thinking of getting a Toyota FJ cruiser.

[frosty]

hi all, as my wife has not fallen in love with the TJ that i have spent a fortune on rebuilding, i am thinking of selling it, and getting a Toyota FJ Cruiser, i will be keeping my JK and WJ. 

Has anyone driven or owned an FJ, i like the look of them, and the build quality is reputed to be good, also there is getting to be a few RHD ones around in the UK now, all thoughts and comments welcome. 

[UKTJ]

15 minutes ago, frosty said:

hi all, as my wife has not fallen in love with the TJ that i have spent a fortune on rebuilding, i am thinking of selling it, and getting a Toyota FJ Cruiser, i will be keeping my JK and WJ. 

Has anyone driven or owned an FJ, i like the look of them, and the build quality is reputed to be good, also there is getting to be a few RHD ones around in the UK now, all thoughts and comments welcome. 

You could keep the TJ and change the wife 

 

[V]

Cool. I didn't know Toyota made the FJ in RHD or that they continued making them after they stopped selling in the USA.

[46stm]

Keith Flint had an epic one when we all did the Mille Riviere (1000 rivers) a blue one, I believe you were on the trip the year after though? Think he sold it to the guy who ran the GRM. Otherwise sorry don't know a lot about them but those suicide doors are cool, the whole FJ thing is cool.

[frosty]

22 hours ago, UKTJ said:

You could keep the TJ and change the wife 

 

the thought did occur to me, but as my current wife is my 3rd, it would probably cost me more than a late FJ. 

[frosty]

15 hours ago, V said:

Cool. I didn't know Toyota made the FJ in RHD or that they continued making them after they stopped selling in the USA.

hi Vince, yes they made them for the Australian market, where there is quite a few of them, i am also trying to find out if they made them for Japan. i have seen lots of them here in UAE ( LHD), and some appear to be very late models. 

[frosty]

12 hours ago, 46stm said:

Keith Flint had an epic one when we all did the Mille Riviere (1000 rivers) a blue one, I believe you were on the trip the year after though? Think he sold it to the guy who ran the GRM. Otherwise sorry don't know a lot about them but those suicide doors are cool, the whole FJ thing is cool.

hi Steve, yes i remember it the year we were there, and the GRM guy put it on it's roof. 

[stewart]

heaps over here https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/toyota/fj-cruiser/ 

[UKTJ]

2 hours ago, stewart said:

heaps over here https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/toyota/fj-cruiser/ 

Not exactly cheap though.

[digger]

I had a look round one in a showroom in Sydney, Oz a few years ago. I thought it was really cool and felt very comfy too.

There's just one snag, its not a Jeep!!!

[frosty]

12 hours ago, digger said:

I had a look round one in a showroom in Sydney, Oz a few years ago. I thought it was really cool and felt very comfy too.

There's just one snag, its not a Jeep!!!

if you have a few vehicles ( i have 5 on the road at the moment) it is nice to have a change sometimes, also the way jeeps are currently priced, i wouldn't be buying a new one again.

I have always wanted an FJ, just like i always wanted a jeep XJ, and when one came up i bought it and got the bug,  7 various jeeps later i am still loving them.

At the moment i have 3 jeeps, as said i will still keep the 2 that get used most, and sell the TJ. 

We all love Jeeps' but you should always keep an open mind, if there is another brand that you have always fancied, go for it. 

[digger]

I understand. 

Investigate the spare part prices though. I've had some bad experiences with Japanese part prices. Eg. Only 18 months ago my daughter had a small Mazda hatchback. It was just within the end of the warranty, luckily!  It had a fuel problem. They had to replace the injectors and attached fuel lines, parts and labour. Cost, hang on to your chair,  £7000!!!  Luckily it was under warranty. Even so ,the warranty did not cover 'consumables'. The fuel lines were one use only so she had to pay £500 for those out of the total!   Who said Jeeps were dear!

[V]

4 hours ago, frosty said:

We all love Jeeps' but you should always keep an open mind, if there is another brand that you have always fancied, go for it. 

I bought a 2004 4wd Honda CRV last night for my partner. She had a CRV for 12 years and regretted parting with it last year. Judging by the prices and scarcity of used cars at the moment, I guess more people are hanging on to the vehicles they currently own. The CRV I bought isn't perfect, but it is good enough to improve further and keep going for another 10 years. Helen now understands my attitude to lifetime Jeep ownership and has lost her qualms about spending money on maintaining an old vehicle that you like. I will be getting to know the CRV better as I start working on it. I watched and read content this week about 300,000 mile CRVs in the US, so I reckon there is a good chance this one will make it to 30 years old.

1 hour ago, digger said:

Investigate the spare part prices though. I've had some bad experiences with Japanese part prices.

I have no evidence to support my hunch, but I reckon the previous assumptions of national quality standards that my generation held as true are no longer relevant. Globalisation has forced a race to the bottom in components. It appears to me that the focus is no longer quality, but maximum profit on components that are only designed to last six years or less. I would not buy another German car again and no longer assume that new Japanese cars have the reliability reputation that they used to have. In my opinion, modern cars have become smartphones that you ride in. Car manufacturers have become infected by the same continuous planned obsolescence that the mobile electronics device industry has as a result.

 

In the 20th century it was common for a vehicle manufacturer to reuse component designs from one vehicle model to another, and often across decades with improvements. In the 21st century, component sharing is only within platform agreements. Common mass produced components from the last century have been designed out with almost identical components featuring mounting holes in different positions or new appendages that prevent the older 'common' design from being substituted. For example a brake wheel cylinder design that was common across multiple brands and models gets tweaked to be unique for a 3-year production run on a platform, then tweaked again for the final years. This creates two unique parts for the platform's production run making it harder for pattern manufacturers to provide alternatives and keeping retail prices high for the OEM component manufacturers. When the replacement platform comes out 7 years later, the same wheel cylinder is tweaked again to make it unique so that the previous wheel cylinder becomes obsolete despite looking very similar. I noticed this first with German components at the end of the last century, but it's now happening everywhere.

[Caroline12]

 

2 hours ago, V said:

I bought a 2004 4wd Honda CRV last night for my partner. She had a CRV for 12 years and regretted parting with it last year. Judging by the prices and scarcity of used cars at the moment, I guess more people are hanging on to the vehicles they currently own. The CRV I bought isn't perfect, but it is good enough to improve further and keep going for another 10 years. Helen now understands my attitude to lifetime Jeep ownership and has lost her qualms about spending money on maintaining an old vehicle that you like. I will be getting to know the CRV better as I start working on it. I watched and read content this week about 300,000 mile CRVs in the US, so I reckon there is a good chance this one will make it to 30 years old.

I have no evidence to support my hunch, but I reckon the previous assumptions of national quality standards that my generation held as true are no longer relevant. Globalisation has forced a race to the bottom in components. It appears to me that the focus is no longer quality, but maximum profit on components that are only designed to last six years or less. I would not buy another German car again and no longer assume that new Japanese cars have the reliability reputation that they used to have. In my opinion, modern cars have become smartphones that you ride in. Car manufacturers have become infected by the same continuous planned obsolescence that the mobile electronics device industry has as a result.

 

In the 20th century it was common for a vehicle manufacturer to reuse component designs from one vehicle model to another, and often across decades with improvements. In the 21st century, component sharing is only within platform agreements. Common mass produced components from the last century have been designed out with almost identical components featuring mounting holes in different positions or new appendages that prevent the older 'common' design from being substituted. For example a brake wheel cylinder design that was common across multiple brands and models gets tweaked to be unique for a 3-year production run on a platform, then tweaked again for the final years. This creates two unique parts for the platform's production run making it harder for pattern manufacturers to provide alternatives and keeping retail prices high for the OEM component manufacturers. When the replacement platform comes out 7 years later, the same wheel cylinder is tweaked again to make it unique so that the previous wheel cylinder becomes obsolete despite looking very similar. I noticed this first with German components at the end of the last century, but it's now happening everywhere.

I feel you hunch is correct, everyone has to have the latest thing, all singing and dancing, “it’s got Bluetooth this, that” says the salesmen. That’s all people think about and it’s green credentials. Parts and servicing etc should also be green, make it better, it lasts longer and won’t break. 

 

For example my Saab 93 Sportwagon, GM changed the suspension springs from 12mm thick to 7mm thick to save a £1 per spring. Ok to them GM that’s a lot of money. For me in 11 years 1 broke the front suspension springs 3 times, bushes failed, rubber bushes were impossible to get hold of due to the cross over the the vauxhall cars. It cost me a lot of time and money, because they put in substandard parts from the factory. It was the last time I found out about the springs, otherwise I would have put in better springs. 
I choose Jeep because, I loved the shape of the Renegade and needed a vehicle that was off-road capable and would not break suspension on country lanes and the New Forest roads. 

[V]

I think what GM did to your Saab is not unique. Everyone I know that doesn't own a Jeep and keeps their car for more than three years has suffered a broken coil spring at some point. It may even be more common than having a puncture. In the three generations that drive in my family, all of us have had broken coil springs on 2wd cars and vans (Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen) and on one 4x4 Kia in the last four years. The shortest time between failure on one car for brand new parts was 20 months. In four years, just one puncture on a Mk2 VW Golf that deserved it for having old tyres.

 

The race to the bottom is not something all manufacturers can avoid. They either have to shift up-market or join the race to stay competitive. The nasty part is when the manufacturer shifts up-market, charges the top price and still cuts costs by introducing component longevity reductions because the share holders demand it.

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread Frosty. How's the hunt for an FJ going?

[frosty]

hi Vince, no probs on the thread theft, all interesting conversation, i have been looking on Auto trader, and there is currently 8, a couple of the cheaper ones are a good technical spec, that would be interesting, i am flying back from UAE for your private event at the end of April, if i have time i will have a look at the ones that are near to me, and possibly put a cash offer in for one, otherwise i will wait till i finish my project here in Dubai, probably June - August time, and sell the TJ, then find a good one.  

[Surfer]

On 22/03/2022 at 05:38, frosty said:

hi Vince, yes they made them for the Australian market, where there is quite a few of them, i am also trying to find out if they made them for Japan. i have seen lots of them here in UAE ( LHD), and some appear to be very late models. 

Also built for the South African market as a couple on the roads there when we visited in 2018.

[jeepjimboy]

https://www.cabrioletcoupe.co.uk/ 

 

Wranglers and FJ Cruisers

 

Near Hitchin

[frosty]

yes, they are advertising in Auto Trader often

[frosty]

there prices are crazy, and they are all Jap imports, i just missed out on 1 from Australia, which are a higher spec.