Toyota agreed to pay $750M over defective HiLux and Prado diesel filters

Toyota Australia agreed to a $750 million settlement covering two class actions over defective diesel particulate filters (DPFs) fitted to 264,170 HiLux utes and Prado and Fortuner SUVs acquired in Australia between October 1, 2015 and April 23, 2020, including some vehicles later sold on. The company apologized 'for any inconvenience or discomfort experienced by our customers' and pointed to a free-of-charge remedy available since 2020. The deal remains subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia.

The original Williams class action began in 2019; a second, the Taylor action launched in July 2025, covers qualifying owners who bought affected vehicles privately between April 24, 2020 and July 31, 2025. The Federal Court had already found the affected vehicles were not of acceptable quality because their DPF systems were defective, and that Toyota engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct when marketing and selling them. The defect could clog the filters, producing excessive foul-smelling white smoke, increased fuel consumption and repeated unscheduled inspections, servicing and repairs.

Toyota introduced DPFs to the diesel HiLux with the eighth-generation ute in October 2015, fitted the 2.4-litre 2GD-FTV and 2.8-litre 1GD-FTV turbo-diesel engines (the Prado and Fortuner shared the 2.8-litre family), added a manual DPF regeneration switch as standard from June 2018, and only developed an effective repair — updated exhaust hardware and software — in May 2020. The proposed payout is nearly double Toyota Australia's record $380 million after-tax profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2026.

A proposed $750 million settlement — nearly double Toyota Australia's record $380 million after-tax profit for FY2026 — still subject to Federal Court approval.

The DPF systems fitted from October 2015 were found by the Federal Court to be defective, making the vehicles not of acceptable quality.

The court also found Toyota's marketing and sale of the vehicles involved misleading or deceptive conduct.

Owners bore the symptoms for years: clogged filters caused foul white smoke, higher fuel use and repeated workshop visits before an effective repair arrived in May 2020.

Interim countermeasures — including a manual regeneration switch made standard from June 2018 — did not resolve the problem for the affected fleet.

A defect that survives on 'free remedies available since 2020' instead of a fix at launch compounds into the largest class settlement in the market, at twice a record year's profit.

The settlement must be approved by the Federal Court of Australia before payments begin; affected participants in both the Williams and Taylor classes are being directed to their legal representatives. Toyota Australia says it remains committed to assisting impacted customers through the free remedy program it has run since 2020, and apologized to affected HiLux, Prado and Fortuner owners in its statement to CarExpert.