Ford Everest vs Mitsubishi Pajero vs Toyota Prado 2026 Bench Test

We don't know everything about the Mitsubishi Pajero, but we do know how much it costs and it's competitive.

The range starts at $68,490 plus on-road costs (+ORCs) for the five-seat Pajero GLS, but for the purposes of this comparison we're using the mid-spec Exceed as buyers tend to want a few trinkets.

This will cost $79,990 (+ORCs), which lines up perfectly with the Ford Everest Tremor and the Toyota Prado GXL, though the latter sits closer to the bottom of its respective range.

It's worth mentioning that the cheapest Prado is the $73,200 GX, whereas you can get behind the wheel of an Everest from just $58,990 (both +ORCs).

We've used Triton figures for the cost of premium paint and five years of servicing so they should be in the ballpark, but the Pajero is a more expensive vehicle so may cost more.

Regardless, when it comes to servicing the Ford is cheap and the Toyota is very expensive, partly because it needs attention twice as often.

Mitsubishi's 10-year/200,000km warranty will apply, but only if you service with an official dealer, otherwise it reverts to five years/100,000km.

*Based on Triton figures

You can get an idea of how each vehicle stacks up in terms of features in the table below, but suffice to say that while all are well-equipped, the Pajero might just have the edge.

The Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed comes with heated rear seats, proper leather upholstery, more speakers for its stereo, a cooler box and the biggest screens, if that's your thing.

It's also worth mentioning that the Tremor's price tag can be swollen by adding the $2500 Towing Pack, which adds a tow bar, integrated brake controller, blind-spot monitoring with trailer cover and pro trailer back-up assist.

The Rough Road Pack adds a rough terrain bar and under vehicle armour and Toyota also offers a wide range of official accessories that can be fitted before delivery and Mitsubishi will follow suit.

Both the Ford Everest and Toyota Prado wear five-star ANCAP safety ratings, though as the newer car the Prado has a 2024 stamp to the Everest's 2022.

The Mitsubishi has not yet been tested and it will be done under the stricter new 2026 protocols, but we would be amazed if it has not been engineered to achieve the highest score.

It has every possible airbag, including curtain coverage across all three rows and a front-centre airbag, as well as a massive list of active safety gear. Hopefully the driver monitoring system has been calibrated to be less sensitive than in the Triton.

All three use diesel engines powering all four wheels through automatic gearboxes, though the details differ.

The Mitsubishi uses a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and an eight-speed gearbox, while the Toyota has a larger 2.8-litre engine.

While the Pajero is the least powerful, it's also 150kg lighter than the Prado. With a 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel under the bonnet, the Ford is easily the most powerful and has a 10-speed auto cog-swapper to boot.

Full-time all-wheel drive is common across the board along with 2H, 4H and 4L and locking rear differentials for the rough stuff, along with a plethora of drive modes to adjust the powertrain to certain terrain such as rock, mud or sand.

Fuel economy figures for the Mitsubishi Pajero are yet to be confirmed, but given the Triton is one of the more efficient dual-cabs on the market, we'd expect it to be closer to the Prado, albeit without the same touring range thanks to the smaller fuel capacity.

The Tremor is quite thirsty, but this is partially due to its off-road focus, as the Platinum and Sport V6 models claim 8.5L/100km. Nevertheless, a bigger engine means a greater thirst.

There's very little in it in terms of overall size and all three accommodate three rows of seats.

The Everest is very well packaged with a flat floor, the third row of seats stowed and a second row that can slide foreward and aft to help accommodate those in the rear.

The Pajero doesn’t have a completely flat floor when all the seats are folded but it has the same seating provisions as the Everest. That means sliding second row seats and third row seats that fold flush into the floor. When the middle or second row seats are stowed the floor is not quite flat.

The Pajero’s quoted luggage space is well below that of the Everest and Prado, but given their respective dimensions it must be a figure to the top of the second row of seats, whereas the Ford and Toyota quote to the roofline.

Then there's the Prado. Competitive on paper, its packaging is a mess. A static second row heavily restricts space in the third row and the 48-volt battery that lives under the boot floor not only raises the floor but prevents the seats from folding away.

It looks messy and eats into available luggage space, to the point that it's difficult to know how it quotes such a competitive figure for cargo room.

The five-seat GXL is much more practical and while the boot floor is still high, removing those seats makes for a much more useable boot.

*mirrors folded

All these vehicles will be popular with those needing trailers, horses and, in particular, caravans, so these figures are tremendously important.

The Everest is heavy, but Ford does adjust the Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and Gross Combined Mass (GCM) for each variant so the Tremor can still accommodate up to 760kg.

Mitsubishi has given the Pajero an impressive payload of 832kg and the GCM is equally generous.

The Toyota is the heaviest vehicle with the lowest GVM so while its GCM is an excellent 6600kg, care must be taken not to exceed the vehicle weight when loaded up for a touring holiday.

We'll wait until we drive them all back-to-back to deliver a verdict on their respective off-road prowess, but here's how the numbers stack up. The Everest Tremor benefits from being focused on the rough stuff with its lifted suspension, but the Pajero certainly looks like it'll make a decent fist of things.

Aussies love the Ford Everest and they love the Toyota Prado, so will they love the new Mitsubishi Pajero?

Judging by the level of pre-launch interest they will and with good reason if its on-paper specifications are anything to go by.

Mitsubishi knows it needs to get this one right and the pricing, the specification, the dimensions and the technology all seem to be right on the money. The only remaining question is how it drives and we can't wait to find out.

2026 Ford Everest Tremor at a glance:
Price: $79,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel
Output: 184kW/600Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.3L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 244g/km (ADR combined)
Safety rating: Five stars (ANCAP 2022)

2026 Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed at a glance:
Price: $79,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: December 2026
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel
Output: 150kW/480Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: TBC

2026 Toyota Prado GXL at a glance:
Price: $80,665 plus on-road costs
Available: Now
Engine: 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel
Output: 150kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.6L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 200g/km
Safety rating: Five stars (ANCAP 2024)

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