FJ Cruiser

4wd Toyota pickup with a shell is a better value.

The FJ Cruiser looks small to me, not well suited for a work vehicle.

Loyal Olsen has one and he said the he likes it for some survey applications in his area which is the wild wild west because it’s off-roading abilities and rock climbing are probably appreciated.
I thought it was going to be end all vehicle for me. I was on the mailing list for about a year before it debuted in the USA. I was saving my pennies and dollars and getting ready but when it finally arrived in dealerships here, I got turned off.
I really did not need that powerful of a 4x4 set-up. Vehicles do not get stuck here, they sink in the mud.
The space was an issue. 2 door with rear suicide doors. You would have to carry a pretty serious roof rack for basic equipment.
Too many rear blind spots...It was also going to be used as a family car.
Pretty pricey at the time but you could get a base model standard tran. for a decent price.
Poor MPG and Toyota recommended premium fuel.
And the big buying block was that Toyota was manipulating the supply/demand. You had to put a deposit down on a vehicle to your liking that was in transit from Japan and would arrive in Houston sometime in the future. They were controlling the supply so there were no price negotiations or discounts at the time.
So I moved on…
They are even more tricked out now, IMO and pricey. Most vehicles for the U.S. are designed for the commuter and not for work.
Because of the limited supply strategy , they have a very high used price value.

I have a 2007 FJ that I bought new in October of 2006. I “special ordered” it in about March of 2006, and it took that long for one to come in that wasn't equipped with a slush box transmission, beer can wheels, and a bunch of useless bells and whistles that didn't have any value to me.

I have used it pretty much exclusively when in the field since then, BUT my field work is NOT what the “average” surveyor probably does. My field work has been pretty limited these last few years as well.

I rarely need more than a couple of GPS receivers, maybe a couple of Aluminum Pipe/Cap monuments, and a few digging tools and such.

I have found the vehicle to be surprisingly capable OFF-ROAD (and I mean OFF ROAD, NO ROAD, Cross country...). And considering my nearly 50 years of driving 4x4 vehicles around the Western US, I'm not that easy to impress. It could use a little more clearance, but the skid plates have done their job so far.

It has been 100% dependable (change oil, lubricate, fill with gas, that's all) for 56k miles, and I just put new tires on it last month for the first time. I get 20+ mpg on the highway (which isn't anything to write home about), and its highway manners are quite good (MUCH better than an FJ-40, Jeep CJ, Scout, or Land Rover 88). In fact, compared to those bobtails, it's a fricking Porsche 911 on the highway!

All that said, unless your cargo needs are pretty modest (like mine have been lately), then I would suggest looking into a Tacoma or some other [similar] compact pickup. I just don't think that a FJ would be a good choice if you have to haul a lot of wood and/or rebar around everyday.

Loyal

I own a Jeep Wrangler and have surveyed out of it occasionally. According to the books it has 82 c.f. of storage space behind the front seats. There is very little room for equipment and a tripod has to lay transverse, collapsed.

The FJ reports 66.8 c.f. behind the front seats. With 15.2 c.f. less than the Wrangler, I would think that might be too little to deal with daily.

I do hear they can idle up a wall if they can maintain traction.

> I own a Jeep Wrangler and have surveyed out of it occasionally. According to the books it has 82 c.f. of storage space behind the front seats. There is very little room for equipment and a tripod has to lay transverse, collapsed.
>
> The FJ reports 66.8 c.f. behind the front seats. With 15.2 c.f. less than the Wrangler, I would think that might be too little to deal with daily.

I'd probably go with a 4x4 extended cab Tacoma with a lid on the bed. My 2005 extended cab Tundra has taken me places that I would not previously have expected to drive. The new Tundras are, in my opinion, too large for driving the sort of overgrown jeep trails that I see, but which my earlier Tundra is just about perfect for. The new Tacoma is only slightly smaller than the early Tundra, so dimensionally it's similar.

Caveat: I haven't checked out engine and suspension packages to verify that there is some rough equivalence between 2005 Tundra and 2013 Tacoma.

I have an FJ and use it all the time for field work. The back seats can fold down independently to get longer rods in there. it's a little tight but the truck as a whole is great. i've never had an mechanical issue with it (knock on wood) and it's a 2007...

FJ Cruiser/ Toyota Land Cruiser

Hows it going Loyal ( I won't use your field name here ) I remember your Toyota Land Cruiser in 1978 when we worked in Evanston for John. What I remember is how well it could catch air under all four wheels. I also remember you giving me valuable instruction on the Wang mainframe.
Thanks for the great experiences
Robert H Lee PLS ,Redding ,CA

FJ Cruiser/ Toyota Land Cruiser

OOPS I was wrong...the year was summer 1981.....the land cruiser was powered by a 350 ci. Chevy
Robert

FJ Cruiser/ Toyota Land Cruiser

Hi Robert,

It was Rick that had the 350 "Chevota," I was driving a red 1979 4x4 Hylux, until I bought the Black "Special Edition" 4x4 Hylux in 81 or 82. I had a 73 (dark green) FJ-40 for a while in the mid-late 80s though (original engine), as well as several other FJ-40s and an FJ-60 since then.

Ahhhh...the WANG, I still have some software that I originally wrote for the WANG, and later "translated" to GWBASIC and later to Quick Basic 4.5

I see Rick all the time, but Chris passed away in April.

Loyal