Should I buy a Toyota LandCruiser Prado Kakadu or a Ford Everest Platinum?

Ford has shaken up the large SUV market with the new Ford Everest seven-seat wagon. In one fell swoop, it has leapfrogged other ute-based SUVs like the Isuzu MU-X, Toyota Fortuner and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. 

The Everest’s combination of rugged good looks, robust turbo diesel powertrains, spacious and versatile interior, and its long list of safety features and interior equipment is compelling for those with $55K to $90K to spend on a family lifestyle machine. It’s also a fairly handy vehicle on the bitumen and beyond. 

But, if the Ford Everest is to truly be crowned king of the Active Family SUVs, there is one other vehicle it has to beat: the Toyota LandCruiser Prado. 

The Toyota Prado has basically become the default option for families who want something to head off-road, tow, tour around Australia, or just load up the kids and their gear and get through daily life.

The Toyota LandCruiser Prado range starts from $60,830 for the GX and stretches to $86,998 for the fully equipped Kakadu. Those prices overlap nicely with the Everest’s $53K to $77K pricing, before on-road costs. 

If we defer to Australia to decide this one democratically, then the winner is the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, with more than twice the sales volume of the Everest so far in 2022. 

But while more Australians vote with their wallets for the Toyota, we can’t underestimate the magnetism of the Toyota badge. In the hearts and minds of many Australians, Toyota is synonymous with value, reliability and trust. That doesn’t mean the Prado is the best value or the most reliable, or indeed the most trustworthy. It just means that the Toyota brand has a lot of appeal to those spending money on new cars. 

Truth be told, the ageing LandCruiser Prado has an uphill battle to keep its crown from the shiny new Ford Everest. This ‘current’ generation Prado arrived way back in 2009 – in political terms that is nine Prime Ministers ago. Well, eight if you count Kevin Rudd only once. But, as we all know, politics is a mug’s game. Car shopping, on the other hand, requires attention to detail and hours reading the fine print. 

Don’t sweat it, because we’ve done all that for you. So settle in as we dive deep into these two deeply impressive machines to see which one deserves to be higher on your next Family SUV shopping list.  

And to make sure we give each of these worthy opponents a chance to fight their hardest, we’ve chosen the flagship variants of both that may cost the most but come equipped with every advantage their respective brands can throw at them. 

Let’s get started.

The Ford Everest is available in four trim levels: Ambiente, Trend, Sport and Platinum, with prices ranging from $59K to $86K drive-away. The Ambiente and Trend are powered by a 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine and the choice of rear- or all-wheel drive. The Sport and Platinum are all-wheel drive only and have a more powerful 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 engine. 

All Everests have a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Everest Ambiente comes with two rows of seating (five seats) and can be optioned with a folding third row for $950 taking total seating capacity to seven. All other Everests come with three rows fitted as standard, and the third row can be folded away to prioritise luggage capacity. 

All Ford Everest variants have alloy wheels of 17 inches or larger fitted with all-terrain tyres and carry a full-size spare. LED headlights are also standard across the range, as are side-steps and roof rails. Remote central locking includes a proximity sensor that unlocks the car on approach.    

The Everest Platinum wears 21-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights that can ‘channel’ the light at night to provide superior visibility that also is less blinding to other road users, and finished steel side-steps. The Platinum also has a hands-free power tailgate and a panoramic sunroof with power blind.

The Toyota LandCruiser Prado range starts from $60,830 before on-road costs in Australia for the most basic Prado GX specification. Move up to the top-shelf Prado Kakadu shown here and pricing starts from $86,998 plus on-road costs.

The Dusty Bronze metallic paint adds a $675 surcharge, but the option of a tailgate-mounted spare or the flat tailgate and underslung spare (at the cost of fuel capacity) is a no-cost factory option.

That brings our test car to a price of $95,782 drive-away in Melbourne.

The Prado is certainly a step up over other body-on-frame rivals in the large SUV class or, depending on your perspective, a cut-price version of the full-size 300 Series LandCruiser.

The fully loaded Kakadu means you get features like LED headlights and fog lights, rear privacy glass, illuminated side steps, roof rails, and 19-inch wheels with a full-size spare.

Across the Prado range, all variants use a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine with 150kW and 500Nm linked to a six-speed automatic and full-time four-wheel drive.

Exclusive to the Kakadu is air-spring suspension linked to Toyota’s Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System with adaptive variable damping and multi-terrain off-road modes.

The Ford Everest Platinum is a seven-seater that will actually fit adults in all three rows. Space at the very back is not generous, that’s for sure, but adult occupation is possible. More on that in a moment. Let’s start up front for now. 

The Everest Platinum has a full leather interior with a quilting treatment on the seats that adds an air of luxury. 

The front seats are electrically adjustable, heated and ventilated. The steering wheel is manually adjustable for reach and tilt, which means 99 per cent of drivers will find a good driving position. 

The dashboard is quite high, which makes the Everest feel a touch claustrophobic inside. It also has a weird side-effect of making the Everest feel large and intimidating to drive, especially for smaller adults. But it’s not at all intimidating to drive, as I detail below. It just imparts that vibe because of the high trimline and dashboard. 

Both front doors have bottle holders, and there are two cupholders on the centre console, as well as a smartphone charger and a specially designed McDonald’s fries holder. Because, well just because.  

The dashboard is dominated by a 12.0-inch infotainment screen that has been mounted in portrait mode, unlike many rivals that favour a landscape orientation. It’s partnered with a 12.4-inch digital instrument display in front of the driver, which only the Platinum gets. Other Everest models get a smaller 8.0-inch version that does the job but can’t match the flash of the Platinum’s larger screen. 

Ford believes that towing is likely to play a role in owners’ lives, so they’ve integrated the optional trailer braking controls fitted to our test car into the dashboard layout. I would assume this is a positive because it makes the controls look consistent with the rest of the cabin and not like an aftermarket add-on. But not being a regular tow-er, I don’t know if there are downsides to this approach. 

Climbing up into the second row of seats is made easier by the side steps and a prominent grab rail on the B-pillar. Once ensconced, there is plenty of leg, foot and headroom for adults, and the seatbase slides fore and aft by 20cm if you need to give some of that space to the third row. 

The two outboard seats have seat heating, and there are bottle holders in the door pockets as well as cupholders in the fold-down armrest. 

There are air vents in the second row for airflow, and the panoramic sunroof allows plenty of light in as well. 

Getting into the third row is straightforward thanks to a single lever that folds the second-row backrest and slides the base forward. There are porthole windows back there to provide some light, vents in the roof for airflow, and cupholders for both seats. One seat also has an iPad storage slot.  

Into the boot now, and as I mentioned before the Everest Platinum has a hands-free power tailgate that opens to reveal an 898L boot, assuming the third row is stowed away. If the third row is in use there’s still a decent 259L of space, both of which measurements are among the best in class. 

Fold both the second and third rows away and the Everest has a cavernous 1818L of space with a mostly flat floor.

Inside the Toyota Prado Kakadu you have a choice of black or beige for the leather trim, and if you’re in any way active or outdoorsy, I’d recommend black as the safe choice.

Design is where the Prado betrays its age. While all of the surfaces are well finished and nice to the touch, the dials and storage aren’t aligned with other cars in the segment.

You get big comfy seats that are more like lounge chairs than car seats. The front seats are electrically adjustable, there’s seat heating and ventilation, and the driver’s seat has memory for two drivers.

Move down the centre stack and most of the space is dedicated to off-road modes, with access to crawl control, suspension height, low-range, and the multi-terrain system through these buttons and dials.

Storage space is a little slim. There’s a small shelf here, and a pair of cupholders under this lidded cover. One LandCruiser highlight that also makes its way into the Prado is under the centre armrest, with an in-car cooler where the centre console would normally live.

Second-row passengers get a really roomy back seat with generous leg room, heaps of headroom and width to stretch out into.

In Kakadu spec, the outboard rear seats are heated, plus there’s a third climate zone for the rear of the cabin. The seats themselves can slide and recline – letting you mix and match cargo space or third-row legroom with long-haul comfort.

Drop down the centre armrest and you’ll find a pair of cupholders, plus there are big bottle holders in the doors.

The third-row seats are super easy to set up and fold down with electric folding, meaning you don’t have to do any heavy lifting at all.

Once you’re in, unsurprisingly there’s not as much room as the row ahead, and far fewer features to play with, but at least there are bottle holders to the side and air vents overhead. The seats are still more for kids than adults, though, with a high floor and limited foot- and legroom if passengers in the row ahead don’t give up a little of their own space.

With a side-hinged tailgate, the Prado forgoes the convenience of powered opening. While the rear door can be locked open to keep it secure on an incline or in the wind, it’s not always ideal in tight spaces.

The rear glass opens separately, hinged at the top, which adds convenience, but you’ll still need to be tall to reach in over the high window line.

With all three rows of seats in place, there’s a narrow 120L of boot space. Just enough for a couple of grocery bags.

With the power-folding third-row seats stowed, boot space grows to 620L. Much more suitable for camping gear, sports kit, or a heavy-duty Costco shop.

If you want to go further still, the second row of seats can be manually stowed, unlocking a total capacity of 1800L.

The Ford Everest has wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and Bluetooth smartphone connectivity if you have something else. 

All smartphone functions are accessed through the centrally mounted 12.0-inch infotainment screen, which has high-quality graphics, an intuitive interface and is generally easy to use… Except on the move. The Everest Platinum has stiffer suspension that generates a firm and reactive ride. This in turn makes it hard to aim your finger when touching the screen. 

If you’re not following me, imagine sitting on a waterbed and reaching for your piping hot morning coffee on the side table. Now picture your two young kids bouncing on the bed… Not so easy to grab that cuppa now, is it? That’s what it’s like trying to stab a small onscreen button while driving. 

In fact, I’d suggest that the Platinum’s ride needs more attention from Ford’s engineers, and not just to make touchscreen interaction easier. It’s out of character for a flagship model, but more on that in the Driving section below. 

Of course, you can ‘anchor’ your hand by resting part of it on the dashboard surrounding the screen, but that shouldn’t be necessary. I suppose you could also resort to the vehicle’s voice control, the key phrases for which need to be learned first. Anyway, moving on… And no, I don’t own a waterbed. 

All Everests have satellite navigation with live traffic functionality free for the first year. DAB+ digital radio is also part of the package, playing through the Platinum’s 12-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system that has very good audio quality.

The infotainment screen also has functions for adjusting the climate-control settings, which in turn are supplemented by some real-world buttons and dials just below the screen. During our test week, I found some of the air-con functionality – via the onscreen virtual buttons – to be hit-and-miss. For example, the ability to adjust fan speed and temperature by moving the onscreen slider wouldn’t work on one drive but did on the next. 

The 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system in the Prado Kakadu isn’t the most cutting-edge in terms of features or graphics, but with decent size and an uncluttered interface it holds its own.

Positioned high in the dash, the screen is easy to read, and comes with wired Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, digital radio, and inbuilt navigation. There’s a 14-speaker JBL sound system too.

Ahead of the driver there’s a set of traditional analogue gauges with a small digital display for trip computer info.

In the back you’ll find a rear-seat entertainment display for playing Blu-ray discs, which rear passengers can enjoy with wireless headsets.

The Ford Everest was been assessed by the independent crash safety body, Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), in 2022 and awarded five stars. 

The Everest scored highly for adult occupant protection (86 per cent), child occupant protection (93 per cent), and safety assist (86 per cent). The Everest’s vulnerable road user rating of 74 per cent is also good. 

The Everest has a class-leading airbag inventory: dual front and front-side airbags, knee-protecting airbags for both front-seat occupants, a front-centre airbag to reduce head-clash injuries, and curtain airbags covering all three rows. 

The Toyota LandCruiser Prado does carry a five-star ANCAP rating, albeit one first tested in 2011 but updated to reflect specification changes in 2013 and 2017, with the most recent test timestamp being from 2013.

It’s worth noting two things here. ANCAP regularly updates and toughens its assessment criteria, so the Prado’s five stars are not comparable to newer five-star results. From the end of 2022, an expiry date will apply to all ratings six years or older, at which time the Prado will revert to ‘unrated’ unless retested to current standards.

All Ford Everest variants come with an impressive and almost class-leading array of active safety features. This includes intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop/go functionality, traffic sign recognition and lane centring. 

Autonomous emergency braking that is pedestrian, cyclist and junction-aware is also fitted across the range, as is lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist, evasive steering assist and blind-spot monitoring. The Everest does not have the blind-spot active assist functionality that seeks to prevent you from changing lanes into another car.

All Everests have front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. 

The Everest Platinum upgrades that to a 360-degree surround vision set-up. It also has active park assist and an individual tyre pressure monitoring system. 

The Toyota Prado range comes standard with seven airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) including pedestrian and daytime cyclist intervention, lane-departure warning with steering assist, automatic high beam, active cruise control (but without low-speed or complete stop-and-go capabilities), speed sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert.

That leaves the Prado with some gaps in its armour. Newer safety tech on other Toyota vehicles includes stop-and-go adaptive cruise control, lane-keep and lane-centring systems, intersection intervention for the AEB system, and reverse AEB.

Servicing a 2023 Ford Everest is a very affordable $329 per visit right now, for the first four years or 60,000km. The fifth year costs $350.

Servicing your Ford at a Ford service centre brings with it national roadside assist cover for the next 12 months, up to and including the vehicle’s seventh year. 

Ford’s standard warranty is five years and unlimited kilometres. 

Comprehensive insurance comes in at $1879 a year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. That’s about $350 dearer than the quote we got for the less expensive Everest Sport. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The official combined fuel consumption claim for the Ford Everest V6 diesel model is 8.5L/100km.

Our real-world figure was just over 10L/100km for a week of urban and highway driving, which is more than I would have expected, but the Everest is a big car and it isn’t particularly aerodynamic. 

Toyota offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with the Prado, but will extend coverage on engine and driveline components to seven years for vehicles serviced in line with Toyota’s specified service schedule.

Toyota’s service schedule is shorter than most rivals, with intervals set every six months or 10,000km. The first three years' servicing is capped at $260 per visit, with pricing moving up beyond the three-year mark, though the price of each service is previewed under Toyota’s capped-price program.

Up to the three-year mark, scheduled servicing will cost $1560, but to reach five years will cost $3695.

Comprehensive insurance for the Prado Kakadu comes in at $2490 per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The Toyota Prado carries a 7.9L/100km fuel consumption claim. The car we were driving was no spring chicken either, with over 11,000km on the clock, which is more kilometres than typical test cars made available to Drive.

After a week of driving, both in urban confines during the week plus some weekend open-road touring, the Prado returned 9.8L/100km. Given the size and weight, a sub-10-litre figure still feels good, even if it sits above Toyota’s claim.

This one’s a mixed bag. In general, the Ford Everest is an easy car to drive, and is quiet and enjoyable if the road is smooth. But the Ford Everest Platinum has a firmer ride than its less expensive brothers, which in my opinion is unnecessary and unwarranted. 

The Platinum is noticeably more reactive to lumps and bumps in the road, and that translates into jostling and jouncing inside the cabin, which is far from enjoyable. 

Whether the Platinum was deliberately tuned that way by Ford to impart a sense of sportiness, or whether it’s a byproduct of the larger 21-inch Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres (275/45s), it makes the Everest Platinum a less composed and less relaxing car to drive. 

The Everest Platinum is a 2492kg five-door wagon powered by a muscular and relaxed 3.0-litre turbo diesel engine, so it’s never going to be anybody’s definition of sporty. So why Ford has endowed this vehicle with a sporty ride is beyond me. It’s jarring, both physically and holistically. 

Look beyond the overly reactive ride and there’s a lot to like about the Everest Platinum. The engine is a gem, so generous with its torque and never short of breath. It’s easy to imagine this successor to the Ford Territory’s then-impressive 2.7-litre unit towing close to the gazetted 3.5-tonne maximum, and doing it with relative ease. 

I’m not a fan of 10-speed transmissions – they’re at least two gears more than anyone needs, and I reckon Ford developed it simply to win barroom bragging rights – and this one can at times be caught in the wrong ratio, or take too long to shuffle to the right gear for the occasion. In general, though, it’s a smooth cog-swapper that moves you quickly to the highest ratio for fuel economy reasons.

The buttons on the gear selector allow you to either shift manually or reduce the operating range. Press the minus three times and you now have a seven-speed transmission. Press it two more times and it’s a five-speed. With overdriven gears from eighth and above, this can be handy when towing in hilly terrain.

Alternatively, press the M for manual mode and you can use the plus and minus controls to shuffle through gears manually.   

In everyday driving, the Everest is a willing and able companion. The active cruise control with full stop/go capability is a godsend in peak-hour traffic, and the high driving position provides good visibility. 

Aurally, the cabin is a quiet oasis with barely any intrusion from tyre rumble or engine noise. 

Ford’s turning circle claim of 11.8m is believable, giving the Everest manoeuvrability in tight spaces that belies its overall size. 

In fact, despite what I said above about the high dashboard making the car feel claustrophobic and cumbersome, the Everest is enjoyable to pilot in pretty much any condition on any terrain. I just wish the ride would calm down. 

Let’s kick off what’s under the bonnet. The Prado’s 2.8-litre engine isn’t big or brawny, especially when saddled with the Kakadu’s near 2.3-tonne kerb weight, but it’s fine for getting the job done.

In its current state of tune, the Prado is rated at 150kW and 500Nm. As a result, the Prado certainly isn’t quick.

Off the line and around town, you get a decent and unstoppable swell of torque as revs rise, but don’t expect to be first off the line at the traffic lights. That said, if you add in bodies or a bootload of gear, the Prado just keeps on swinging.

This is far from a new powertrain, but in typical Toyota fashion it’s a well-proven one, having been introduced in 2015 and appearing not just in the Prado, but also in the Fortuner, HiLux and HiAce. In the past, it suffered Toyota’s early diesel particulate filter failure issues, although those appear to have been largely remedied with the engine management system running more frequent particulate filter regeneration cycles.

The engine hooks up to a six-speed automatic, which again doesn’t rewrite the benchmarks, but is smooth and predictable in the way it operates. Largely unobtrusive, definitely smooth, and easy enough to slot into drive and forget about from then on.

Ride comfort is undeniably soft. Toyota knows what works here and keeps a foot firmly in the comfort camp.

Whereas the Prado can bob and float over things like spoon drains and speed humps, spend a few hours on rural roads with potholes, corrugations and uneven surfacing and the suppleness will be welcome.

Into the mix, the Kakadu is the only Prado model equipped with Toyota’s Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS) – a hydraulic system designed to keep things level for road driving, but able to disconnect swaybars for increased articulation off-road. KDSS also claims to quell rough road vibrations, and for the most part it seems to do its job.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with how the Prado handles itself, it is starting to feel its age. Newer rivals like the Ford Everest make this obvious, but even the leap forward made by the bigger LandCruiser 300 Series shows that the Prado has room to make a similar leap forward in terms of dynamics and comfort.

Let’s start our conclusion by comparing the oily bits first. The Ford Everest has the newer and stronger engine that delivers a 34kW and 100Nm advantage, along with the debatable advantage of 10 forward ratios compared to the Prado’s six.

I call that debatable because neither transmission seems to be a major advantage or handicap. If anything, the Toyota’s transmission is more resolved, but the Ford’s 10-speed makes more of the engine’s prowess and helps the Ford’s fuel economy stay within cooee of the Prado despite being a bigger and more powerful unit.

The Prado is a full-time four-wheel drive with air-sprung rear suspension, whereas the Everest has part-time four-wheel drive with fixed suspension. You could argue the Toyota’s air suspension is smarter, which delivers an advantage. We also think the Everest’s ride quality is sub-optimal.

So, in terms of straight-line performance the Everest holds an advantage, but in terms of polish and poise the Prado pegs back the deficit.

Moving inside, the Prado’s interior does not look like a 2009 car because it has been updated a few times to keep pace with its rivals. Toyota has done a good job giving the Prado all the expected mod cons, but there’s no substitute for the fresh and ground-up execution of the Everest. 

The Everest’s digital screens comfortably outpoint the Toyota’s for graphics, operation and useability, although the Ford’s screen is sometimes slow to respond, suggesting the processor is not always up to the job. 

Both have all the creature comforts one would expect, including leather interiors, multi-zone climate control, smartphone mirroring, digital radio and satellite navigation. 

Safety is another win to the newer car, as you would expect. The Ford has nine airbags to the Toyota’s seven. It has active cruise with stop-and-go, lane-centring and lane-keeping assist, and intersection-aware autonomous emergency braking. The Toyota has a decent safety suite but none of those modern inclusions.

Moving away from active safety and into occupant comfort, there is really very little to split these two. Both interiors are spacious enough for seven adults around town, and have a third row best left to the kids on longer journeys. 

Into the boot now, and the Prado’s barn door brings with it a significant disadvantage: you need a second car spot to swing it open. Toyota has done this to facilitate mounting a spare tyre (or a second spare if you go off-road often) on the tailgate. Ford, however, makes do with an underslung spare that stays out of sight until needed. This also means Ford can fit a hands-free electric tailgate to the Everest, which is a useful everyday advantage. 

But still, we’ll award a few points to the Prado for having a hinged rear window that provides quick and easy – if limited – access to the luggage area. There’s no reason Ford couldn’t have done this too, just like its Ford Territory forebear did back in the mid-2000s.

As for boot size, the Everest wins this regardless of how many rows you have filled or folded. By some margin too.

Now let’s talk money. The Everest strikes the first blow here with a $10K price advantage before options. The Everest follows that up with much cheaper annual servicing costs, largely because the Prado has to go back every six months instead of 12. 

The Prado also cops it when it comes to insurance. Comprehensive insurance quotes for each using the exact same owner details came out $600 dearer for the Toyota, which combines with our five-year servicing costs to make the Prado $1000 a year more expensive to own. 

The Prado did prove to be more fuel-efficient on test, but three-tenths of a litre every 100km only adds up to 45 litres per year, or around $100 depending on the price of diesel. 

So, what we have here is a comfortable victory to the Ford Everest Platinum. It’s cheaper to buy and cheaper to own. It has more equipment and more safety features. It is more spacious inside, and has a few practical touches the Prado cannot match. 

The Everest also has a more powerful drivetrain, and it can tow up to 3500kg compared to the Prado’s 3000kg rating. 

So, where does the Prado beat the Everest? Ride comfort. If that’s worth paying more upfront and more again every year, putting up with a less powerful car, and rolling the dice with a sub-optimal safety suite, then who are we to stand in your way? 

After all, that’s what 20,000 Australians have done so far in 2022. No doubt they have their reasons. We just wonder if they dived into the detail and read the fine print.