think of getting a fj cruiser

[montanacruiser]

Hey fj owners. I was thinking of getting my self a fj cruiser and had a few questions for you all. I drive a fj 80 right now. I like to cruise the mountains fish hunt that kind of stuff. Do all fj cruisers come with lockers? Is their room for kid seats in the back? Looks a little small back their. How have your cruisers bin holding up? Any one regreting getting one? Any thing i should look for when getting a used one? The other vehicle i was thinking of was a newer 4 runner. Any help would be appreciated

 

[1911]

Hey fj owners. I was thinking of getting my self a fj cruiser and had a few questions for you all. I drive a fj 80 right now.

I replaced my FJ80 (that I gave to one of my sons) with an FJC, seven years ago.

Do all fj cruisers come with lockers?

No; mine was part of an options package (in 2006).

Is their room for kid seats in the back? Looks a little small back their.

There's room for at least two kid car seats back there, but they're not going to be easy to access with the suicide doors. My kids are all grown and gone, so my experience is only from relatively infrequent times of grandkids riding back there.

The back seat area is small for adult passengers IMO. The FJC is a great truck and very roomy for one or two people; not as great for more, again IMO.

How have your cruisers bin holding up?

More than 140,000 hard miles on mine so far. Doesn't leak or burn a drop of oil between 12,000-mile oil changes. Still drives as good as new. In other words, typical Toyota quality of their Japanese-built vehicles.

Any one regreting getting one?

Not me.

Any thing i should look for when getting a used one?

If you're going to leave it like you buy it, just get the options you want and look for one that has been well-maintained. If you're going to build it up as a wheeling truck, then try and find one with as few factory options as possible (except for the rear electric locker) because you will probably replace most of them anyway.

 

[montanacruiser]

Thanks for the reply 1911. Do they come with factory front lockers?

 

[1911]

Thanks for the reply 1911. Do they come with factory front lockers?

No, the only current option for a front locker is an ARB air locker. I have one in mine and like it.

 

[Mtbcoach]

Lee's experience is similar to mine, only that I reposessed my 80 from my daughters when they went to college and sold the FJC. I bought mine 5/06, only option was rear locker and remote door locks.

No regrets, I built mine up pretty well, drove it from NC to Rubithon '08, hit family in CA, AZ then went to Moab before the FJC Summit, then home. Did it with my daughters and 6 mo pup, wife caught up with us in CA. It performed flawlessly, had a great trip and pushed the FJC to new limits (for me).

Main reason to sell was having children turn into adults that would never want to spend much time in the back seat any longer. As Lee said, great 2 adults + dog in the back.

In today's market, I'd buy used and build up to your needs from there, just be sure it has the factory rear locker, check for front fender bulges, other than that, a well maintained used FJC would be a fun new project someday...

 

[USA4X4]

What they say above....small kids would be hard, and coming from an 80 you will see a little improvement in gas milage. Great rigs, bought mine used and never looked back.

 

[IvanKV]

My 2008 FJC is for sale if you are interested

 

[GWcruiser]

Just be sure to do a thorough test drive; some new FJ's have a front end shimmy that can't be fixed.

My 2012 has had everything done, alignments, road force balancing, even new tires, and yet at 10,000 shakes me to death driving down the road at 63 MPH. Wheel moves side to side about an inch. Toyota calls it steering flutter. They say it's normal for the vehicle and have refused to work on it.

Other than the steering flutter issue which basically keeps me from driving longer distances, and the fact the base radio is not readable in 90% of the lighting conditions, the thing does okay. But I can't over emphasize the need for a thorough test drive -- slowly accel / decel from 60 to 70 many time on a few different raodways... slow curves on freeway onramps also will get it going well.

 

[UncleBillyCA]

I did a test drive on a 2013 FJ TT, the one in cement color. Loved the vehicle and the look. Steering didn't have a shimmy, but it wandered all over the road like I was drunk. Sales turd said it was due too the tires. I don't know, but I didn't like it. Drove a 4Runner Trail a few weeks later and loved it. Solid car, quiet, steered straight, and had great brakes. Just read in MotorTrend mag that FJ keeps 84% of its value after 5 yrs, not bad. I still like the 4Runner more...

 

[GWcruiser]

Wandering - at least in my FJ - is mostly due to camber being off. I've tweaked caster and camber it all over the place trying to get rid of the steering flutter. Get the camber back to near 0 (0.2 degrees) and make sure the caster is on the higher side of normal (>2.8 degrees) and the wandering should go away. Also, tweaking a touch more toe will help the feel.

Yes, with the right simple and cheap gear you can do alignments yourself.