Toyota axes the FJ Cruiser (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LandCruiserPhil
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You beat me to it. I was on qrz.com diligently studying... and POW.
Seeya Fj Cruiser. Now can Toyota build a proper Wrangler killer? I know it won't happen, but I can still dream.
And because I'm never one to waste a good copy and paste:
Happy Trails, FJ Cruiser
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bowtiestang
Speak of the devil and he shall appear
Piss on Toyota
they lost there soul in the late 90's in the US.
At least we have two of the last cool vehicles from Toyota
1996 Supra Mk4
1997 LX450 80 series
Look at some of the Toyotas from the past
40,60,80 Cruisers, All-Trac turbo Celicas, Turbo Supras, Hilux 4x4s, AE86.
Toyota now..
Well never mind
they lost there soul in the late 90's in the US.At least we have two of the last cool vehicles from Toyota
1996 Supra Mk4
1997 LX450 80 series
Look at some of the Toyotas from the past
40,60,80 Cruisers, All-Trac turbo Celicas, Turbo Supras, Hilux 4x4s, AE86.
Toyota now..
Well never mind
RockJock82
Sometimes you have to kick a little A$$
Well they castrated the Tacoma TRD line by d/c the rear lockers as a part of the package. They need to build an offroad vehicle that you can take the doors and top off.. My opinion I think the FJ was a poor attempt to remake the fj40... Back to the drawling board!!
bowtiestang
Speak of the devil and he shall appear
Soon as the sales boy told me the Taco were built in Mexico I wouldn't even test drive the turd...opps TRD
I drove the FJC and was underwhelmed... I wanted something with more power than my 200K mile Tundra and off-road capable. I am sure the FJC would be fine for me off-road but my Tundra would eat its lunch and rides better, easier to see out of and is long paid off (FJC was $30k)...but is 2WD
So the fix was keep Tundra for towing and daily driving...buy LX for off-road...still no payments
I wish we could get the 70 series and Hilux Diesels here
I drove the FJC and was underwhelmed... I wanted something with more power than my 200K mile Tundra and off-road capable. I am sure the FJC would be fine for me off-road but my Tundra would eat its lunch and rides better, easier to see out of and is long paid off (FJC was $30k)...but is 2WD So the fix was keep Tundra for towing and daily driving...buy LX for off-road...still no payments I wish we could get the 70 series and Hilux Diesels here
Living in the Past
SILVER Star
Piss on Toyota
At least we have two of the last cool vehicles from Toyota
1996 Supra Mk4
1997 LX450 80 series
Look at some of the Toyotas from the past
40,60,80 Cruisers, All-Trac turbo Celicas, Turbo Supras, Hilux 4x4s, AE86.
Toyota now..
Well never mind
Curious did you buy your LX new? Or were you the second, third, fourth owner. Toyota is in the business of selling new cars. Dealers buy and sell used cars. While everybody loves their 80 series how many of them bought them new. The 80 was Toyota's original soccer mom/mall cruiser. I would be surprised if 1% of the original owner's miles were off road. I know there is always the exception, a guy in the other AZ club comes to mind who wheel his 93 brand new. But with a sticker price of around $55K for the a fully load 80 series the average buyer wasn't wheeling it. Just like the 80 series had a better ride and handling than the 60 series with it's leaf springs, the independent front suspension and 4.7 were improvements on the 100 series to the average new car buyer. While like most I would rather have seen a version of the 70 series come to the US (PX10 comes to mind) I will admit Toyota did offer a vehicle that the original owners bought and used off road. I will give them credit for that. At least that's one thing in has in common with the FJ40 that the Land Cruiser has not since the last of the 60 series.
Toyota is one of the business models studied at Harvard business school. What they don't teach you is that a few years back ToyCorp started a program to rehire older folk they had laid off (replaced with cheaper younger workers). Seems ToyCorp realized too late the older folk knew something the younger folk didn't: older folk actually cared about brand and quality and value.
What you see today is a result of short term business thinking.
What you see today is a result of short term business thinking.
We all shouldn't feel to bad. There is talk that the next wrangler will loose its solid axles. Times are changing I guess. It does suck though.
More interestingly my dad just bought a brand new F350 and it came with a factory rear electric locker. I think that is pretty cool. Also the dodge power wagon comes with solids axles and front and rear lockers along with sway bar disconnects and a warn M12. My buddy has one and it's damn capable.
More interestingly my dad just bought a brand new F350 and it came with a factory rear electric locker. I think that is pretty cool. Also the dodge power wagon comes with solids axles and front and rear lockers along with sway bar disconnects and a warn M12. My buddy has one and it's damn capable.
The new owners of Chrysler (Fiat) decided a while ago to forego the "Every Jeep must be able to go over the Rubicon Trail in stock form" rule that had been in place for decades. I read this a while back in 4 Wheel Off Road a while back. So independent suspension on a Wrangler will probably happen. Just as many people will claim it'll ruin the brand, it's not a Jeep, etc. And Chrysler will sell a ton of them. There's already a 2 Wheel Drive Wrangler... You know IFS/IRS is all the rage in the rock crawling world? Just an observation.
murf
Lifer
Living in the Past
SILVER Star
Well the trail edition 4runner did the rubicon so there maybe some hope yet for the future of Toyota trail rigs.
It will be interesting to see if a fiat diesel will make it in to the wrangler. Fiat diesel motors are very well built or at least they were. We have two diesel tractors on our farm that use Fiat diesel engines they have half a million miles on them. The things that have ever had to be done were head gaskets. They were done at 250000 miles. Pretty impressive.
It will be interesting to see if a fiat diesel will make it in to the wrangler. Fiat diesel motors are very well built or at least they were. We have two diesel tractors on our farm that use Fiat diesel engines they have half a million miles on them. The things that have ever had to be done were head gaskets. They were done at 250000 miles. Pretty impressive.
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murf
Lifer
bummer
bowtiestang
Speak of the devil and he shall appear
Hell no! I let the fools buy at retail wait until they figure they cant make the payment then buy it from them at major discount
Dealers are just there for my test driving pleasure. Hell anymore I am buying older and older vehicles because of the lack of soul stated above. I am sure I will end up with a newer Tundra someday for towing when mine dies but that is just because I wont own a GM-Dodge-Ford.
Azca
If there is a harder way - I will find it...
I appreciated the FJ for what it was, not what we wanted to be. It was an attempt to honor the 40 but not to mimic it. With our culture of comfort I am not sure (and hope I am wrong) that we will ever see solid front axles on a US sold Toy. Honestly I don't know if there is a sustainable market for it.
Being a past chrysler family owner and renter, I will never own one of their products again. I think a quote from an interview with the former CEO, Lutz, said volumes about what the company was and where it was going. One of his rules included: "...Too Much Quality Can Ruin You"
Well it ruined me as a future supporter of that make...
Being a past chrysler family owner and renter, I will never own one of their products again. I think a quote from an interview with the former CEO, Lutz, said volumes about what the company was and where it was going. One of his rules included: "...Too Much Quality Can Ruin You"
Well it ruined me as a future supporter of that make...
murf
Lifer
agreed
Also agreed. Our dealership usually never re-sells Chrysler/Dodge trades and wholesale them unless they are within a year old.
The 5th gen 4Runner is one of the last true truck-based mid-sized SUVs left. Body on frame, lever-actuated (no knob) 2-speed transfer case, etc. So Toyota doesn't COMPLETELY suck, yet. I think it might have a rear locker or at least some kind of electrical black magic traction aid in the rear diff.
By the way, you may want to strap yourself down in case Chrysler does indeed make the new Wrangler all Independent Suspension, because the fabric of the universe may be ripped and the space-time continuum will probably be shredded. At least that's what I've heard.
My neighbor has an off-road buggy built for ultra4 racing. We're going out to 'the king of the hammers' race this year. My friend has one season on his solid axel rig, and is already looking into building a new ifs buggy. That's what all the big names are doing now. Ugh
Agree, it was an attempt to make a throwback 4WD. A simple, relatively inexpensive utility vehicle that could easily be made into a wheeler. It left a lot to be desired but the concept should have been expanded and improved, not killed. I, for one, won't be cheering it's demise.
RockJock82
Sometimes you have to kick a little A$$
Bottom line Toyota needs to make an offroad vehicle to compete against the wrangler... I'd buy one if the doors and top came off ... The only way I'd buy a JK 4dr is if it had 60's, 6.0L and an atlas... Until then my Lexus is good enough
