In the current range of Toyota’s subcompact seven-seater lineup, the Toyota Rush is the oldest model in the group. The Avanza received a comprehensive redesign in late 2021, while the Veloz has moved upmarket. That leaves the Rush as the only model with rear-wheel drive.
Introduced worldwide in 2017, it landed in the Philippines in 2018 and has not received much updates since. But this year, we can expect the Rush to be facelifted as its Daihatsu equivalent, the Terios, received a minor model change in Indonesia. Given that the Terios and the Rush share almost every exterior and interior part, there’s a good chance that the updates you see on the Daihatsu will also be applied for the Toyota.
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So, what’s new for 2023? For starters, the front end gets a more aggressive and SUV-like appearance. A new, slimmer grille has been added to allow for a larger center air intake. The new Terios also gets more pronounced bumper corners with new housings for its foglights. Its headlights now feature a ‘smoked’ look, and it gets a new 17-inch alloy wheel design. As for the rear, the bumper gets thicker cladding with more reflectors and chrome elements.
Updates to the interior are largely relegated to new trims and tech updates. Leather combination seats are now available, and there are now soft pads on dashboard and door panels. Also new to the Terios/Rush is a wireless charger and a surround-view monitor. The instrument cluster gets a small update too, namely the addition of a more comprehensive multi-information display.
The familiar 1.5-liter engine from the current Rush/Terios has been carried over for the facelifted version. It also seems that the four-speed automatic transmission has been retained in this model update. That said, the model sold in Indonesia features stop-start technology to help it save a bit of fuel in traffic.
