Get the FJ or a 2000 Landcruiser?

[John Spies]

Hi guys,
I am moving to the mountains of North Carolina and have to sell my Mazda 3. Having not seen the FJ in person makes my decision hard and I need to get a 4x4 before they come out, even assuming it is Feb. Found a 2000 LC with 92,000 miles for $19900 here locally and they will take my trade.

Now, is the FJ worth waiting for and considering the price, is the 2000 LC a better deal overall? I had a 1992 and loved it but consider myself much the LC novice. Any help is appreciated, especially by those who have seen the FJ personally.

cheers!

 

[woody]

Believe the first "official" showing of the FJ Cruiser is coming up at the SEMA show in Nov....you may end up waiting a bit.....

tho, the 2000 is a nice ride....tossup IMO...if you prefer a utilitarian feel, hold off for the FJ...if you like the luxo feel, do up the 100-series....

 

[ryanjl]

Not ever seen an FJ personally, but as far as the Land Cruiser goes, that price seems a little steep, especially if the timing belt has never been replaced.

It's really just a matter of personal preference, though. How big of a vehicle do you need, what to you intend on doing with it, etc.

All esle being equal, though, a new FJ Cruiser will depreciate more than a used Land Cruiser of the same price, as the Land Cruiser will have already taken the big "first 2 years" hit.

 

[firetruck41]

They are two totally different vehicles IMHO, though you may be happy with either one. The 2000 LC has more "luxury", is significantly larger and gets a lot less MPG. It depends what you are looking for. Hopefully the FJ will be out around feb/mar 06, but sometimes thy don't meet their release date, so it also depends on how long you can wait...

 

[trucruiser]

I would say go for the 2000 Landcruiser, If you get a new FJ in the first year, like most first generation products you could be dissapointed because it is not a mature product yet, so you may have some problems and experience some bugs that have not been worked out.
Just my advice

 

[Greg B]

I think a 2000 with that mileage for under $20K is a pretty good deal. This may vary a little regionally, but for the Ohio Valley area, that's pretty good. I would check to see if the 90K service was done. If it wasn't, you may try to negotiate some/all of that service into the purchase price. I have been very happy with my 100.

 

[dirtysouth]

I talked with the guys at the dealership where my wife and I bought our 4 runner this weekend and they were saying that if you haven't put some money down yet, chances are you won't get one anytime soon. They also were saying that they won't be going for less than 30k. Could just be some hype and all but I think I would wait a couple of years and let it die down and you can probably get a deal on one or let the bugs (if any) get worked out.

 

[firetruck41]

I talked with the guys at the dealership where my wife and I bought our 4 runner this weekend and they were saying that if you haven't put some money down yet, chances are you won't get one anytime soon. They also were saying that they won't be going for less than 30k. Could just be some hype and all but I think I would wait a couple of years and let it die down and you can probably get a deal on one or let the bugs (if any) get worked out.

Sounds like hype, with 40k units/year it may be a hot seller and hard to get one in the first month or two, but after that it shouldn't be too difficult to find one. Only idiots will be paying a minimum of $30k, msrp should be easy to come by.

 

[rzpapp]

No offense but by the looks of the underside it looks like Taco (regular cab) 4x4 frame, suspension and drive train with really cool looking retro body.

 

[Landpimp]

I would get the 100, they are a great rig. That said, we might swap our LX470 for the FJ.......maybe, but i would have to keep a 100 around.

price seems OK, pretty decent actaully for the 2000