2025 Toyota Coaster Reviews

A software error has seen thousands of Toyota Camry examples urgently recalled in Australia. The recall concerns 16,238 Camry units built from the 2024 to 2026 model years, according to a notice from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications Sports and the Arts.“Due to a software error, the combination meter may fail to illuminate visual and audible warnings including dashboard indicators, the speedometer, turn signals, hazard lamps, seatbelt reminders and key in ignition,” the notice read.“Failure of the combination meter to display critical safety information or warning indicators may increase the risk of an accident, causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and/or other road users.”A spokesperson for Toyota Australia said this issue is part of a global recall, with a small number of reported occurrences in Australia. Toyota Australia will contact owners of affected cars to make an appointment and have the issue rectified free of charge at a dealer. Owners can contact Toyota's recall assist support line for more information.The hybrid-powered Camry is the best-selling sedan in Australia, but it is now facing fresh competition from Chinese rivals the BYD Seal EV and BYD Seal 6 plug-in hybrid.  The Camry has experienced a sales surge in 2026, up nearly 40 per cent compared to July 2025. 

Toyota has proven its no electric car pretender, as it beats all others in the world’s most EV dominant markets.Toyota Europe’s Communications Director Robert Tickner announced the Toyota bZ4X is the best-selling vehicle in Norway and Denmark.These are two of the most cut-throat EV markets with electric vehicles accounting for about 98 per cent of all new cars sold in Norway and more than 60 per cent in Denmark, according to reports.Toyota has bested European locals Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, as well as international giants such as Tesla and Xpeng in the process.The Japanese giant has been heavily criticised for being slow to the electric vehicle market, with it instead betting on hybrids to plug the gap until more people were ready to plug-in.Tickner took a swipe at the haters."Toyota has been criticised by some for not going 'all in' on battery electric vehicles. For me, that's simply a misunderstanding of Toyota's strategy and the reality of true customer demand," said Tickner on LinkedIn.Toyota is now fleshing out its range of battery-powered cars to increasing success, with the company selling 12 EVs in Europe across the Toyota and Lexus brands, according to Tickner.Toyota EV sales trail Tesla, BYD and many others by a massive margin in Australia, but there are green shoots starting to appear.Sales of its bZ4X are up 330 per cent this year to 2075 examples through the first seven months.The company has scrounged around for more stock to help fill orders of the bZ4X. This extra supply is due in the coming months.Toyota just expanded its bZ4X range with the bigger Touring version, which will help boost sales Down Under.Lexus hasn’t had the same success, with its related RZ SUV only selling about 100 examples so far this year. This is still up about 180 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.The new electric version of the Lexus ES sedan is unlikely to be a huge seller.Toyota’s HiLux BEV has just arrived in the country. The all-electric workhorse doesn’t read spectacularly on paper and won’t be replacing diesel utes anytime soon, with it largely pitched to mines and government fleets needing to decarbonise.Toyota has confirmed the C-HR+ electric compact SUV will arrive in Australia in 2027. It shares its underpinnings with the recently launched Subaru Uncharted.Globally there are two configurations and two batteries available.The entry-level model has a single, front-mounted electric motor that produces 123kW and is fed by a 57.7kWh battery pack.There’s also a larger 77kWh battery pack available in the front-wheel drive version, which bumps the power output up to 165kW.There is also a range-topping dual-motor, all-wheel drive set-up with a total system output of 252kW.

Are we headed for a world where petrol is only the fuel of the rich, powering their hypercars and luxury super SUVs? It certainly appears that way. And I don’t like it…This week the car world achieved a major milestone - the average global price of electric vehicles fell below that of hybrids for the first time. And before too long we’ll see the average price of EVs drop lower than the price of petrol cars.There’s nothing wrong with that - we’re watching the evolution of the motor car, and a change in buying habits and taste in real time.What could supercharge this process and fundamentally change what fuel we use, however, is the volatility of petrol prices which have spiked dramatically due to the conflict in the Middle East. Covering car news each day is revealing a trend and I’m not too sure I like it. High-performance and luxury car brands are doubling down on their fossil fuel focus, while mainstream brands are pushing the limits to make the most affordable electric cars.At the start of this year BMW announced it would reverse its decision to pivot away from petrol and return to producing V8 and V12 units due to their customer demands.Rival brand Mercedes-Benz did the same thing and scrapped its plan to go completely electric by 2030 and dived back into making V8s.Porsche, too, changed its mind after receiving a walloping from customers who made it very clear that Porsche to them meant power from petrol, not power from the electricity grid.Lamborghini also did an about face on EVs at the start of this year and went back to petrol, adding a hybrid system but only to make more mumbo.Yep, Lamborghini replaced its V10 Huracan which made 470kW with the V8 Temerario which makes 588kW plus another 220kW from its electric motors.Then there’s the mysterious case of Ferrari giving us the breathtaking 12Cilindri with yes a V12, which was closely followed by the even more gorgeous V8 Amalfi, before giving us the all-electric Luce which hurts to look at directly. It’s as if the brand was sending us some kind of message coded in ugliness about being asked to do something against its will. Of course the super high end brands appear completely unconcerned by prohibitively high petrol prices affecting sales or the climate.Bugatti announced an end to the reign of its enormous 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engines in its cars like the Veyron and Chiron, but before we could even think it was going green trumpeted in almost the same breath that it was doing V16s instead.Which it did with its current Tourbillon hypercar that houses a monstrous 8.3-litre V16 engine. Yes it has a hybrid system with electric motors but it’s not to save fuel, it’s to make more power. If you were to ask bespoke high performance vehicle maker Hennessey if it had electric cars the response would almost certainly be, “never heard of her." The brand just unveiled its US spy plane-inspired Blackbird hypercar with a naturally aspirated V8 and positioned it as the kind of vehicle that allows drivers to cover 1300km a day.Just days ago Aston Martin ran into the room boasting it was delaying its EV plans because it had found a loop hole which meant it could keep making V12s. The loop hole being that the brand had to keep V12 sales under 1000 a year.Low volume sales aren’t a worry for brands like these - not when an Aston Martin Vanquish costs more than $700,000. And unlike you and me, that's not the owner's only car… it joins a garage with five other cars in it… at least. Yes we’re talking millions of dollars and all petrol-powered.Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to work out how we can get into an electric car for less than $40,000 because chaotic fuel prices are hurting us and we’re worried about the future resale value of petrol cars. I’m also highly concerned about the air that my children breathe and the thought of having a car powered by burning oil that just to drives to shops, school and work sounds more and more preposterous to me. It’s like having kerosene lanterns in every room of your house rather than light bulbsTo be completely clear, though, I love petrol performance cars and detest electric performance ones. Petrol has a place.My fear is that petrol’s happy place in performance cars will eventually exclude me as the fuel becomes more expensive, rarer and the food of exotic beasts I can’t afford.So what’s left? There’s the Cupra Leon VZx, Ford Mustang, Honda Civic Type R and Prelude, Hyundai i30N, Mazda MX-5, Nissan Z, Subaru WRX, Toyota GR Yaris and GR Corolla and VW Golf R.Watch these models closely, because they are the final 'affordable' petrol performance cars and they are all now endangered.    

Australia's top 10 sales list looks very different when automotive groups are counted together, with Hyundai and Kia rocketing up the charts and Chinese companies taking out four places in total.While vehicles might wear different names, often they are owned by the same company, such as the Volkswagen Group with VW, Skoda, Cupra, Audi and more, Toyota with Toyota and Lexuz, or Geely with Geely, Zeekr, Polestar and Lotus.Counted as groups with a single corporate owner rather than as individual brands –which, it must be pointed out, is not how Australia's official body counts sales, making this more an experiment than anything else – and the sales results look very different.At the close of July, for example, Toyota led the YTD sales charts with a total 115,550 sales. BYD nabbed second spot, with 60,192 sales, followed by Ford, Kia and Mazda, with 48,696, 48,399 and 46,960 sales. Hyundai, GWM, Chery, Tesla and Mitsubishi round out the top 10.But counting group totals rather than individual brands paints a very different picture. Toyota and Lexus still comfortably hold top spot, with 122,902 sales, but it's the Hyundai Group (Hyundai and Kia) which take second spot, with a combined 94,113. Next comes the BYD Group (BYD and Denza) with 62,885. Ford and Mazda hold onto spots four and five, even as individual players.It's spot six through 10 where things get interesting, with the Chery Group (Chery, Omoda Jaecoo) storming into spot number six with 40,522 sales. GWM remains in spot seven, while the Geely Group arrives in the top 10 with 28,089 total sales. Mitsubishi and MG (the fifth Chinese brand/group inside this new top 10) fill spots eight and nine.For Chery, the July result was enough to elevate the group to spot number four for the month – a result which did not go unnoticed at HQ."Becoming the fourth largest automotive group in Australia is a significant achievement and demonstrates how strongly Australian consumers have embraced both Chery and Omoda Jaecoo," said Lewis Lu, CEO of Chery Motor Australia.   

Toyota's new and smaller ute won't be the HiLux Champ we've seen in Asian markets, but will instead be a new car-based tray-back designed to take on models like the Ford Maverick.That's the news out of the USA, where a new Toyota patent has at last shed light on what to expect from the incoming baby HiLux.The patent is for a new ute-like suspension mounting for a monocoque chassis, which suggests the brand is devising ways to ensure its car-based ute still delivers on capability.Unlike car suspension, which isn't designed to take heavy loads, Toyota has designed a mounting system that spreads the load in the tray. Billed as a "strainer", the system distributes the load in the tray to balance out the weight, while structural changes to the sheet metal and to the components in the suspension further beef up their capability. It's the surest sign yet that Toyota's baby HiLux is coming, and Toyota in Australia already has its hand up for it. While the Champ has been ruled out as non-compliant with Australia's standards, this new and more modern ute could be right on the money.Currently codenamed Project 150D, the new ute is reportedly being readied for a launch in Brazil in the first half of 2027. When it does, the ute will debut Toyota's first tray-backed plug-in hybrid powertrain, using a system taken from the Prius.That would pair a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors for a total system output of 166kW, while the e-CVT is joined by a second electric motor to enable eFour all-wheel drive.Asked if the Project 150D was made globally available, Toyota Australia would have its hand up for it, Ray Munday, Senior Manager Product Planning and Pricing at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia, replied: "We'd certainly look into it"."If it was the right product at the right price, we believe there is some demand for that here. But it's always got to be about the right product at the right price. Otherwise, it won't be successful," he said.

2026 has been a watershed year for new vehicle sales in Australia, with the tsunami of new challenger brands from China continuing to pound our shores with full-force.It’s upset the established order on the industry leaderboard, with BYD (up 115 per cent) charging into second spot through the end of July, and sending a shudder through the hallowed halls of traditional number one, Toyota Australia, and unceremoniously relegating Ford to the third step of the podium.The rapid rise of Chery (up 71.3 per cent) and GWM (up 16.6 per cent YTD) has meant former high-ranking top 10 regulars Mazda and Hyundai have been shuffled down the order, with Mitsubishi hanging on by the skin of its teeth in tenth. A resurgent Tesla (up 88.3 per cent) sits in ninth spot, but Nissan (-33.7 per cent) and Subaru (-26.2 per cent) are out of the top 10 picture altogether.Question is, what does this furious churn of customers mean for overall sales? Is the market likely to expand, or given its historical stability, come in close to previous years?If it’s the latter, the financial writing could be on the wall for those legacy brands losing market share to newcomers offering fancy, typically electrified models full of bells and whistles at aggressive price points.So, let's start at the top. After a faltering start to the year marked by supply shortfalls of the in-demand RAV4 and HiLux, Toyota looks to be in the midst of staging a monumental comeback.RAV4 is still down over 25 per cent compared to the same point in 2025 and HiLux is close to 12 per cent behind, but in early June, Toyota Australia announced it had secured an additional 10,000 vehicles for 2026.And since then, the company said it has “worked closely with its global partners to secure further stock to help satisfy strong demand”. In fact, Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations John Pappas has said, "Increased supply of key models including HiLux, RAV4, Corolla Cross and bZ4X would play a key role in Toyota passing the 230,000 sales target for 2026.”It’s worth noting Toyota was the leader in 2025 with 239,863 sales, representing approximately 19.8 per cent of the total market.Which means normal programming is set to resume in terms of Toyota’s numbers and the Japanese giant’s first place positioning.But what about that cheeky upstart, BYD, riding high on the back of continued demand for its Shark 6 petrol-electric hybrid ute and the surging popularity of its Sealion 7 medium EV SUV.In fact everything from the new Atto 1 light electric hatch and Atto 2 compact EV SUV to the Sealion 5 and Sealion 8 SUVs are firing.In terms of a 2026 prediction, all BYD has said is it “would like to be in the top three by the end of the year.” We’d suggest that’ll mean a number in excess of 80,000 units and with 2025 second and third place finishers Ford and Mazda down 10.8 and 16.7 per cent, respectively so far this year, BYD’s aspiration looks well within reach. A total of 103,656 new vehicles were registered in Australia in July this year, which represents a modest 0.5 per cent increase over the same month last year (103,097 units) with the overall year-to-date number down just 0.2 per cent (710,449 vs 711,908 units).So, all this moving and shaking in the sales order clearly isn’t shifting the needle in terms of overall sales. One brand’s loss is another brand’s gain.The sales trend and numbers as they stand for 2026 so far point towards a year-end figure in the vicinity of 1.22 million units, which would be only fractionally up on the 1.21 million cars sold here last year.Economics 101 says in a mature, stable market that’s invaded by a host of new competitors, something’s got to give.Not every brand will get out of the Aussie new car sales race alive and the winners and losers over the next five months will be a telling pointer to which brands, new and not-so-new, are potentially heading towards the departure lounge longer-term.       Source: VFacts / Electric Vehicle Council 

Toyota is commonly known for creating solid vehicles that are easy to recommend and generally simple to live with.However, the Japanese carmaker understandably has also had some vehicles that are solid, but not as class-leading or recommendable in their respective segments. Recent examples include the HiAce-based Granvia people mover and HiLux-based Fortuner SUV.But now Toyota has arguably one of the most perplexing new products on its hands in Australia that no matter which way you look at it, it doesn’t make sense.This is the LandCruiser 300 Series Performance Hybrid.The LandCruiser 300 Series Performance Hybrid, which itself is a mouthful, is a new flagship engine offering in Australia, sitting above the existing 3.3-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel.It combines a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine with an electric motor generator for total system outputs of 341kW and 790Nm. It’s called i-Force Max and it's a virtually identical set-up to the Tundra pick-up but there’s slightly more power.This makes it the most powerful road-going LandCruiser ever. In fact, it’s the most powerful Toyota production car ever offered in Australia. More than the GR Supra, TRD Aurion and even the previous V8-powered LandCruiser.Compared to other Toyota series-parallel hybrid powertrains, the LC300’s set-up is quite different. It’s a parallel set-up that has the electric motor generator sit between the petrol V6 engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission.This means the engine or the electric motor can independently power the wheels, or they can both provide grunt at the same time. There’s also a direct mechanical connection, meaning the full-time four-wheel drive system remains intact.While Toyota has attempted to hedge its bets with the Performance Hybrid naming, this vehicle is far from efficient.It’s claimed to consume 10L/100km on the combined cycle, according to ADR 81/02 testing. This is more than diesel-powered LandCruiser is claimed to consume 8.9L/100km on the combined cycle, according to ADR 81/02 testing.What makes it worse is the Performance Hybrid version of the LC300 has a smaller 98L fuel tank, compared with the diesel, which has an 110L fuel tank. This means the former has a significantly shorter overall driving range.The kicker is the LC300 Performance Hybrid requires a minimum of 95 RON premium unleaded petrol. While this may still be a little cheaper to purchase than diesel in some circumstances, premium unleaded petrol isn’t as prolific as diesel, especially in remote areas.Toyota prides itself on building vehicles that are capable of tackling the most challenging and remote terrain, but if you can’t find anywhere to fuel up, what’s the point?It’s disappointing as the LC300 Performance Hybrid is an incredibly capable vehicle off-road. In GR Sport trim it retains the front and rear diff locks, crawl control and turn assist functions, as well as the E-KDSS suspension system. The placement of the high-voltage battery pack in the LC300 Performance Hybrid limits the interior practicality.All versions of this car are currently only offered with five seats. For full transparency, the LC300 Performance Hybrid is only offered on the range-topping Sahara ZX and GR Sport trims and they only offer five seats with the diesel engine too.However, there are lesser versions of the LC300 with the diesel engine that offer the flexibility of seven seats. For some families this is a major consideration.While the LC300 Performance Hybrid does have 910L of boot space, this is 216L less than the diesel as the floor is slightly higher. Thankfully the boot packaging isn’t as awkward as it is in seven-seat versions of the Prado.There are two versions of the LC300 Performance Hybrid currently available in Australia – the Sahara ZX and GR Sport, which are already range-topping versions of this car.They’re currently priced from $156,740 and $156,990, before on-road costs, respectively. This is around $8000 more expensive than the equivalent diesel-powered model.Beyond the different engine, the Performance Hybrid gains the following over the diesel:Full electric power-assisted steering system (diesel models retain hydraulic power steering)Upgraded 1500W power socket in the boot40/20/40 split-folding second row of seats.Honestly I’m not sure. I see no feasible or justifiable reason why you could or should buy the Performance Hybrid version of the LC300 over the diesel.Sure it’s nice to have extra power, but how often are you actually using it? Plus, the diesel is already powerful and torquey enough.It doesn’t help that the transition from electric to petrol power can occasionally be a touch stilted. Plus, the car can barely accelerate on electric power alone, forcing the engine to fire again.One thing that’s undeniable is the petrol V6 petrol has a fantastic note. It’s gruff, burbly and full of character.The simple answer to this question is the diesel engine. However, if you like the LC300 Performance Hybrid’s 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, there are a number of options available with the same engine, sans electrification.The most obvious answer is the Lexus LX, which is the luxurious version of the LC300. The entry-level LX600 is priced from $167,700 before on-road costs, which is almost $11,000 more than the LC300 Performance Hybrid.It produces slightly less power and is claimed to use more fuel, however you get the flexibility of having seven seats.Another option is the slightly smaller Lexus GX550, which is essentially a fancier version of the Prado. It has the same twin-turbo V6 petrol engine but it has a less powerful tune.The line-up starts from $118,320, before on-road costs and depending on the trim level there is the availability of seven seats, though it’s a smaller car than the LC300.If this is still too much money, the Denza B8 may be a good alternative. It starts from $93,195, before on-road costs, offers three rows of seating and has a 3500kg braked towing capacity.The B8 is also a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and has a larger 36.8kWh battery pack which offers up to 115km of electric range, according to NEDC testing.

Your next Toyota is about to get more expensive, that's the word from the brand’s top accountant.Toyota released its quarterly financial report, which detailed it was expecting material costs for building its vehicles to jump 1.3 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).That’s bad news for anyone considering a Toyota, as the extra cost to build the cars will be passed on to consumers, according to the brand’s top accountant Akanori Azuma.“The impact of higher material costs, including measures to strengthen our supplier base, is approximately 1.3 trillion yen. We intend to recover roughly half of that through price revisions,” said Azuma.The good news is buyers won’t be hit all at once, with the brand intending to space out the price jumps into next year.“We do not intend to pass these costs on to customers all at once. Rather, we will continue to carefully consider both the timing and the level of price revisions.“Since the effects of price revisions also carry over into the following year, we will closely monitor their effectiveness and respond accordingly,” he said.Toyota plans to make more than 10 million vehicles this financial year, which means that 50 per cent of that cost spread over those vehicles equals about $600 per car.Toyota has been under fire for steep price rises for its new-generation RAV4 Hybrid around the world. In Australia price rises varied, with the base GX version now $3830 more expensive and the Cruiser grade almost $6000 dearer.  Toyota South Africa Motors Senior Public Relations Manager Riaan Esterhuysen said China is the problem."We intentionally moved it into a more premium space. It occupies or plays in the higher part of the segment now, and that is intentional," he told BizCommunity."We can't compete with the emerging Chinese brands directly on an entry-level price point. They have changed that market. They have shaped the market or changed the shape of the market by driving customers down to a lower and mid-tier of the segment or taking used car buyers and upselling them."The new RAV4 was the best selling car in Australia in the past month, with 5564 finding a new home.Those numbers aren’t expected to drop anytime soon with the company holding a heavy order book.Supply is the biggest thing holding back the RAV4 and the rest of Toyota’s range from hitting astronomical numbers.Most models have a standard three month wait list, with more popular vehicles stretching out further.Toyota Australia has said it has managed to secure about an extra 20,000 vehicles for this calendar year, with most of that number being RAV4, HiLux and bZ4X vehicles.That increased stock is expected closer to the year's end, so expect an even stronger sales number at the book end of 2026.

Toyota is working on a new strategy to cut down wait times for buyers. The brand introducing a new lithium-ion battery to expand production capacity for its cars, according to AutoNews. These batteries will cut costs by hundreds of dollars per vehicle and improve overall performance in a shift away from nickel-metal hydride unitsThe Japanese giant is targeting a surge in hybrid car sales over the next two years.It wants to convert battery capacity for 600,000 of its Japanese-built vehicles to the next-generation battery from 2027.There is no official news on the performance specifications for the new battery, but it will be more efficient.It could be a variant of Toyota's 2023 concept that offered more than 800km of driving range.A more efficient battery manufacturing process could accelerate production significantly and shift cars to buyers faster.Wait times on Toyota vehicles have been an ongoing talking point in Australia, especially for popular models the RAV4 SUV and Camry sedan hybrids.The brand appears to still be picking up the pieces from its ravaged supply chains during the COVID-19 lockdowns.  Its much-anticipated new-generation RAV4 was subject to significant delays of almost a year in part due slow production progress.Toyota sales slid substantially in the first half of 2026, with the carmaker desperate to get its hands on new RAV4 to turn it around. Units have finally started to ship in significant numbers for Toyota, and the RAV4 took its place as the best-selling car in Australia for July. A more efficient production process would help the brand to maintain its hold of the Australian market.Cheaper batteries could also mean lower price tags for buyers, after Toyota hiked the price of the new RAV4 this year.Toyota is facing increasingly tough competition from Chinese automakers like BYD and Chery that have huge production capacity and are already shifting plenty of units Down Under. Toyota is now planning to source batteries for up to 200,000 cars from external suppliers, including Chinese behemoth CATL. The carmaker's battery plans don’t stop there, with another new lithium-ion battery due in 2028 boasting 1000km of range and a 10 per cent cost reduction. 

A car with 1,000,000km on the clock has just gone up for sale in Australia.The 2009 Toyota LandCruiser 200-series with 999,999km on the odometer has been listed for auction.It is one of very few cars to achieve the 1,000,000km mark, and one of even fewer to be listed for a public auction. West Victorian stock agent Gary Driscoll bought the car from new in April 2010, according to the ABC.It is the range-topping Sahara grade of the LandCruiser. The LandCruiser has travelled an average of 180km a day from property to property on rural backroads throughout its life.Driscoll said he hoped his LandCruiser would fetch more than $30,000.The auction started today and will run for two weeks, but it has already exceeded the $30,000 mark. Toyota’s Horsham dealership said the car has been serviced nearly 100 times, but it retains the same factory 4.5-litre twin-turbo V8 diesel engine and automatic transmission. A starter motor replacement at 973,000km was the most noticeable big ticket service item. There are 300m left before the car ticks over the 1,000,000km mark, but it is unclear what will happen when the car reaches its seventh digit, with it such a rare feat for a car. "I'm not sure that Toyota even know because I don't think there's been another 200 series that has done it,” Driscoll told the ABC. "So whether it goes back to all zeros … Toyota have got the feeling that it might just stay on all the nines, but we won't know until someone gets in it and goes for a drive."Toyota Australia has been contacted for comment to learn more.Driscoll has left the privilege of finding out what will happen to the winner of the auction.