[lucidlyseen]

Hey everybody, I have been lurking on this forum for quite some time and I am now finally close to buying my first cruiser (most likely a 90 fj-62 if all goes well).

I am buying it as my daily driver (my work commute is very short), a family rig (wife and two small kids, we do have another newer car as the family daily driver), stuff hauler, dependable winter car and the occasional road trip (camping, vacations etc).

Now I seem to be getting mixed messages on these forums about these rigs. I am looking at the fj-62 because I like the look of the classic lines, from what I have heard they are very dependable and will last forever, BUT what I also keep reading about is the big time and money commitment to keep these going. I understand that with any "older" car there are certain maintenance guidelines you need to follow to keep the car running well, but my intentions are for "softer" driving and not the serious off road adventures many of you are gearing your rigs up to accomplish. SO if they are so dependable then why do I keep reading about the money being dropped or the joking about "new cruiser owner, I hope you are current on your AAA membership" etc.

So, is a lot of what I am reading here mainly guys dropping tons of money on upgrades or do these cars really require an open credit line even just to drive them around town? Most upgrades I do will most likely be cosmetic as the toughest terrain I plan to conquer will be the winter roads and trips to the mountains for snowboarding etc...

Thanks for any input!