Anyone using Toyota FJ Cruiser?
How practical is it to carry equipment ?

Thanks !

Looked at getting one about 18 months ago. Tail gate opens on the right means walking around it all the time if your parallel parked. Rear seats don't fold flat. So if you want to put a SUP inside that requires folding the passenger seat flat it can't be done. The base of the seat lifts up to allow the back to lay down which gives you more flat space in the rear but this means the front seat can't be laid back.
I bought another Prado instead. Tail gate opens for us not the US and the front seat can be laid back so a SUP up to about 9'5" can be put inside the car. Same running gear if you get the V6 one.

Is it true you can hose out the interior of an FJ?

Yes, but it will get all wet

I use an Fj for my windusrfing kit and love it, easy to clean, as far as sup's go can fit my 9.6 starboard widepoint inside, plenty of room for my windsurfing kit as well, only drama is if its 2012/13 model the fuel tank is kinda small, and they can be a little bit of a pig on fuel :)

I am surprised how short some of these new mid sized fourbies are. Thought a Prado was pretty long .... looks more than an FJ cruiser anyway.
I get a 10' x 34 SUP in my old Challenger

If you want a Toyota buy a Hiace.

I curently own RAV 4 and the seats fold well enough.
However, the clutch is not up to scratch to tow a dinghy and for the same reason I wouldn't take it to the sand.

Hiace won't cut it either as I want to be able to drive in sand.
Prado would be nicer, but the cost would be significantly higher.

Chris, how do you go around the seat folding problem Qldnacra mentioned above?

I may put 2 boards, 3 masts and 3 sails into the RAV 4 and ask car dealers to show me how he would pack it into the FJ...

Hand in your balls.

2nd hand landcruiser or patrol. Pull the seats out. Hose it out if you wish.

Do you need 4 seats?

if not get a hilux single cab, and throw a canopy on the back. the diesels are better on the fuel than the FJ.

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Mark _australia said..
I am surprised how short some of these new mid sized fourbies are. Thought a Prado was pretty long .... looks more than an FJ cruiser anyway.
I get a 10' x 34 SUP in my old Challenger

I looked at the FJ but the economy was rubbish and was a bit costly for what you get (its a toyota)

I bought a PB Turbo Diesel Challenger after a lot of looking around and I can stick SUP (old 9'8 Sail SUP fits), sailboards and shorty in the car with seats folded (front head rest off) - 8.5l/100K on average tows nicely -(Fuel Economy dips when towing loaded though)

Challenger is definitely not as "refined" as some but holds its own it in all terrains from sand to rutted hill tracks outback gibber "roads" and it hasn't missed a beat. (70, 000K). Fuel tank should have been bigger though (only 70L).

The Colorado wagon and Isuzu wagon are on the market now - they'd be worth a look. Apparently Nissan will be bringing out a Wagon version of the D40 at some stage.

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BundyBear said..
Do you need 4 seats?

if not get a hilux single cab, and throw a canopy on the back. the diesels are better on the fuel than the FJ.

We need a 4 seater every now and again, but we have two cars, so ...
Is the tray 2.5m long to fit an average board?

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ikw777 said..
2nd hand landcruiser or patrol. Pull the seats out. Hose it out if you wish.

A nice Landcruiser 100 , but expensive...

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russh said..

I bought a PB Turbo Diesel Challenger after a lot of looking around and I can stick SUP (old 9'8 Sail SUP fits), sailboards and shorty in the car with seats folded (front head rest off) - 8.5l/100K on average tows nicely -(Fuel Economy dips when towing loaded though)

Challenger is definitely not as "refined" as some but holds its own it in all terrains from sand to rutted hill tracks outback gibber "roads" and it hasn't missed a beat. (70, 000K). Fuel tank should have been bigger though (only 70L).

The Colorado wagon and Isuzu wagon are on the market now - they'd be worth a look. Apparently Nissan will be bringing out a Wagon version of the D40 at some stage.

I'll have a look thanks.
Didn't know they fit diesels into Challengers. Definitely cheaper...

I was looking for a car where I can pack all my gear inside without folding the front passenger seat and a rear seat.

Most of the medium/large wagons are pretty much 180 to 190cm from the rear tailgate to the back of the front seats. This means the boards pass between the front seats by about 20-30cm, so not too bad.

Good options:
Prado 150 - about 185cm
Landcruiser 200 - about 195cm
Subaru Outback - about 180cm
Volvo XC70 - about 185cm
Volvo XC90 - about 190cm

Looked at FJ it is a fair bit shorter .. about 170cm, so you'll need to fold the front passenger seat (might as well get a corolla or jazz) ... and yea, I really dont think anyone is literally going to 'hose-out' a $45k car .. but yea, there is lots of plastic .. expect fuel consumption at about 14L/100km, so you'll get a similar range to the Subaru Outback petrol that does close to 900kms, or even better in diesel.

why get a 4WD? seats down wagon fits 10' SUP inside, 9l/100km highway.
About $18-$20K now for SV6.

>>>why get a 4WD?
fishing trips, dinghy towing...otherwise RAV4 is just fine.

>>>all my gear inside without folding the front passenger seat and a rear seat.
Don't think any car can, except for some VANs.
Wonder if the single cab Hilux can...

I like the power of the FJ, practicality, the looks, but will listen to reason...14L/100km is a lot. And ti seems to require the more the premium petrol too.

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tomp said..
why get a 4WD? seats down wagon fits 10' SUP inside, 9l/100km highway.
About $18-$20K now for SV6.

And designed by a genius

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mr love said...

tomp said..
why get a 4WD? seats down wagon fits 10' SUP inside, 9l/100km highway.
About $18-$20K now for SV6.

And designed by a genius

Evil genius you mean

Why 4wd

So you can get away (with the family) from the rif raf in their commodore wagons

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Obelix said..

ikw777 said..
2nd hand landcruiser or patrol. Pull the seats out. Hose it out if you wish.

A nice Landcruiser 100 , but expensive...

Go further back - 60 series

Grab 100 series. I can fit my SUP inside it 10'2 easily.
I have never hosed the inside of the 100 series it has carpets and other lovely comforts.
My old troop carries had multiple rubber plugs in the floor that you remove when hosing it out.

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ULF said..
Grab 100 series. I can fit my SUP inside it 10'2 easily.
I have never hosed the inside of the 100 series it has carpets and other lovely comforts.
My old troop carries had multiple rubber plugs in the floor that you remove when hosing it out.

Landcruiser 100...
2008 - 145,000kms - $67,000
2005 - 120,000kms - $58,000

FJ Cruiser
2012 - 34,000kms - $39,000

.....

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ULF said..
Grab 100 series. I can fit my SUP inside it 10'2 easily.

As in a 100 series petrol using 23L/100km or diesel costing $35k+ with 350,000kms?

You would be better off with a 2008 Landcruiser 200 petrol for $35k .. but still using plenty of fuel.

I used to own a troopy. Man that was a good traveller. I installed buckles in the roof channels and stapped ALL of my gear to the ceiling boards, mast, sails, boom, bed in the back and gear under the bed i.e. food, recovery stuff for 4x4 troubles (mostly recovering others, actually, always recovering others).

mmmm some good times had

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wind012 said..

ULF said..
Grab 100 series. I can fit my SUP inside it 10'2 easily.

As in a 100 series petrol using 23L/100km or diesel costing $35k+ with 350,000kms?

I've got a 4.7l V8 100 Series, and it only uses 23/100km when towing a big trailer into a headwind.

It's got a 2 inch lift, 33" tyres, extractors, big exhaust etc, and it'll do less than 15l /100km all day at 100kmh. It'll even do that fuel economy around town if you really drive it carefully and don't get stuck in traffic, but you've got to be driving very carefully to achieve that.

And yes, those are accurate figures that I've checked and double-checked.

It's perfect for windsurfing too - because of the width the nose of the board just pokes through between the front seats and you've still got plenty of room.

I've got a 4.7l V8 100 Series, and it only uses 23/100km when towing a big trailer into a headwind

On a recent visit to Mt Dare, Dalhousie springs and Witjira National Park (Simpson Desert) via the Oodnadatta track Diesel was $2.45 litre and Super was similar (Mt Dare) - definately be a costly adventure to tow your trailer into a head wind up that way!!

Hi i just drove sydney to Broome and back in a series 90 Prado 3 lt diesel which was about 16000 kms round trip on some of the roughest sh@t tracks up to Kalumbaru and around the gulf country that i have had the pleasure of driving on. I towed a 7 x 4 box trailer which i built a canopy on and was set up to sleep in and carry 2 mountain bikes as well as all sorts of essential fun gear, boards etc.
The prado cost $14000 and was fantastic, climbs hills and does deep beach sand easily with no over heating or other issues, and really at the end of the day you are more limited by your choice of tyres than anything. At that price it should be fully fitted to go off road with bull bar and all the goodies.
Dont worry about high Kms around 200,000 but check service history thoroughly.
I have carried a 9.6 foot board inside, when i had to and at the price who cares if it gets a bit dirty and scratched.
around 9-10 lts per 100 kms highway a bit less economy in dirt. The 140 ltr fuel tank gives you all the range you ever need well over 1000 kms plus no matter how you drive.
They appear a bit agricultural next to an FJ but at the price you can fit them out with sat nav and a great stereo and you are good to go.
If you look at one just be aware that the head may need doing at around 230,000 kms allow $5000. Mine was already done and had all reciepts.
Really any of the prados in the last 12 years are good.
Any way Good luck with the FJ if you get one they look a bit small and fancy for my liking.

I got burned when I bought 9 years old car. No end of crap.

A friend drives an 80 Series naturally aspirated diesel, but that manual gearbox is built for a tractor.
His diesel goes strong after 300K, but he burnt the clutch several times where he shouldn't have.

Maybe it's just his driving, but he had a lot of other "minor" problems, and they always cost him "around $1500" to fix.


I hear a lot of good rap about Prado, but not too keen to buy a car older than 3 years.
At 3 years they are seriously expensive.

And what's with the troopy?
Why is such a rudimentary car so expensive?

I may take the challenger for a test drive into deep sand.

Whats' Pajero's durability like these days?

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russh said..
I've got a 4.7l V8 100 Series, and it only uses 23/100km when towing a big trailer into a headwind

On a recent visit to Mt Dare, Dalhousie springs and Witjira National Park (Simpson Desert) via the Oodnadatta track Diesel was $2.45 litre and Super was similar (Mt Dare) - definately be a costly adventure to tow your trailer into a head wind up that way!!

Any big 4WD is going to use a lot of fuel towing a big trailer into a headwind anywhere.

But that's not really the point for discussion here. We're talking about a suitable alternative to an FJ Cruiser to go windsurfing, and I was correcting the statement made that you could expect 23/100kms out of a 100 series.

If you want a proper 4WD that's great for windsurfing and have $25k to spend I would suggest that a 100 series would be a strong contender.

(FYI, that $25k should buy you a very nice V8 that's been well looked after. If you want a diesel you'll have to double that).