Toyota DPF owners face a 26 August deadline as three engine cases continue

Owners of Toyota HiLux, Prado and Fortuner diesels covered by the DPF class action have until 4pm on 26 August 2026 to register if they want to receive money from any settlement, with the parties now in confidential settlement talks. Three other engine matters, a Ford V6 recall and class actions against Hyundai and Kia, are moving at the same time.

What changed

Toyota: a settlement window, then an October hearing

The liability questions in the Toyota DPF class action are finished. In April 2022 the Federal Court found that HiLux, Prado and Fortuner vehicles with the 1GD-FTV or 2GD-FTV diesel, acquired between 1 October 2015 and 23 April 2020, were not of acceptable quality because of a defective diesel particulate filter system, and that Toyota had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in marketing them. The class covers 264,170 vehicles. On 6 November 2024 the High Court dismissed Toyota's appeal, leaving those findings binding, and sent the case back for damages to be reassessed on the basis that an effective repair existed by the time of trial.

What is new is the endgame. The applicants' July 2026 update says the parties are in confidential settlement discussions and will attend a mediation. Group members who want to receive money from any settlement must register by 4pm on 26 August 2026. If no settlement is reached, a two-week hearing to calculate damages begins on 19 October 2026.

Two rulings matter directly to owners. The High Court found that selling a covered vehicle ends any entitlement to reduction-in-value damages under section 272(1)(a) of the Australian Consumer Law, though other loss types, such as excess GST, stamp duty, financing charges and lost income, can survive a sale. And the applicants caution that owners who take up Toyota's invitation to have the DPF repaired should expect Toyota to argue the repair extinguishes that same reduction-in-value claim.

Ford: 13,490 Ranger and Everest V6 diesels recalled

Recall REC-006341, published 30 April 2025, covers 13,490 Ford Ranger and Everest vehicles built between 2022 and 2025 with the 3.0-litre Lion turbo-diesel V6. The notice says that due to a manufacturing defect "the left-hand engine camshaft sprocket may fracture", which can stall the engine and cause "a sudden loss of motive power whilst driving". Owners are being contacted in writing, and the repair is carried out free of charge at an authorised Ford dealer.

Hyundai and Kia: the petrol-engine class actions continue

Separate class actions against Hyundai and Kia were filed in the Federal Court on 15 February 2023 and are being case managed together. They allege defects in four-cylinder petrol engines, identified by the applicants as the Theta II, Gamma II and Nu families, in vehicles sold in Australia since 2011. Both matters remain at the pleadings and discovery stage: the most recent Hyundai update records an application to expand the class being argued on 29 April 2026, with a revised claim to follow, and the Kia proceeding is tracking the same timetable.

These are allegations, not findings. Both companies are defending the claims, and none of them has been tested at a trial. Registration is open for owners of affected vehicles on the two class action sites.

The thread that connects them

The four matters differ legally, but the engineering question underneath is shared: emissions hardware designed around a certification duty cycle, then used in Australian heat, dust and towing. The referee whose report the Federal Court adopted in the Toyota matter found the DPF system "was not designed to work effectively during normal use of the vehicles in the Australian market", which is the finding the case turned on.

What it means if you're buying or selling

If you own one of these vehicles, check the VIN free at vehiclerecalls.gov.au and, for the Toyota action, decide about registration before 26 August. A recall repair is free, but it only happens if someone books it.

If you are buying, remember that a recall or a class action attaches to the vehicle, not the owner: a used Ranger, HiLux or Tucson can arrive with an open recall or a live claim. A VIN search takes a minute and sits naturally beside a pre-purchase inspection. Our guide to DPFs and short trips walks through what the court record and manufacturers' own documents say about these engines.

Related

• 33 vehicle recalls published in July, and how to check a used car
• Buying a used car on the evidence, not the folklore
• Used car inspection checklist