3 days ago
11
The new Prado has finally arrived in Australia. Here's how Drive journalists would place their orders.
Customisation is in vogue at the moment, but too much choice can be confusing. In our configurator challenge, Drive team members scroll through a manufacturer’s website to create their ideal combination for a certain model.
The team has previously configured the new Prado on Toyota's US website, but with the Australian configurator now live – and cars arriving in local showrooms – we thought we'd revisit the challenge.
Tell us which new Toyota Prado variant you would buy – and how you'd specify it – in the comments below (build yours here), and what you'd like us to configure next.
Kez Casey, Production Editor
Having grown up in regional Victoria and South Australia – and needing to cross the remote parts pretty often – my choice is functional, if unexciting.
The options are minimal. The alloy bullbar up front is the only item I've splurged on. Absolutely unnecessary in the city, certainly, but essential to keep unpredictable boomers from wreaking havoc late at night.
Even the paint, Glacier White, is by design. Easy to colour match if a repair is required, and less noticeable if any bush pinstriping occurs, all while being UV resistant and hopefully a little cooler when parked on scorching summer days.
The step up from a base GX to the GXL affords a few luxuries like heated and ventilated front seats, a power-adjustable driver's seat, a wireless phone charger, and three-zone climate control. Just enough to take the utilitarian edge off – although I'd love an alternative to the fake leather trim, but it's not possible on a GXL.
And there's a pretty good chance the wheels and tyres would come in for an upgrade too, but Toyota doesn't offer those in-house, so the aftermarket will get my money there.
As it stands my $79,990 plus on-road costs GXL with nothing but a bullbar comes to $86,677 on the road, registered in Sydney. Turns out even basic is expensive these days.
Full disclosure: I am not an adventurous off-roading type, so my choices with the 2025 Toyota Prado are kept relatively simple as the family would see an occasional unsealed road under my ownership – at most.
Choosing a grade though, proved quite difficult.
The GX, GXL and Altitude have the most exterior colour options available, but the VX and Kakadu have the Chateau interior available to replace the boring black.
What sealed the deal for me, however, is that the Altitude is the only grade available with a two-tone paint finish. Guess I’m dropping $92,700-plus on a Prado.
From there, it was easy, let’s get a roof tray, bike carrier, and a front bonnet protector.
Done, I now have a large, three-row SUV with a 150kW/500Nm 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine that is rugged and off-road capable but will rarely ever leave the blacktop.
I can’t be the only one, right?
As a family, we love driving on the beach or challenging ourselves on some 4WD tracks when we can, so for me, Altitude is the ideal spec as it has all the fruit for some proper off-roading: all-terrain tyres and 18-inch wheels; a locking rear differential; sway bar disconnect and multi-terrain monitor.
The two-tone Tanami Taupe looks cool and fits in with the whole retro vibe Toyota has gone with for the 250 Series – even if I do begrudge paying more than $1700 for the privilege over a base colour.
Going from our current family bus, a 2004 V6 Prado 120 Series, it’s a real shame to lose the eight-seat capability we’ve been so fond of.
But given how much boot space is robbed by the storage box and mild-hybrid battery location in three-row models, the five-seat-only configuration of the Altitude is a sacrifice I’d have to make to get a decent cargo capacity. Watch this space for some neat solutions from the aftermarket scene I reckon.
It’s a shame the Altitude misses out on the Kakadu’s head-up display, and the rubber floor mats would have been more logical for this more rugged version, but other than that I think Toyota has nailed the spec of the Altitude.
As for genuine accessories, I’d add the front recovery points, first aid kit and a towing kit. This pushes the price up even more, so I’d be trying hard to get these thrown in as part of the negotiation!
Alex Misoyannis, Deputy News Editor
I like the balance of pricing and equipment offered by the VX spec – better headlights, the T-badged grille, widescreen instrument cluster, and body-coloured accents, among other features – but I hate boring car colours.
It means I need to settle for the only variant with more than white, grey, silver, black and bronze on its colour palette, the Altitude – all $92,700 before on-road costs of it.
Ningaloo Blue is my pick of the two bright colours on offer, and I've left the accessories alone – despite the all-terrains and other off-road bits this will be a city-focused Prado, so a bull bar makes it harder to fit in parking spaces, and roof racks will scrape in car parks.
On the road, this is a six-figure car: $101,965 drive-away in Sydney. Ouch.
Jordan Hickey, Journalist
I’ve gone for the top-of-the-line Prado Kakadu, mainly for the head-up display (which should be more widespread, if a $35K Mazda 3 has one).
Perhaps controversially, I also prefer the larger alloys, body-coloured trim, and alternative grille with the Toyota logo over the other grades.
Interestingly, the VX and Kakadu are limited to three monotone colours versus the six offered in the GX and GXL (albeit still very monotone), and eight in the off-road-focused Altitude.
As boring as it is, I chose Frosted White metallic as I think it looks the nicest when matched with the Kakadu’s black wheels and the black steel bull-bar I’ve added.
Exterior factory accessories I’ve selected included the non-coloured hooped bull bar – with an LED light bar and a built-in winch – a bash plate, front recovery points, a towing kit and trailer wiring harness, and door handle protection film.
Inside, I’ve selected the Chateau (beige) leather, and added a first aid kit and cargo mat from Toyota’s accessory list.
In total, the Prado configured here will cost in excess of $115,000 drive-away – a hefty amount – and I’d be considering a similarly configured Ford Everest Platinum V6 to save some coin if I was genuinely in the market for an off-road seven-seat SUV.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.
