Toyota is offering its new-generation LandCruiser Prado with a third row of seating like its predecessor, but it can’t be removed without voiding part of the vehicle’s warranty.
“If a customer removes the third-row seats out the 7-seat LandCruiser Prado variant, the warranty will remain valid for all components of the vehicle besides the third-row components,” said a Toyota Australia spokesperson.
Toyota hasn’t designed the Prado 250 Series with quick-release third-row seats, meaning you can’t temporarily remove the seats.
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Five-seat Prado boot
Depending on the state and territory, there are different rules and regulations owners need to follow when they do remove the seats.
In most cases owners will need to have the vehicle reengineered with a compliance plate that shows the car is now a five-seater and not a seven-seater, among other appropriate forms to get it formally recognised/approved by the respective state’s road and transport body.
It’s a similar process if you get a gross vehicle mass (GVM) upgrade on a vehicle post-registration.
It’s common for buyers, especially off-road enthusiasts and overlanders, to remove the third row of seats from SUVs and install a set of drawers or a fridge in its place.
For these types of buyers, ARB recently unveiled a new range of accessories for the Prado 250 Series that includes a 96L fridge and a twin air compressor, among other products that can be fitted in the boot area.
Toyota technically does offer a five-seat configuration for the new Prado, but only with the entry-level GX and off-road-focussed Altitude variants. All the other variants are exclusively offered with seven seats in Australia.
The previous Prado 150 Series didn’t have a removable third row either, but the rearmost row did at least fold flat.
It doesn’t in the new-generation SUV due to the placement of the 48V battery for the mild-hybrid system.
Toyota counters this by fitting a removable storage box in the boot that’s level with the height of third row when folded. It’s a similar solution to what Suzuki has employed with its three-door Jimny.
The company claims seven-seat versions of the Prado offer 182 litres of boot space with all three rows of seating upright, expanding to 906L with the third row stowed, and then 1829L with the third and second rows stowed.
Five-seat Prado variants, however, offer 954 litres of boot space with all the seats upright, expanding to 1895 litres with the second row of seats folded.
Pricing for the 2025 Toyota LandCruiser Prado range starts at $72,500 before on-roads for the GX, and extends to $99,990 before on-roads for the Kakadu flagship.
They are powered by the same 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine as the 150 Series, this time fitted with 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance, although power and torque outputs remain the same at 150kW and 500Nm.
The new Prado’s turbo-diesel engine is mated to a new eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission (up two ratios from the outgoing model) and a two-speed transfer case, once again offering low-range gearing and sending power to all four corners through a full-time four-wheel drive system.
