HiAce vs Staria Load vs Deliver 9, which van fits your trade
Two of these three vans carry ANCAP's top commercial grading, so the HiAce vs Staria Load decision comes down to what you carry and who sits in the back.
Jack SullivanKey Takeaways
- The Toyota HiAce holds ANCAP's Platinum van grading with a 90 per cent score, issued in 2025.
- ANCAP lifted the LDV Deliver 9 from Bronze at 27 per cent to Gold at 74 per cent.
- The Staria Load has no top tether anchorages, so it cannot carry child restraints.
- The Deliver 9 holds up to 12.3 cubic metres and carries a seven-year, 200,000km warranty.
- Gradings apply to set build dates and variants, so check the one you are quoting.
Three vans fill most Australian work fleets, and the HiAce vs Staria Load vs Deliver 9 choice usually starts with price. Start with the safety grading instead. ANCAP scores the current Toyota HiAce at 90 per cent and the LDV Deliver 9 at 74 per cent, and what sits behind those numbers tells you which trade each van is built for.
- Which of these vans is the safest?
- What does an ANCAP commercial van grading actually mean?
- Which van gives you the most load space for the money?
- Which van suits which trade?
- What should you check before you sign the order?
- So which van should you buy?
Which of these vans is the safest?
On ANCAP’s own numbers the updated Toyota HiAce is the safest of the three, with a Platinum commercial van grading and an overall collision-avoidance score of 90 per cent, according to ANCAP’s HiAce assessment. That grading was issued in 2025 and applies to vans built from June 2025 and on sale from August 2025, so an older HiAce sitting in a dealer’s yard is not covered by it.
The Hyundai Staria Load got there first. In ANCAP’s February 2022 commercial van comparison, the Staria Load was graded Platinum with a score of 90 per cent, the first van in the country to reach that level. It also holds a five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing conducted in 2021.
The Deliver 9 has moved further than either of them. It was graded Bronze with a score of just 27 per cent in that same 2022 comparison, per ANCAP’s media release, then was upgraded to Gold at 74 per cent in 2024. The Deliver 9’s 74 per cent still sits 16 percentage points behind the other two, but it is no longer the outlier it was.
The table below sets out each result, its grading and the year it was assessed, drawn from the ANCAP ratings for each van.
| Van | ANCAP commercial van grading | Grading score | Year assessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota HiAce | Platinum | 90% | 2025 |
| Hyundai Staria Load | Platinum | 90% | 2022 |
| LDV Deliver 9 | Gold | 74% | 2024 |
What does an ANCAP commercial van grading actually mean?
A commercial van grading is ANCAP’s separate ranking of the crash-avoidance technology a van carries, running from Platinum down through Gold, Silver and Bronze to Not Recommended. It is not the same thing as a star rating, which comes from physical crash testing. A van can hold both, one, or neither.
The 2022 analysis covered 16 vans, of which five achieved Silver, four Bronze and three were rated Not Recommended because they lacked enough active safety equipment, ANCAP reported at the time. For a fleet buyer, that is the point of the grading. It exists because vans spend far more time on the road than the average family car.
Vans are a workplace. Their increased on-road exposure and frequent use in built-up urban areas means they interact with a large number of other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
Carla Hoorweg, Chief Executive, ANCAP
The detail behind each grading matters more than the headline score. ANCAP rated the HiAce’s autonomous emergency braking, the system that brakes for you when it detects an imminent crash, as Good in car-to-car, car-to-pedestrian and car-to-cyclist tests, with its lane support and speed assistance also Good and only its occupant status monitoring rated Adequate, per the HiAce assessment. All updated variants get autonomous emergency braking, lane support and advanced speed assistance as standard.
The Deliver 9 splits the difference. Its autonomous emergency braking was also rated Good against cars, pedestrians and cyclists, but ANCAP rated its lane support only Adequate and its speed assistance Marginal, because the system could not read some speed signs. ANCAP does say the MY24-onwards van carries a full set of active safety features as standard.
The Staria Load’s five-star rating breaks down into 85 per cent for adult occupant protection, 65 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 74 per cent for safety assist, according to ANCAP’s 2021 assessment. It comes standard with dual frontal, side chest and side head-protecting curtain airbags plus a centre airbag, along with autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, emergency lane keeping and blind spot monitoring.
Which van gives you the most load space for the money?
The LDV Deliver 9 is the volume play, offering cargo space from 9.6 cubic metres in Mid Wheelbase Mid Roof form up to 12.3 cubic metres as a Long Wheelbase High Roof, according to LDV Automotive Australia. LDV rates it to carry two Australian pallets or three to four European pallets, which is the number that matters if your work arrives on a forklift.
Price sits in the same direction. LDV has advertised the Deliver 9 van range from $47,990 to $49,990 drive-away for ABN holders in a July to September 2026 offer. Offers like that move, and the drive-away figure depends on holding an ABN, so treat it as a starting point rather than a fixed price.
Under the bonnet the Deliver 9 runs a 2.0-litre Euro VI turbo-diesel producing 128kW and 420Nm, paired with an eight-speed ZF automatic, LDV says. The cabin gets a 12.3-inch infotainment display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the van comes with LDV Roadside Assist.
Then there is the warranty, which is where LDV pushes hardest. The Deliver 9 is covered for seven years or 200,000km, whichever comes first, per LDV Automotive Australia. For a courier turning over 40,000km a year, the distance limit runs out first, at about five years.
Load figures for the HiAce and the Staria Load change with roof height, wheelbase and body style, and both makers publish them per variant. Get the number for the exact van on your order form rather than the top figure from the range brochure, because the two are rarely the same vehicle.
Which van suits which trade?
Toyota HiAce
The HiAce suits trades that move people and tools in the same run. Its ANCAP grading covers both the two-seat van and the five-seat crew van, according to ANCAP, so an electrician or a plumber carrying an apprentice keeps the same safety result as the single-seat courier version.
One exclusion catches people out. The grading does not extend to the HiAce Commuter bus or Minibus variants, so a passenger operator cannot lean on the van’s Platinum result. If you are quoting a Commuter, you are quoting a vehicle with a different safety story.
Hyundai Staria Load
The Staria Load suits urban service and courier work, where blind spot monitoring and lane keeping earn their keep in traffic. It was the first van in Australia to reach ANCAP’s Platinum grading, and its standard equipment list includes a centre airbag, which sits between the front occupants in a side impact.
Two limits shape who should buy it. ANCAP notes it is a cargo-carrying van with no top tether anchorages, is not suitable for transporting young children, and was not assessed for child occupant protection. The rating also applies to automatic diesel and hybrid variants only, with manual versions unrated, so a manual is a different purchase in safety terms.
LDV Deliver 9
The Deliver 9 suits high-volume, low-value freight, the work where cubic metres and purchase price decide the job. Removalists, parcel contractors and trades hauling bulky, light material get the most from its 12.3 cubic metre long-wheelbase body and its seven-year warranty, both listed by LDV Automotive Australia.
The trade-off is driver assistance. A Marginal speed assistance result means the van misses some signs, so the driver carries more of the load in variable-limit zones and school areas. If your fleet runs long days in dense suburban traffic, that gap is worth weighing against the price saving.
What should you check before you sign the order?
Check five things, in this order, because a safety grading is tied to a specific build window and a specific body style rather than to a badge.
Step 1: Match the build date to the grading
The HiAce’s Platinum result applies to vans built from June 2025 and on sale from August 2025, and the Deliver 9’s Gold result applies to diesel variants built from January 2024 and on sale from August 2024, ANCAP says. Ask for the build plate date, not the model year.
Step 2: Check your exact variant is covered
Gradings exclude some body styles and transmissions. The HiAce Commuter and Minibus fall outside the van result, and manual Staria Load variants are unrated. Read the coverage note on the ANCAP page for the van you are buying.
Step 3: Work out who sits in the back
If a child restraint ever needs to go in the vehicle, the Staria Load rules itself out because it has no top tether anchorages. If you carry a crew, the HiAce crew van keeps five seats inside the graded range.
Step 4: Price the warranty over your keep period
The Deliver 9’s cover runs to seven years or 200,000km, whichever comes first, per LDV. Divide your annual distance into that limit before you count the years, because heavy users hit the kilometres well before the calendar.
Step 5: Get the price in writing as drive-away
An unqualified price tells you nothing. Ask whether the figure is drive-away or before on-road costs, and whether it depends on an ABN, as the advertised Deliver 9 range from $47,990 to $49,990 does, according to LDV Automotive Australia.
So which van should you buy?
If you carry a crew and want the strongest current driver assistance result, buy the HiAce. If you run city routes solo or with one offsider, the Staria Load matches it on grading and adds blind spot monitoring as standard. If the job is measured in pallets and the budget is tight, the Deliver 9 gives you the most space and the longest warranty for the money, and you accept a weaker speed assistance system in exchange.
Toyota HiAce, best for trades carrying an apprentice plus tools who want the highest ANCAP van grading currently on offer.
Toyota HiAce, not for passenger operators, because the Commuter and Minibus variants sit outside that grading.
Hyundai Staria Load, best for urban couriers and mobile service businesses running automatic diesel or hybrid variants.
Hyundai Staria Load, not for anyone who needs to fit a child restraint, since there are no top tether anchorages.
LDV Deliver 9, best for bulky, light freight where cargo volume and purchase price decide the job.
LDV Deliver 9, not for operators who want the driver watched over as closely, given its Marginal speed sign recognition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Staria Load's ANCAP rating cover the manual version?
No. ANCAP says the five-star rating applies to automatic transmission diesel and hybrid variants only. Manual transmission variants are unrated, so a manual Staria Load carries no ANCAP result of its own.
Can you fit a child seat in a Hyundai Staria Load?
No. ANCAP notes the Staria Load has no top tether anchorages for child restraints and is not suitable for transporting young children. It was not assessed for child occupant protection for that reason.
Does the HiAce Commuter share the HiAce van's ANCAP grading?
No. ANCAP's grading covers the two-seat van and five-seat crew van only. The HiAce Commuter bus and Minibus variants are excluded and are not covered by that result.