Toyota FJ

Sure seems like Toyota has a winner with the new FJ. I am seeing tons of them on the road around the Phoenix area. Seems like they are already outnumbering the Ridgelines I see on the roads (granted, they are not the same vehicle class).

I am starting to see them around chicago too. I think it looks like a blown up Rav-4, not very impressive. Also what is with the ugly blue/white color.. yuck...



Id buy a Jeep over the FJ anyday...

Saw one on the highway the other day. My first visual impression was that it looked brutish.

I owned a '64 Jeep Wagoneer with only two doors. That cured me of the two door idea. All that reaching and crawling into the vehicle to get things.

But not like a Hummer which is a poseur. That rig is laughable to look at, frankly. Especially the dorky snorkle thingy on the hood.

I've only seen one on the road so far.....I like it.
I don't think that the two door concept is very practicle; I have a full size Bronco and it's a hastle for the backseat passengers.
I teased my wife that I would trade our RL for a new FJ, I think I saw a tear in her eye.

Haven't seen any around Central Virginia although we don't have a lot of rugged terrain for an FJ around here. I'm sure Toyota will sell everyone they make- they always do.

I love the two tone look.

Saw one on the highway the other day. My first visual impression was that it looked brutish.

I owned a '64 Jeep Wagoneer with only two doors. That cured me of the two door idea. All that reaching and crawling into the vehicle to get things.

But not like a Hummer which is a poseur. That rig is laughable to look at, frankly. Especially the dorky snorkle thingy on the hood.

They have suicide doors like the Honda Element.

I'm seeing these things everywhere. Serious off-road MP fun vehicle fills a niche.

AH! So that's what that truck was. I saw one on a trailer the other day in Durham and had no idea what it was.

i saw one up close, and it looks pretty cool. small review: the front is comfortable and easy to get in and out. I also saw a small video from Motorweek and the fj cruiser is actually made to go off roading to match jeeps cj7 type vehicle. Now, if you're 6'1" and weight around 230ish.....good luck in getting comfortable in the back seat. I could barely get back there and once i was seated, i was kissing my knees and wonder how i'm going to get my size 13 feet out under the drivers seat without dirtying the seat or the pannels. overall it looks pretty cool.

The inside of the FJ is designed to be hosed down if it gets too dirty from off-roading. I don't think their web forum is going to be filled with water leak threads.

I haven't seen one around NNY yet except on the local dealer lot.

I'd be skeptical that it will be the brute that the FJs' of yesteryear were. If Toyota would go back to that simplicity and toughness then they would have something.

I have seen afew in Arkansas, look pretty neat. I don'nt know how rear visiability would be though. Not be inside one yet. probably going to be a hot seller for Toyota.

I just got one for my son. Paid for half for his 21 st birthdya. Very cool. Black with almost all options. We went out four wheeling today (sorta). Some sand pit stuff and big puddles. The little gauge on the dash showed a 30% grade at one point.

They are all over the place here in Orange county...

Nice looking little toy.

Almost bought one over the ridge. Wasnt going to pay MSRP and no one was going to budge as they didnt have to as they couldnt keep them in stock at the time. Not disappointed though -:) Love the Ridge.

It seems Sparta is a trend town... H3 comes out everyone gets one, Ridgeline was a fast trend luckily, theres is about 10 in town, but now the FJ has become the new trend car. I really don't like it, I cannot stand the look, the fugly 2 door/suicide door concept, and its poor attempt at a retro refit... Other then that, Toyota disgusts me, I hate em, always have, always will. I would never buy a Toy.

throw back to the toyota land cruiser?

i didnt like it at first, but it's growing on me.

I liked it immediately. The old land cruisers were (are) cool. I think this is another one of those cars that people will either like a lot or hate a lot because of the off-beat looks (just like the Element and the RL). I wasn't aware of the FJ when I bought my Ridge back in March, but saw my first one within a week. If I didn't need a pickup, maybe I would have considered an FJ.

I'm in the Boston, MA area for two months and FJ Crusiers are EVERY WHERE I think there the state Vehicle or something. I wouldn't mind taking one on an off road adventure and the dash indicating incline is an AWESOME idea!

~Anthony:D

I researched the FJ Cruiser and had it in mind when I started looking but unfortunately most dealerships didn't have one on the lot when I called. Even though the Sunday newspaper bragged about how many they had, they just happened not to have any. If they did have one on the lot I couldn't test drive it b/c it had already been sold. The dealers said they couldn't keep them on the showroom floor. The funny thing is I don't see them on the road. Where are all of these SOLD FJ's? I am proud to say that I am seeing more and more Ridge's everyday. Saw a nice two tone silver over black paint job the other day, it was sweet.

I definitely see more RLs! :) The FJ Crusiers seems like a knock off Element with it's funky white top. As much as I dislike the Element's patchiness, I must say it looks a gazillion times better than the white top!!!

I saw the black, and like any vehicle in black it looked alright. the bright blue, or yellow....not for me..

I kind of think they look lile a blown up Rav-4 from behind.


Give me a Jeep anyday

I went to check out the FJ and the Tacoma prior to getting the Ridgeline with my brother. The Ridgeline has always been my 1st choice, than the FJ, my brother wanted me to get the Tacoma or FJ. After checking out both cars, I think the FJ looks cool (me being an Element owner previously), But once I got inside...oh boy, there's no ventillation in there what so ever, the back seats were cramped nor could you open the windows, and no sunroof options only made it worst. I'm only 5'6 and I was having a hard time jumping into the backseats. And good luck trying to fold down the back seats. I like the suicide doors, because you have easy acess to the front and backseat withough having to walk around the door for throwing stuff back there...but it sucks when you have passengers, i nearly choked on the seatbelt a couple times with the Element. The Tacoma was cool, but its just a truck, nothing cool or unique about it. We checked out the Ridgeline afterwards and I convinced my brother(not that that mattered) and myself.

Very cool rig but they can get stuck. It had to be towed out.

Of all the colors I have seen on the road, I really like the maroon the best (with the bright blue a close second).

If I was made of money, I would buy one to park next to my RL in the garage.

Very cool rig but they can get stuck. It had to be towed out.


Hey Bliss53, How hard did Mrs. Bliss53 laugh over that one???????

Before I bought the Ridgeline, I also liked the FJ, I really like the new retro look. I told myself that I was going to get it, but when I found out it's availabilty and dealers not going down on the price, I was detered from buying it. Also, for the most part, I had to wait for 5 months! if I wanted one. It also required 'Premium fuel' which didn't attract me afterwards.
I went with the Ridgeline because of it's practicality, fuel consumption, maintenance cost, and most importantly too it's looks. Overall, the Ridgeline is one of those not too little, and not too much in a truck. Oh, and lastly, it only uses Regular Unleaded.

No doubt that Toyota came out with a really good truck the FJ.. IT has many futures and potential for the "medium to hard core off roader".. If I was into more hard core stuff I would buy one...

But for right now I love my Ridge Line... It does what I intend to do with it.:D

FS..

Hey Bliss53, How hard did Mrs. Bliss53 laugh over that one???????

You think she laughed?

Just got a test ride with one of my co-workers in his new FJ. Very cool truck and he had the high end NAV/stereo option installed. Absolutely blows the RL sound system away (why can't Honda make a high end option). No room for passengers in back over 5'6. 4 wd selector stick that does 4 high on the fly, but 4 low is done only low speed, FJ stays in 2 high for normal driving. Road manners were rougher than RL and his stock FJ 18" tires definitely more aggressive tread then RL and you can feel that on the road immediately. Cool compass/incline module on top of dash. Pretty peppy acceleration.

Definitely different market segment than RL for many reasons. Those trying to decide between 2 vehicles need to have a talk with themselves and decide what they really want in a vehicle.

It also required 'Premium fuel' which didn't attract me afterwards.


As much as I like the looks, and the accompanying quality. The "Premium Fuel" requirement would drive me away.

Satisfied with my Regular Fuel Ridgeline.......:D

They are nice and I checked them out and while they are cool I wanted something I could seat 5 adults in comfortably! Nice off raod vehicle and saw one with bumper bruise recently and while built with off road in mond it is still a new vehicle so I doubt most and roughing them up like that. As far as the systems go I wish you could just buy them without and save the cost of the factory systems as I findmyself upgrading anyway. I thought the Ridge has the best NAV out though as it has a larger color screen

Test drove the FJ before the Ridge. Fell in love with it and almost purchased it but: 1) Felt like an offroad vehicle and I would tire of the ride in my daily commute. 2) PRICE! Dealer only wanted to knock off a few hundred off sticker. 3) First year model and I felt I could wait til the bugs were worked out if any. Final reason: I test drove the Ridge and loved the ride,handling and overall feel. I bought the day after the test drive. If I could afford a Toy I would by an FJ. Nice off road truck. Toyota will probably sell alot of them.

I'm very close to considering trading my Ridgeline in on an FJ. I don't fully utilise the space in the Ridge, and it's really much bigger than a single guy needs. (It's my second car, my daily driver is an Infiniti G35).

FJ felt rock solid driving. Good power from the 4.0 V6, and they gave me a great trade in value on my Ridgeline (8 months old, 7000 miles) and a pretty good offer from what I can tell on the FJ itself.

I"m conflicted, because there's nothing "wrong" with my Ridgeline