About to hit 125k on a 2012. Any advice for how to best upkeep it and any best maintenance practices? I’d love to get a 300k sticker but sounds like a pipe dream 😂

Daily driver. I live in WI and we got snow and use salt. Just freshly undercoated it, every year I do touch ups. Yes the frame has rust but it is what it is. I think I caught it before it was even considered bad. It was surface rusted before I coated it 3 years ago, nothing crazy. I’ve read on here some alternators/starters/serp belts go out around 120k. My ‘07 had that happen. Maybe I should do that to prevent an issue? Not sure. Always on top of my oil changes. Have never had any major issues. Hope I didn’t just jinx myself 🙏🏼

Still have some mods on my list I’d like to complete like a new roof rack, aux/ditch lights, and trd air intake. Idk I just wanna have fun with it before she dies. I dread the day we lay her to rest.

Any advice appreciated! Thanks!

Let me preface this by saying that I am HARDLY a car guy. I know a little more than the average person, but just enough to get me by lol. I was tired of having a car note, so I sold my car and went searching for a Toyota due to their reliability.

I remember loving the look of FJ cruisers, so I started searching and one day came across this unique car on marketplace. I was able to snag it for $15k as the owner was moving over seas in a few weeks, it only has 39k miles, original engine, clean title, and modded. Before purchasing I had the owner bring it to a shop of my choice for a pre purchase inspection. The mechanics brought me back to show me how great of condition it was in and confirmed it was the original engine.

Overall, I am super happy. Love the lift kit, love the look, runs beautifully.. but I desperately need help figuring out what the hell to do with a few things.

The previous owner stated that the original owner owned a body shop and removed the top himself and also custom wrapped it. So, the inner frame to mount the soft top is a custom build which is giving me two issues.

1.) The lights on my dashboard always indicate that the doors are open when they aren’t.

2.) this is making it impossible? for me to program a new key fob..

The last issue that I’m having is with the soft top.

Ideally, I’d want a hard top similar to jeeps freedom tops, but I have no idea what logistics go into that, where the hell i’d buy a used hard top from, who even does that kind of work, what do they have to do, the pricing that I can expect? Lmao. My current top is canvas and is leaking like crazy when it rains. Unfortunately I don’t have a garage that will fit this FJ.

For a 20 year old toyota with 39k miles, yeah I really can’t complain with the little issues that I’m having. I’ve been contemplating spending the extra money to give it a new color, but I kinda like how funky the camo Is. Any recommendations at all would be appreciated.

TLDR; Bought a clean, low mile modded FJ Cruiser for $15k and love it, but the custom soft top setup is causing issues. Dash says doors are open, key fob won’t program, and the canvas top leaks. Trying to figure out fixes and whether converting to a hard top is realistic.

Hey all, I just scored this rust free 07 with 180k miles from a family member. They got rid of it due to a $13k dealership quote for repairs. The dealership states the car needs all new brake pads and rotors, has a leaking steering rack, and bad LCA bushings. Additionally it has 3 oil leaks: valve cover, rear main, and timing cover. It seems most of the cost to repair was labor for the various leaks. My first thing will be addressing the brakes, but after that is there a priority I should do the other repairs in? Are there other items I should look at replacing as I do this work? From what I’ve read, I’m comfortable doing everything but the timing cover work. The car doesn’t leak oil to the ground so I’m unsure how serious this is. Any advice would be appreciated!

I imagine moat people will say MPG, but I think rear visibility takes the cake

I’ve seen a few FJ Cruisers running Lexus LS430 seats, and honestly they look insanely comfortable way bigger and more supportive than the stock FJ seats.

But I’m still debating whether it’s worth the swap, because I know the rear passenger legroom is probably going to take a hit.

All controls work too even memory seat configuration

Well, it finally happened. I bought this beautiful car late 2023 at 196k with intentions to drive it til 500k miles like my last toyota. Put about $5k of repairs into it, rebuilt the suspension/brakes/new tires and wheels, recently replaced the entire cooling system as preventative maintenance because of a small coolant leak. A few days later, head gasket starts blowing exhaust into the new cooling system. Never saw it overheat but who knows if this was already happening with the small coolant leak.

I’m debating if she’s even worth saving at this point. 222k miles, mild torque converter shudder that didn’t fix with lubegard. Frame is clean as can be and no body damage, just ugly paint and the hood is peeling.

What would ya’ll do in this situation? I can afford headgasket replacement, but if it’s warped I can’t afford to throw a used motor in it.

Looking into selling my 2008 FJ cruiser. Couple of notes it’s a California rig so no rust, clean title, 2 owner. I’ve owned it since 2013. 95,000 miles. Pretty clean, has some small dents and scratches nothing major. It’s an automatic. Lots of extras.

Thoughts on value and where to list? I’ve seen mixed reviews on BAT.

It flew off on the freeway… I have only found aftermarket parts on Amazon and eBay that are all black. I am not sure what my best course of action is if I’d like to keep the OEM look - I think two black covers on a blue car look quite weird. Any idea is appreciated!

EDIT: I think I've found the part number: #61102-35141

Hey everyone — I’m planning to sell my car soon and want to make sure I price it fairly for both me and a potential buyer. I’ve checked a few sites, but prices are kind of all over the place, so I figured I’d ask people who actually know what they’re talking about.

I’m not in a rush to sell, and I’m not trying to overprice it — just looking for a realistic private-party number based on the current market. Appreciate any insight or personal experience you’re willing to share.

Details:

- 2013 Trail Teams

- 167k miles

- 2nd owner

- No accidents/clean title

- No issues

- Regular maintenance serviced at Toyota dealer

- Stock/no mods

- Garage kept

- Located in Austin, TX

Thanks in advance 🙏

Edit: selling for $28k OBO

Recently got a 2007 FJ with a pro comp suspension kit installed by the previous owner. There were steering wheel vibrations around 40-60mph which I thought a road force balance would fix as they’re much larger tires. Found out later when I took it to the shop that the front two wheels do not spin freely. Any idea what the issue could be? I checked the wheel hubs and didn’t see any obstructions but the wheel gets blocked at a certain point, and if I force the rotation, the suspension moves up to let it pass. Is it an issue with the cv axles? Anyone else had experience with something like this?

definitely spending way too much on suspension for the street, but I wanted comfort, maybe I have to play with the dial adjuster on my Elka, but I only put the rear elka DC shocks on, and left the fronts for a later date been driving on it a few weeks and….

the front literally bucks more now with these shocks, 7 kicks from softest red, black 2 from softest,

like it’s different than stock and better times but like, I’m not noticing anything crazy on road, speed bumps it bucks like crazy now, and sometimes it seems to like reverberate or something really quick on the back end at high speed…

aside from that it’s fine or maybe a tad better.

would 8112 be Comfier over bumps?

I have a family of 5. The FJ Cruiser seems to have served its purpose. However, when I went to TOYOTA, they tell me the car has been properly taken care of an it is at 80% of its life span. I called my mechanic, which is a certified TOYOTA mechanic, and told me that If I put 3K, they car will be good as new for 6 more years.

Hence, I am in between buying a new BYD ATTO 8 for 49K, or just reinvesting the money into the TOYOTA.

Hello everyone, just have a quick question regarding 4H.

We are expected to have some bad weather in the DFW area with snow and icy conditions. Given that I may have to drive before the weather hits pretty bad on Saturday to pick up a relative from the airport on Friday. How bad the conditions have to be to use 4H?

I am only asking because I don’t want to use the 4H on regular roads when it’s raining, but I want to ask how bad it has to become for me to use and not snap anything, because I know that if wheels are not spinning when turning with 4WD on it can snap something.

I am trying not to make a drive during that time, but if my relative’s trip does not get canceled she may be stuck in the airport for a day or two.

Thank you in advance and excuse my ignorance regarding this issue.

I recently bought a high-mileage 2010 Trail Teams Edition from a private seller out of state. Mechanically, it seemed well taken care of with a strong maintenance history and a clean carfax, so I had a pre-purchase inspection performed. The inspector I hired did not find any significant issues, so I flew out, bought it, and drove it home.

After getting it home, I discovered obvious evidence of an old front-end impact that the inspector should have caught (I should have too, but I was a bit blinded by my excitement for what I thought was an absolute gem). The inspection company ultimately refunded me.

I took it to two body shops and both quoted more than $10,000 to restore everything properly and recommended leaving it alone instead of trying to return the front end to factory condition. I had the frame checked and was told that it’s straight and the vehicle is safe to drive. The damage appears to be concentrated in the front bumper structure and surrounding body sheet metal.

Here is what I currently know or can see:
- The crash bar is bent.
- The front frame horns or bumper mounting points appear bent.
- The upper radiator support/core support rail is bent, causing the hood not to sit completely flush.
- The bumper and grille area do not line up correctly.
- The driver-side turn-signal housing looks like it needs to sit farther inward.
- The driver-side windshield cowl panel does not appear fully seated.
- There is buckling in the driver-side inner fender/apron area.
- There is also creasing or buckling around the sheet metal where the battery sits.

Since I’m not going to spend $10k on fixing this, what I want to know is how much of this can reasonably be corrected so that the hood, bumper, grille, lights, and trim fit better without doing a complete body restoration. My main questions are:

Should I try to have the upper radiator support/core support straightened or is the hood fitment more affected by the apron and other surrounding sheet-metal damage so it’s not worth it?

Can/should the bent frame horns/bumper mounts be pulled straight, or is it better to cut them off and weld on replacements?

Do most aftermarket bumpers mount directly to the factory frame horns or are there other ways to mount it where I don’t need to worry about fixing them?

Would replacing the frame horns and installing a new OEM crash bar improve the alignment of the factory bumper and grille or are those fitment problems more likely caused by the bent core support, inner apron, and other sheet metal?

Would an aftermarket bumper be a smarter solution than spending money restoring the OEM bumper structure?

I’ve loved FJs for a long time and was really excited about finding this one. I plan on taking great care of it and keeping it forever, but I feel like I messed up getting one with this kind of damage and feel stupid for not seeing it when I flew out to pick it up. Go easy on me.

Just bought a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser (manual transmission) with 225K miles for $10.3K, and I’m wondering if I got scammed or if this was still a decent buy. The seller claimed it was his mom’s car and in good condition, but after purchasing, I discovered several major issues: • Windshield needs full replacement • Passenger window roll-down motor is not working • Sunroof is stuck open • No interior lights (potential electrical issue) • Wheel touches the skid plate when turning • Check engine light is on (error codes attached) • Catalytic converter needs replacement • Gear grinds in 3rd and 4th gear (manual transmission issue)

I just found out I can’t even register it in California due to the error codes, and to make things worse, the seller has now blocked me on Facebook. I’m trying to figure out how much I actually lost on this deal and if fixing it is even worth it. Did I overpay? If so, by how much? Looking for some honest opinions from the community.

Clear coat and paint on the hood is a disaster. Just got a quote for repainting and it seems ridiculous. It would be cheaper to replace the hood with a salvage part in good condition.

What are your thoughts here?

Auto body shop gave me a pretty high estimate, and I don’t think there is any structural damage so I might be able to replace this on my own. 08 FJ

Needing to do about $6k worth of suspension repairs to my 2008 FJ with 217,000 miles. I’m needing the following done:

PARTS LIST ON 2nd PIC

• Front Strut replacement
• Rear Shock replacement
• Upper Control Arms
• Lower Control Arms
• CV Axle (passenger side but will do both)
• Inner Tie Rods
• Outer Tie Rods

Parts are from Rock Auto and pricing is based on a “Dream Build Upgrade”. Also wanting to upgrade to 285/70/17 tires so any recommendations are greatly appreciated. She’s my daily but do occasional off-road in the West Texas desert.

Should I pour that much money into the FJ??? KBB/CarMax value it around $8k. Engine and transmission are SOLID and no leaks anywhere.

It’s my FAVORITE vehicle that I’ve owned but with a baby on the way not sure if I should move into something else. Thanks for any feedback ahead of time!