Toyota has decided to make life harder for car thieves — and it looks serious about it. For the LandCruiser 300 and LandCruiser Prado, the brand is preparing an additional factory immobiliser. In Australia it goes on sale in August, available both to buyers of new cars at dealerships and to owners of SUVs already on the road.
But there’s a catch plenty of people won’t like. The upgrade isn’t free. How much exactly? Toyota is staying quiet. According to Toyota Australia’s vice president of sales and marketing, John Pappas, details will come closer to launch. The HiLux won’t get it at first, and timing for other models is still being worked out.
The reason for the rush is simple. The LandCruiser 300 and Prado are among the most-stolen vehicles in the state of Victoria. And they aren’t being taken with a crowbar. Police have said roughly 40% of vehicles stolen in the region are cracked open using key cloning and OBD devices originally designed for locksmiths and mechanics. The tool plugs into the diagnostic port — and starts the engine without a single original key.
Toyota already tightened security on the LandCruiser 300, Prado and HiLux back in 2025, but the more compact models were left out of that round. For the RAV4, Camry and Corolla — all frequent entries in Victoria’s theft reports — retrofitting the earlier fixes is impossible, though the company is working on a separate solution with an additional immobiliser.
And here’s the telling part. Alongside all this, Toyota sells an official steering-wheel lock for 200 Australian dollars — around $139 at current rates. It’s not a replacement for the electronics, but a quiet admission of the obvious: even on modern SUVs, physical security is back in the game.
