Why fj cruiser

In the past couple of years, all Land Cruisers have been on the rise again. Most notably, the more modern FJ60 and FJ80, which have increased 35 percent and 23 percent respectively in the last year alone. The increased attention to the more modern Land Cruiser models bodes well for the truly modern FJ Cruiser. Back in , when the last FJ Cruisers were only three years old, we hypothesized that it would be a future collectable.

At the time, it seemed like a no-brainer. Resale values for the FJ-C were hovering around 70 to 90 percent, regardless of the miles. We were even as bold as claiming "well-maintained examples could increase in value by 25 percent in the next five years. Something happened in Classic car auctions went from selling two or three FJ Cruisers a year to selling more than two a month. We're feeling the heat on the insurance side of the business—policies for FJ Cruisers have been doubling every year since and aren't slowing down.

This attention has seemingly come out of nowhere. Back in , when we last examined the FJ-C, none sold at classic car auctions the entire year. Time will tell if values will remain high, but it's very likely they will indeed, given the breadth of its appeal. Looking more closely at all those people who get insurance from us for their FJs, we see baby boomers account for 39 percent of owners, while those vintage-truck-obsessed Gen-Xers make up 47 percent.

Millennials currently only own 5 percent of FJ-Cs but they make up 20 percent of those calling us for quotes on new policies. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday.

And awesome. Popular at InsideHook. Chicago Los Angeles New York. The Goods Deals Subscribe Account. Vehicles September 21, am. Is the Toyota FJ Cruiser cool or ugly? It's certainly aging well. By Alex Lauer alexlauer. The FJ Cruiser was intended as Toyota's shot at making an off-road vehicle different from the standard fare they produced at the time.

When sales continued to plummet after the start of the recession, Toyota decided the sales were too lackluster to justify the manufacturing cost of producing a second generation, culminating in the FJ Cruiser's discontinuation.

Admittedly, manufacturers cut costs in creating the FJ Cruiser, which allowed the competition to boast about how their vehicles didn't cut costs. Upon its arrival at the Detroit Auto Show and subsequent production, the FJ Cruiser initially received many rave reviews.

A lot of the vehicles' design and parts were either inspired by or adapted from the Tacoma and 4Runner , other popular Toyota vehicles. It also had a superb exterior design for off-roading, becoming even more popular with the off-roader crowd. That said, Toyota made the mistake of cutting costs with the cabin, allowing the competition to gain an edge. Sales reflected this, as the FJ Cruiser never exceeded the sales of its initial year, when it sold 56, units.

Following years would show sales max out at approximately 14, units a year. While many would say that the Wrangler was ultimate a better performer off-road, the FJ was no slouch -- and that was before the aftermarket got involved.

In its final production year, the powertrain was good for horsepower and pound-feet of torque. With its upright profile, knobby and knobby tires, it should come as no surprise that the FJ Cruiser was not good on gas. EPA fuel-economy estimates called for 16 miles per gallon city and 20 highway -- and that was for the two-wheel-drive model.

Chris Paukert April 17, a.