Ford Everest

We get behind the wheel of Australia's two most popular four-wheel drives that have been refreshed for 2026.

The Ford Everest Trend is a comfortable, spacious, and well-equipped vehicle for daily driving on sealed roads and is capable off the beaten track for off-roading, camping, and towing.

It's the tough guy of the Ford Everest range, dialling in some additional off-road focus for an otherwise excellent seven-seat family SUV.

The Toyota Prado and the Ford Everest engage in a high-stakes battle to rule the off-road SUV kingdom. Which one reigns supreme?

Leaky V6 diesel engines in Ranger utes and Everest SUVs finally have what Ford believes to be a permanent fix.

Big families need big cars, and the market for family transport with seven or more seats is broader than ever.

Recalls were issued for a total of 38 different cars in the month of July, including some of Australia's best-selling brands.

Up to $6000 can be saved from the drive-away price of popular Ford Ranger and Everest models.

A lot of things have changed in the past two decades, but the new car market is like night and day. We run through what has changed.

While Australia is a testing ground for numerous brands, it's this hidden car feature that has locals buzzing.

The Ford Everest won the Best Off-Road SUV under $80K in this year's Drive Car of the Year awards

Finding the right fuel consumption for a new car is complicated. To help, here's what Drive's journalists advise.

At 6'5" selecting a car is not about what you want, but what you can fit your legs into. After trying 11 SUV there was only a handful that had any level of comfort. Certainly not the Mazda CX-9 with its ridiculously sized central dash column (undriveable) and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport with no driver legroom (undriveable). With a choice in the end between the Toyota Kluger and the Ford Everest, it was a close race, but the Ford Everest won out. The higher drive position, additional safety features and technology combined with the leg room, makes for a very comfortable vehicle, even when used predominantly around the city. My only complaint is the positioning of the air-conditioning vents for the driver, as they point straight at the steering-wheel so you get very cold hands, and need to lean to either side to get some air directly on your face when it is warm. Something definitely for Ford to look at for a future model, although you can see it is to fit in the 8" touch screen. One other observation after a 3,000km road trip, was that if you want to run it through the carwash to get the bugs off, even at 6'5" it was a mission to unscrew the aerial even at full stretch. Anyone shorter would have needed a ladder. Ford should move to a fixed aerial on future models. I would highly recommend this vehicle, particularly if you are taller. Absolutely love it an have no regrets over the choice. I do laugh at the cars winning awards that are undriveable if you are taller.

I found this website really useful in choosing my new Everest Trend so I thought I should contribute with a review but with only 1000 km & one month's driving, it is more about why I bought it and how it is going rather than a full review. For me it was an agonising choice between the Everest Trend and the Fortuner Crusade (we didn't particularly like the Prado, it's a heavy drive and its boot can't open in our carport). I am a big fan of Toyotas having owned 3 in the last 20 years. Amongst other things the Everest won on price ($60k with satnav & towbar driveaway vs $70k for the Crusade) What also sold me is what I'm loving about it - the in-car tech is great - the lane keeping, adaptive cruise control & collision warning work really well and I like the Synch 2 system - though I'm still coming to terms with the voice activation. Front & rear parking sensors get used a lot. There so much tech in it we spent quite a few hours reading the manual - but I love that stuff. While it's definitely a diesel, it seems a little more refined and quieter than the Toyota and we liked the interior and exterior design. Surprisingly we use the powered tailgate a lot which we thought we'd find annoying. The sound system (inc DAB!) is great though setting up the presets took some effort. Nav works well enough and the in car phone integration is good as is the number of usb/power options. We needed the 7 seats for the occasional extra kid but did not like the spare seats hanging from the side limiting bootspace and visibility in the Fortuner - another major flaw for us. So how's it going - well,I'm still running it in, fuel use is 10,6 l/100km so far including some serious offroading in the first week which went very well despite covering my lovely new car with dust! I'm still working out what suits me in the terrain management selection but it certainly is capable and comfortable in rough conditions. I've enjoyed the freeway driving - smooth, quiet. It's fine around town and in heavy traffic. I love the auto high beam option too - saves arguments with my wife who is an aggressive user of high beam :) Haven't had to use the spare seats yet. I love that this car was designed in Melbourne and so it has a least a little local content- so if you are reading this guys - great effort. I never thought I'd buy a car that wasn't a white Toyota and so far I'm very pleased with it.