IanB2

FJ Cruiser was also sold in Japan, and the rear door swings open the opposite direction, so I don't agree it's a legal requirement for any one market that the door needs to swing one way or the other. It's a manufacturing cost issue, and it's really too bad, as the rear hatch design is one of the big dropped ***** on both gens of GX IMO.

bd5400

Yea, I don't think its a legal issue. The FJ was designed for the North American market so the door was designed with that in mind. It's just cost savings.

ps23

These swingout doors are still in use with other "off-roader" SUV. The Jeep Wrangler has it, G-Wagen, Land Rover Defender to name a few. I agree that they just kept the same door as the other markets to save cost.

CFAI

Tailgate>Swing Gate> Liftgate (IMO)

Piney1

My GX is the 2013 that I got with 120 on it and had been dealer maintained since new. I had my dealer do the 120k service with all the fluid changes - not cheap but worth it from the preventative maintenance perspective. Have 128 on it now and it still drives as nice as my wife’s 2017 Premium/Luxury with less than a third the miles.

Last weekend, my sister was in town for a graduation. She had not seen my 2013 GX or been in one before. She loved it so much that she bought a beautiful blue 2017 yesterday! They last forever when properly maintained and are safe as heck.

For the record, I absolutely love the side opening door. I’m tall and have had more than one bump from hatches over the years. While they are not a lot of nook storage areas, having the third row with the adjustable second row gives it a lot of practicality if you ever have a lot of kids or people to move.

GX4602011

I wrote that "It could be due to a law in Japan" not that it is law. I too would like to know why the actual reason why that rear swing door swings opens from the left on Japanese SUVs, I suspect it has something to due with driving on the left though. Regarding the FJ Cruiser it was designed primarily for the US market according to Wikipedia. If, like the Prado 150, the FJ Cruiser was initially designed for the Japanese market then the door may have swung the same way as the Prado.

The point of my post was that the GX was not designed and made just for the US customers, it's a Prado 150 made for the world market first and foremost and the GX version for US market is a fraction. Imagine Australian buyers of the RX or 4Runners demanding that Lexus installs a swing door so they can mount a spare on the rear door. Toyota would reply, "Why not just buy a Prado?"