What are your thoughts going from FJ CRUISER to Tacoma?

How many of you have owned an FJ? Do you miss it? Do you wish you could go back? Better fit and finish than Tacoma? Going to have a look at one today.

 

I have a 2007 FJ and will never part with it. What a fantastic 4WD vehicle it has been and it's still going strong with a 160K on the odometer. I bought my Taco OR so I could preserve some miles on the FJ. Find a way to have both!

 

I bought one new back in the day. I think maybe 2008, but don't hold me to that. I liked it but one thing I will say, it has a wicked blind-spot in that right rear corner.

Before all this shortage stuff and the price of used vehicles sky rocketing there was this rinky-dink haji used car lot not far from my place in Oh and he got about 8 of them all at once, and they sat there forever. I swear I thought about offering him whatever he paid for a couple and just parking them in my shop. I think 30 years from now they're gonna be classics, if they aren't already. Problem is, in 30 years I'll be dead and I refuse to spoil my grandkids. I wish I would have bought one though for real, and maybe just made a beater out of it. Hook up with some of you guys and go 4 wheeling which I've never really done, at least like like some you. That one I bought new was black with the white top and no rack up there. It looked dorky, like an old time police car. If I'd of kept it, I would have painted the top black.

edit: I liked the interior too. It was "crisp". That's the best word I can use to describe it. Like tight. No carpet. Why they put carpet in Tacoma's beats me.

 

I never owned an FJ but rode around in my buddy's long enough to develop dislike for its visibility. I think the Tacoma's vis is much better, but still nothing to write home about.

 

Oh yeah, one definitely gets good at driving with mirrors in an FJ. I also retrofitted mine with a back up cam since the early ones didn't come with one.

 

I missed my 2013 fj off road. But I'm glad I did get the tacoma. More fun camping . No need to pitch a tent. I can also take a quick 15 minute power nap on my lunch break if I want to

 

Just curious, while we're on the subject, is there an aftermarket kit for a "blindspot" warning setup like all the new cars come with now? I looked on Amzn and couldn't find anything, but that could certainly just be me using the wrong search terms. The way people drive these days, I'd really like to have one. I'd put one on the Tacoma in a blink if I could find one. I use those stupid stick on mirrors which are pretty much useless really.

 

I'm curious how the FJ compares to a 4runner. I had a 4runner for about 4 months and if I didn't need the bed the Tacoma would be gone.

I'm still contemplating living with a 4runner and trailer once inventories get better.

 

I have a taco, my son has a 4 rnr, and other son an fj. I need a pickup for hauling tools and materials otherwise an fj is the clear winner for me. The runner feels like a fancy Tacoma minus the bed. The fj is wider and feels very different. The fjs are are going for crazy money now and IMO only going to get worse. If you can live with using a trailer get an fj. For me it has to be a pickup. Just to wet your whistle, go do an image search for lifted fj’s. They look really aggressive lifted with off-road bumpers.

 

I had a 2014, it was absolutely built to a far higher standard then Taco's are.

 

I'll tell you this. If I had an FJ I wouldn't trade it for a Tacoma due to it's ability being basic the same and being much, much more unique.

 

Biggest difference is the rear doors on the FJ are suicide doors and the rear door windows do not open. There are rear seats that aren't that bad, but again the suicide doors make it somewhat of a pain for the rear seat passengers to enter and exit the vehicle.

The FJ is a fantastic off road vehicle and has plenty of room for gear. But I don't think they had a Jack & Jill family of four in mind when they designed the FJ.

 

Never owned one, aways wanted one, will hopefully score a later year model at some point. If I had one, no way would I trade it in. It’s become a classic in its own right.
I believe they are geared differently than the Tacoma, a bit more get-up and go on the lower end, from what I’ve heard. Can anyone confirm this?

 

They got the more advanced 4.0 with another 30+ HP near the end of the run. Smoother, intake and exhaust VVT, quite noticeable when driven side by side. The frame was FAR more solid, you can feel that difference side by side and the rear disc brakes and coils all around made for a more controlled ride.

The rear discs VS the drums of the Taco made me always go WHY??? The components were already in production on the same axle [sans the spring perches and such] so replacing the drums for discs would have been a no brainer. Everything else for a drum to disc was already there also so?????????? Answer, who the heck knows. And I don't really have much of a huge bias on rear drum VS disc myself, drums do still have some positive features over disc brakes.

 

I put almost 200k miles on my original 2007 FJ 4x4 over 10 years. The only repair I did was the alternator at 135k. Everything else was maintenance. I miss it terribly. But not because it was better than my taco. They’re just different. But I’ll say the FJ was a damn workhorse if you didn’t care about dirt, mud, and mulch in the cab. I had a full Gobi rack up top and regularly loaded it up. Several times a year I’m sure I had 7k pounds of uhaul trailer back there.

It is really well built, though not to the ‘luxury’ standard. It’s robustly utilitarian! As others have said though, wicked blind spots.

 

That’s exactly why I sold my 4Runner. I really missed the Tacoma bed. Overall I liked the 4Runner better.

 

Rear seat space is one of the big reasons I'd dump the Taco for a 4runner. The clamshell doors are one of the things I've always hated about the FJ.

 

interior on the FJ used the cheapest plastic known to man, it would scratch just looking at it. I'd be hard pressed to find one used that the interior didn't look like a cougar thought it was catnip.

externals were solid though, except for the potential for front frame tears. And the 6mt version was pretty nice with full time 4wd! Very solid even of it sounded like chains dragging in the tranny.

 

We kept the rear seats down regularly with plenty of room for dog crates in the FJ.

 

I've test driven a few traded in fj cruisers at my dealer and really really liked them, I would rather my Tacoma for a daily driver but I like imaging owning a fj cruiser as a dedicated offroad vehicle, I think it might be one of the best looking vehicles in recent past though im not sure what exactly it is that makes it so damn beautiful. I love the idea of a fj cruiser towing a custom built off road 2nd gen tacoma bed trailer since the fj doesn't have a lot of cargo space, granted I am use to a 6 foot bed.