speed, the cruise control disables. Once again, I have driven other Toyota vehicles which have the stop/start feature.

Overall despite the lack of modern inclusions and a few annoyances, it's a good car. It's reliable and you can trust it will last a long time. At least they offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in the Prado now. The Digital Audio is a nice touch and the sound system is awesome.

New Prado VX 2021 WoooW Experience – Brought my dream car and this is my experience. I brought Brand NEW Toyota Prado VX within last 5 months and today it has done 7,000km . Since day ONE I found these issues 1) Horrible feeling of Forward jerk / jump each time when you shift gear from Park/Reverse to forward Drive gear . ? Could this be a Gear Box faulty . I took this to dealer… Read more

they adviced it’s normal but as car enthusiast it’s not . Issue 1 - Rough Gear Shift / Gear box not fine tuned

2) Hissing noice from Break Boost every time you apply break Issue 2 - noisy Braking

Rest all is good . For all Prado Owners / buyers check this for yourself which goes unnoticed if you don’t pay attention.

How can I find solution ? . If anyone know please advice .

Best comfort, smooth drive, looks brilliant – I bought in March 2019. Just about 1 year now. No problems so far Car has extreme comfort. Money well spent Love the beauty Very safe car Few things I did on my prado Tinted windows Ceramic coating I fitted a catch can which picks up all the oil Must need for diesel engines Electronics in the car is old style Toyota Prado please do something about it. Interior is 3.5/5 stars. Over all must have car for family travelling. Long drives

First impression – I bought 2019 VX two days back and I know it's too early to review but I'll share what I thought about it. For the drive I give 5/5. Comfort is not that good specially second row. It's $73 k worth vehicle and I don't understand why toyota does not make it with bit more comfy. I don't say it's comfortable if you drive long distance like… Read more

interstate.

Previously I drove 2006 Camry, 2010 Accord and then Audi A4. Comfort wise Accord is the best. I think Toyota need to think again about comfort in their future designs. Even the Prado top of the range Kakadu doesn't have leather seats and VX same. It's leather accented. Just about an one foot width leather layer in the middle of the seat.

Excellent car – Manufactured in 2011 September. Bought it as the second owner a month ago. Traveled close to 3,000 Ks in three weeks. Enjoying every bit of it. The best car I ever had. Averaging 8.5 to 9.5 L/100 Kms, mostly around local and to work. Drops below 8 L/100 Kms on freeway. Very comfortable driving. Easy to handle around the corners. Haven't done any… Read more

off road adventures yet. Previous owner regularly serviced it with Toyota. No issues as far as they know. Entertaining interior. Awesome sound system. 6 stacker CD player with AM/FM/Blutooth/USB facility and power points. It didn't come with a sat nav, but a reverse camera. Only negative thing is the third row of seats. Wide enough for two adults, but not enough leg room and too high floor, not good for long drives for adults. Good for children. It has much more positives than negatives. Very good family car. Feels like a very strong one too. I don't have to think about buying another car any soon !

Best decision I ever made (for a car) – I had a full sized Landcruiser for 5 years before the dealer that I bought it from tempted me with a trade in. I decided to down-size as well as upgrade the version, so I went for a 150VX. I love it. I love the leather seats, the hi-fi, the LED lights, the auto-setting steering wheel position and the KDSS suspension which makes cornering much more… Read more

comfortable. I went for the auto-diesel, probably the most popular. I get around 1000 ks to a full tank and it is reasonably quiet. I pull a camper trailer with it and it performs well. If I was asked to list all the things I did not like about it there would only be one; the indicator beep is not loud enough, so there is a risk of leaving it on.

Great Large Car – Love Love Love my prado. It’s spacious, easy to use the functions of the sat nav etc. The rear seats are easy to fold up and down and when folded up there is still ample boot space to store a pram or shopping. The only thing I would change is the way the boot opens, I would prefer it to open up like the doors on the kluger!  Show details

Perfect car – I bought a second hand silver toyota prado on Feb.this year and my family all love it.It easy to drive even for me, a woman.I don't this the nose is too loud, on opposite ,I think the noise is very cool.About the interior is leather and large enough. It is V6 so it's very reliable and I always believe I can drive to anywhere.I don't care running costs because it is V6..  Show details

The Luxury of a Lexus with the versatility of a 4WD – Having always had Lexus cars we needed to a larger car with offroad reliability. Moving to a Prado has impressed me with how safe it feels, how luxurious it is and has all the features for true 4-wheel driving. Country driving is effortless and the kids have plenty of space now. Highly recommend!  Show details

Best family car – What a fantastic family vehicle. Tows our camper trailer with ease, plenty of leg room for all the kids, economical and reliable. A Recent trip from Sydney to Adelaide was a pleasure, easily the best car we have owned (and we have had a few). Servicing customer service can be hit and miss, however get it serviced by a good local mechanic and they seem unbreakable.  Show details

Terrible economy – I have done 45000 in my VX 2.8 litre prado and fuel usage is outrageous. My overall average for all of those km is just over 13 litres per hundred, this is similar to a 200 series V8. The best I ever achieved was 9.8 on a drive from Adelaide to Melbourne when it was under 10,000 km. It has gradually gotten worse. I have even been as high as 19.7… Read more

litres per hundred. I am so dissappointed by this car I am cutting my losses and getting a 200 series.

Not as good as 120 series – I have a 2007 Prado diesel vx and was looking to trade-in on a new vehicle. Looked at the 150 series prado diesel - (Kakadu) but was unimpressed for the following reasons: - IT'S 500kg HEAVIER THAN THE 120 SERIES VX. No it's not a joke. During the test drive over 2 hours it was like I was towing a trailer. The car was noticeably slower than my… Read more

vehicle and had a slight lag when pushed. It wasn't until I did a bit of research and looked at the weight of old and new did I figure out why.

- the interior is very down market. too much plastic and the centre console is hideous. The leather looks cheap and the pale bone colour has a horrible yellow tinge to it.

- the radio is terrible. the 120 series sound is rich and complex. The 150 series has a stupid centre speaker that is too loud and as a result ruins the sound quality.

- the 2 things I really like about my prado - its effortless torque and the fact that the fuel tank is so large that I only ever refuel monthly are compromised in the new model. The 'special ' altitude model only has a 90 litre tank but still weighs 400kg heaver than mine!

- I'm sorry but I don't really like the styling of the new version. It's front end is too north american for my liking. The lack of wheel arch trims I think also detracts from the look.

I wish they still made the 120 series. Cause I swap for a new 120 tomorrow.

German quality, Japanese price – I went from a full option Mercedes S500L to this GR150 model 4.0 V6 Prado.... and I don't regret it. Even though my Merc cost three times what the Prado cost I had to repair its fuel system and crank position sensor. I have had the Prado for 2 years now and have never spent a cent on it apart from servicing. For a 4x4 it rides and handles like… Read more ·  1

like a car. This newer model rides much better than the previous model having driven the older one. The V6 puts out 272 hp which is enough for a 4x4. It's a little fuel hungry around town but on trips it's not too bad. This motor comes into it's own towing. I went for the petrol because there is not much difference in pump prices when you add "Road user" charges to the diesel price here in NZ. 1) Very reliable. 2) Fantastic build quality. 3) Rides and handles well for a 4X4. 4) Powerful petrol engine. The back seats are a little hard and "plank like"

Prado vx 150 series 2011 – Great family car, stylish and comfy. Very quiet. Driving is a pleasure with all the mod cons. I use mostly to drive kids around most day and find it easy to park and maneuver. It's a bit bigger than old model which is great. I've done big road trips in it and was brilliant. Great overtaking on highways once hits high speeds just cruises along… Read more

quiety and cushions the bumps with ease. I would recommend the 150 series. My only complaint is the problem with the stability control system. It is dangerous and far too sensitive on right hand corners, even at very low speed on roundabouts in the dry 40kmh it has come on and caused panic and pulled on the brakes and taken over steering. I have considered turning it off manually lately as it effects my confidence in the cars handling. Reversing camera is fantastic and plenty of room in rear. Comfortably seats 7. Comfy. Quiet Hardly no road noise at all. Very roomy in front. Loads of power great on long trips. Well worth the extra money. Plenty of room to buckle in kids too, easily fits 3 baby seats in middle row. Problems with the stability control being too sensitive. Comes on on right hand turning even when unnecessary and causes panic.