Hi All,
Introducing BIFU, one of the first 5-seater GLXs delivered in Australia.
There's been plenty of crap-talking the Prado (as it's known here) for the poor 7-seater arrangement in Australia. We have the 2.8ltr diesel with 48V mild-hybrid. The battery sits in the same tall housing as the US-delivered petrol-hybrid with its much bigger battery, The knock-on effect is the 3rd row (which is standard across most of the range) sits on top of this housing and takes up a load of room even when folded. I didn't want or need this and would have had to buy the bottom of the range (GX) or near top of the range (Altitude, with up to 12-month wait) for a 2-row version. Turns out that the dealer let me know the pricing had just been released for a 2-row GLX which has niceties like leather steering wheel and lots of other stuff the base GX doesn't get. What's more they coincidentally had allocation being built on my birthday (he didn't know this).
Anyway it was built early in the end, mid-April, and I had my wife take delivery on Friday 23rd May as I was out of town. 5 weeks from Hamura to Melbourne final-delivery is pretty-good (I tracked the ship and filmed it come in from my balcony). We've since put over 400km/300mi on the weekend. It's Midnight Alloy (which I think is same as Underground elsewhere) and is stock standard but for towbar and bonnet protector.
Here's some pics at the shops, with its neighbors in our inner-city pad, and in the front-yard of our coastal home. Absolutely loving it.
Introducing BIFU, one of the first 5-seater GLXs delivered in Australia.
There's been plenty of crap-talking the Prado (as it's known here) for the poor 7-seater arrangement in Australia. We have the 2.8ltr diesel with 48V mild-hybrid. The battery sits in the same tall housing as the US-delivered petrol-hybrid with its much bigger battery, The knock-on effect is the 3rd row (which is standard across most of the range) sits on top of this housing and takes up a load of room even when folded. I didn't want or need this and would have had to buy the bottom of the range (GX) or near top of the range (Altitude, with up to 12-month wait) for a 2-row version. Turns out that the dealer let me know the pricing had just been released for a 2-row GLX which has niceties like leather steering wheel and lots of other stuff the base GX doesn't get. What's more they coincidentally had allocation being built on my birthday (he didn't know this).
Anyway it was built early in the end, mid-April, and I had my wife take delivery on Friday 23rd May as I was out of town. 5 weeks from Hamura to Melbourne final-delivery is pretty-good (I tracked the ship and filmed it come in from my balcony). We've since put over 400km/300mi on the weekend. It's Midnight Alloy (which I think is same as Underground elsewhere) and is stock standard but for towbar and bonnet protector.
Here's some pics at the shops, with its neighbors in our inner-city pad, and in the front-yard of our coastal home. Absolutely loving it.
