Toyota LandCruiser, Prado security upgrade locked in, timing for HiLux unconfirmed

Toyota Australia has confirmed the LandCruiser Prado and LandCruiser 300 Series will be offered with a second vehicle immobiliser as a genuine accessory from August, following record levels of Toyota vehicle thefts.

The additional immobiliser follows security upgrades introduced in Japan in March, as well as anti-theft measures rolled out in Australia in January 2026. Toyota is yet to announce local pricing for the accessory.

Toyota previously announced the mid-year updates for the LandCruiser Prado, LandCruiser 300 Series as well as the HiLux – the latter not part of the latest confirmation – with sales and marketing boss John Pappas revealing the news to CarExpert in April.

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“We have said we have added protective measures across our range over time, and then we further enhanced security measures on the LandCruiser [300], the HiLux and the [LandCruiser] Prado, and we’re adding an additional immobiliser in the middle of this year," Mr Pappas said.

“The thefts are not a Toyota issue only, it's a total industry-wide issue that involves OEMs, it involves government, it involves industry bodies, police – it's a total ecosystem of everybody involved.”

Toyota didn't detail the previous security measures, saying it didn't want to provide information that could assist potential thieves. It instead referred to them as 'advanced safety measures'.

The upgrades apply only to newly purchased vehicles, with no over-the-air updates available for existing owners. Toyota has also added a physical steering-wheel lock to its range of genuine accessories as an additional theft deterrent.

Car-theft rings targeting Toyota vehicles have been thwarted by authorities in both Victoria and Queensland, with police saying thieves used tools acquired online to steal the vehicles.

Victoria Police said in March 2026 key-cloning technology was being used to steal one in three vehicles, with the LandCruiser, HiLux, RAV4 and Corolla among the most frequently targeted.

“Our intelligence estimates as many as 30 cars are being stolen using key cloning technology in Victoria every day,” deputy commissioner of regional operations Bob Hill said in a media statement.

Advanced theft rings have also been using electronic devices to access vehicles through the OBD (on-board diagnostics) port. This allows thieves to effectively take over the vehicle, including unlocking the doors and starting the engine.

The method can also disable the vehicle's GPS tracking capability, including Toyota's connected tracking service.

Victoria Police has recommended fitting an OBD-port blocking device to prevent thieves plugging cloning tools into vehicles as one of a number of measures to reduce car theft.

Approximately 32,000 vehicles were stolen in Victoria in 2025, the highest annual total since 2001 and an increase on already record theft rates in the state.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said Victoria's $243 million in insurance claims for stolen vehicles was greater than the combined total of every other Australian state and territory.

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