The arrival of the all-new Toyota LandCruiser Prado was one of the most anticipated launches in 2024. Built on stronger and stiffer TNGA-F architecture, shared with its larger LandCruiser 300 Series sibling, it introduced Toyota’s latest on and off-road driver assistance, multimedia and active safety technologies, and new 48-volt assisted V-Active technology powertrain mated to a new eight-speed automatic transmission.
Toyota claimed it went back to its origins to seek inspiration from the qualities that have made the LandCruiser such an iconic nameplate. But for me Toyota went too far back in time and delivered an all-new vehicle with undesirable older vehicle traits starting with the boxy exterior design. But even worse than this, the engine sounds and performs like a rattily old diesel offering little power and plenty of noise. The ride is average and truck-like and the steering is not responsive either, so the Prado is not a 4WD comfortable for around town use.
The 2.8 litre turbo-diesel engine with a 48V System mild hybrid system produces a maximum of 150kW of power and 500Nm of torque and now requires AdBlue. There are six drive modes available Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sports, Sport+, and Custom that allows you to configure Powertrain, Suspension, Steering and Air Conditioning to your personal preference. You can select from H4 and L4 4WD modes and I spent the week in Normal mode and set to H4. The official combined fuel consumption is 7.6L/100km and for my week with the Prado I used 10.1L/100km. Like its competitors in this segment the Prado has a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity.
For off-roading, which I didn’t do any of, you have a centre dif lock, DAC Crawl, and Multi-Terrain Select (MTS), an off-road driving system that enhances traction and control in challenging terrains. It adjusts engine throttle, braking, and traction control to match different surfaces like mud, sand, rocks, and snow. But I’m not sure how much off-roading you would be doing in this top spec LandCruiser Prado Kakadu, which comes with 20″ premium dark metallic alloy wheels. There is a full-size spare tyre located under the rear of the vehicle should you unfortunately get a puncture though.
The interior and technology in the all-new Prado have been given a significant update with a 12.3″ colour touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto coming as standard across the range. The wireless Android Auto worked, but it wasn’t a straight forward operation and I had to select Android Auto on the screen when I restarted the vehicle and it didn’t always want to connect and this was frustrating. The wireless charge pad at the front of the centre console does not have a grippy base, so your phone can slide around and above this there are three USB-C ports and one HDMI port.
The Kakadu gets a 12.3″ Multi Information Display and head-up display with a heated steering wheel and powered seat adjustment for recline, forward/back, seat height/tilt front and rear, 2-way lumbar support and two memory positions. While the passenger seat only has powered adjustment for recline and forward/back. The leather accented seats are heated and cooled for both the front and second row outer passengers. The seat heating was just okay and the cooled seats worked about average and you can’t hear their noisy operation above the noise from the engine.
The centre console and dash design are utilitarian looking with big buttons and two square shaped cup holders that have grippy sides and a removable base for easy cleaning. The drink bottle storage in front door cubby is chunky also and suitable for larger sized water bottles. The cooled box under the arm rest fits four 600ml bottles and has a label specifically telling you that it’s not to be used for meat or fish, which did make me laugh. On my thermometer I saw the cool box temp get as low as 5.8 degrees Celsius.
The VX grade and above also has a 14-speaker JBL premium audio system with media sources available including AM/FM radio, DAB, USB, Bluetooth, HDMI, Smart phone and Miracast. The functionality of the voice control worked adequately for changing the radio station and making a phone call, but for entering an address into the sat nav it was not up to standard and took multiple attempts to do so. The voice control in the Prado is activated by pressing a button on the steering wheel that still has a masculine looking silhouette.
Prado owners receive a 1-year complimentary access to Toyota Connected Services, including Safety and Security features, Remote Connect, Multimedia Connect and Driving Insights, accessible through the myToyota Connect app. After the first year full access to the Toyota Connected Services currently costs $12.50 per month.
The second-row seats have 60:40 split fold seats with manual recline adjustment and ample head and leg room for me, but my knees felt like they were sitting up high. There are two ISOFix/three rear tether child seat restraint points on the second-row seats. If not in use, the centre seat can be folded down as an arm rest that has two cup holders in it with grippy sides. There are also two good sized drink bottle storage cubbies in both rear doors.
Second row occupants only get roof vents, but do have digital temp, mode, and air speed adjustment, which can be controlled from the front of the vehicle also. But the second-row seat heating and cooling can’t be adjusted from the front climate controls. There is no mat over the transmission tunnel, but it does have a have plastic step to reduce wear on the carpet and the floors do have carpet mats to protect them and there are two USB-C ports and one 12V socket below the rear climate controls.
To access the third row the second row seat flips up and out of the way, so there is no way that you could have a child seat here and access the third row at the same time. A latch on the back of the second row seat so third row occupants can let themselves out. The third row seats are suitable for short trips only as my legs were hard against the second row seats, my head was touching the roof, and my knees were up high. There are also no child seat restraint points fitted to the third-row seats. Third row passengers do get a roof vent on either side of the vehicle that can be closed off, two rigid drink holders in the wheel arches, one USB-C port on either side and a single carpet mat over the third-row floor.
The Prado’s tailgate has powered operation and can be open/closed using the external button, the key fob or a button in the cabin or you can separately open the rear windscreen section and reach in, but you have to be taller to do this. There’s no sugar coating this one, the design of the boot space in the new Prado is terrible!
To start with, the third-row seats do not fold into the boot floor so in order to create a flat surface when these are folded down Toyota has incorporated a storage box in the boot space. The storage box can be removed and left at home, but this only increases the height available in the boot area. When the third-row seats are in use there is less than 30cms of depth available in the boot, so barely enough room for a couple of school bags.
The 50:50 split folding third row seats are manually raised and lowered using a latch on the seat shoulders and these are difficult for even myself, being on the taller side, to reach in and lift up. With the third-row seats laid flat the boot space is a good size, but you have to lift items in just that little bit higher, which would make lifting in heavy items more difficult. There are also gaps between the second and third row, so items or groceries could fall down and you would have to climb into the boot to find them.
A moulding in the boot indicates the Prado comes with a cargo cover, but if the third-row seats are in use this would have to left behind as there is nowhere to store it. There is no light in the boot space with the only illumination for this area coming from the light above the second row seats. There are four tie down points in the boot space, but two of them are located on the back of the third row seats, which would make it awkward to secure a cargo net. The couple of the positives for the boot space are there is one 220V 100W plug located in here and with all of the seats laid flat you could fit a mattress in the back of the Prado.
The new Toyota LandCruiser Prado has a 5-star ANCAP (2024) rating with an Adult Occupant Protection score of 85% and a Child Occupant Protection score of 89%. Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags, as well as driver and passenger knee airbags, are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.
Toyota Safety Sense is standard across the range and includes Pre-Collision Safety system, All-Speed Adaptive Cruiser Control, Proactive Driving Assist, Driver Monitor Camera, Lane Trace Assist, Trailer Sway Control, Blind Spot Monitor, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert with the top spec Kakadu also getting Tyre Inflation Pressure Warning and Multi Terrain Monitor. Interestingly, the driver monitoring did not bong at me once to tell me that I was distracted, so it’s obviously very tolerant compared to other vehicles that have this feature?
The Toyota Prado is fitted with an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system capable of functioning at highway speeds, a lane support system (LSS) with lane keep assist, and emergency lane keeping (ELK) functionality. ANCAP tests of the AEB (Car-to-Car) system showed GOOD performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in all forward and AEB Junction test scenarios. GOOD performance was seen in many of the AEB Crossing scenarios where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across or into the path of an oncoming vehicle and the AEB Head-On system functionality showed GOOD performance. ANCAP tests of LSS functionality showed GOOD performance in lane keep assist scenarios, including in the more critical ELK scenarios and the overall ANCAP Safety Assist score for the new Prado is 82%.
For added safety the Prado has a 360-degree walkaround view camera, standard rear view camera and a 360-degree overhead view with front and rear parking sensors. You also get a digital rear view mirror, which is needed if third row seats are in use, plus auto lights, high beam assist and auto wipers.
The new Prado is covered by Toyota Warranty Advantage that includes a five-year/unlimited kilometre coverage term. Stick to your annual service schedule, and Toyota will extend your engine and driveline warranty from five to seven years and increase the standard warranty coverage on your new traction battery to up to 10 years as long as you undertake your annual inspection as part of routine maintenance according to the vehicle logbook (conditions apply). The Toyota Service Advantage provides Prado owners with five years of capped-price servicing, spread over 6-month or 10,000km intervals at a price of $390 per service.
The LandCruiser Prado Kakadu is available in three colours only Eclipse Black, Frosted White and this colour called Dusty Bronze ($675 option) that I quite like. Prices for the Toyota LandCruiser Prado Kakadu start at $99,990 plus on-road costs and as tested with the optional paint, on-road towing kit ($270.70 RRP fitted), 12 Pin trailer wire kit ($411.30 RRP fitted), and EBC Kit module ($211.50 RRP fitted) this Prado was $101,558.50 excluding on-road costs. You can Build and Price your new Toyota LandCruiser Prado online or visit your preferred Toyota dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| The driver distraction monitoring was not obtrusive | The lacklustre engine performance |
| The warning label on the cool box made me laugh | The terrible boot space |
| The back seats all lay flat | Wireless Android Auto operation was sub par |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.