It is week 2 for my FJ Cruiser and another tank of gas was used. This time, with the same commuting routine, I got 2 extra miles per gallon, and my cost per mile was $0.06 cheaper.
Miles driven: 250.400 miles
Fuel Pumped: 15.787 gallons
Fuel price: $ 3.299 per gallon (92 octane)
Total cost: $ 52.08
Fuel Economy: 15.86 MPG
Dollars per mile: $ 0.21
I have had my FJ Cruiser now for 1 week, and gas mileage is even lower than I anticipated. The EPA rating for the FJ Cruiser automatic is 17MPG for city, and 21 MPG for highway.
All my driving was city commuting, no highway driving and no off-road driving. The low gas light turned on when the odometer read 200 miles, and I drove for another 11 miles until I felt I should stop to fill up.
211 miles driven
15.43 Gallons of premium 92 octane gasoline
$3.259 per gallon
Total cost: $50.74
Fuel economy: 13.67 MPG
Dollars per mile: $0.27
That's the most I have ever paid for any full tank of gas on a car (boats excluded), and that's also the shortest distance I have ever driven on a full tank.
But all in all I love the car. Let's see how I feel after 12,000 miles and $3,234 later.
Probably the only perk of waiting in a doctors office is the chance to read some automotive magazines. It has been a few years since I really paid attention to sport cars (I drive an FJ Cruiser - nothing sporty there).
This months feature article for Automobile magazine is on the Bugatti Veyron. Here is my favorite quote from the whole article:
"Fact: If you drive a Veyron at its top speed, it will run out of fuels in twelve minutes."
The Veyron by the numbers:
Now that's a super car!
It is here! My FJ Cruiser has arrived in glorious yellow! I am super excited with the car, lots of character, lots of personality, and package to go with the image!
Just need to add a navigation system, off road lights, and brush guards and the car will be fully configured!
Say hello to 18 mpg!
It looks like I jumped the gun with my criticism of Toyota of Kirkland. A genuine mistake was made on their part and "my" car had in fact not yet arrived at the dealership. An identical FJ Cruiser arrived, with the exception of it being a manual transmission car, instead of the automatic that I had requested.
Toyota of Kirkland gave me the choice to purchase the manual transmission car (which is still available BTW), or to wait for the automatic version which should be arriving any day now. I opted to wait for the automatic.
One should learn to hold judgment until all facts are on the table - sorry.
I ordered a Toyota FJ Cruiser over 6 months ago. A demo FJ Cruiser arrived at Toyota of Kirkland 2 weeks ago and I was invited for a test drive (see review). I told my salesman that I was interested in purchasing the car and to notify me when an yellow FJ Cruiser arrived so I could pick it up. One week ago I received an email with the exact specifications for my car.
Your FJ has these options.
CQ convience package.
Remote keyless entry system
Cruise control Power outside mirrors with illuminated markers
Rear privacy glass
Rear wiper
Rear Intuitive Parking Assist (2-piece)
Daytime Running Lights (DRL GY side curtain airbags.
RB Running boards.
UR upgrade package #2 17-in. 6-spoke aluminum alloy wheels with P265/70R17
tires and full size spare (exterior rear door mount)
Active Traction Control
Locking rear differential
115V, 400 watt power outlet
AM/FM 6-disc in-dash CD changer, MP3/WMA playback capability and nine
speakers (includes subwoofer with off switch)
Exterior color-keyed door trim inserts
Multi-information display floating ball type (inclinometer, compass,
temperature)
Leather-wrapped steering wheel with integrated audio controls
Aluminum brush transmission lever and transfer lever (transfer lever on
4WD models)
CF carpet floor mats
C7 convience - Package Includes Roof Rails, Spare Tire Cover & Trailer Hitch Receiver.
and V5
This is everything that comes on your vehicle. The MSRP on your vehicle is
32679 + Tax and LIC.
Call me if you have any questions.
I promptly notified the dealership that I would be in Las Vegas on business this past week, but that I wanted to confirm my interest in purchasing the car when it arrived at the dealership. Yesterday another email followed with confirmation that the car had arrived.
Cris,
I just wanted to let you know that the FJ cruiser is here. Let me know
when you will be back in town.
thanks
Lawrence
I replied back and notified them that I would stop by on Monday to take delivery of the car.
An hour ago I received another email informing me that they made a mistake, and my car had not arrived yet.
Hi Cris,
I am so sorry I saw the yellow one here and it I jumped the gun. However you can come in and contract the vehicle if you would like to and we can dliver it at a later date. I do apologize for this inconvience. Please let me know what you plans are and I will accomodate you.
Lawrence Flugence
BS. They sold my car to someone else even though I had put a deposit on it months ago. Classic BS dealership tactics. Not surprising, I guess, it is a Toyota after all.
Somehow I just know that this scene would have been different had I ordered a Porsche Cayenne instead. Needless to say, I won't be doing business with this dealership again.
Our local Toyota dealership has received its first demo FJ Cruiser and their initial shipment of 16 vehicles will arrive at the lot within 2 weeks.
I got a chance to test drive the demo car earlier in the week. First impressions: it looks as awesome as I thought it would. It is big, very tall, very bold, very masculine, and very unique - w/ a touch of Hummer H2 to its design.
5 passenger seating - it is really more like a Porsche 911, the back seat is not very usable. In the case of the FJ Cruiser, it could sit 3 children, but adults should be restricted to only short distances.
Driving - the car I test drove was an automatic, lots of available power, great maneuverability, very short turning radius, handled great. Very quiet ride - much quieter than my 2004 Honda Odyssey or my former Honda Element.
My short test ride revealed just one major flaw - visibility. Visibility from every angle is terrible, horrible really. Front visibility is obstructed by a tall hood, you can probably park two Miatas in front of the FJ and not see any of them. Rear visibility is worse, small window and a rear tire makes seeing out of the back nearly impossible. Side visibility is also very poor, the car is very tall and the large rear pillars creates huge blind spots.
Initial FJ cruisers will not have the sonar or rear cameras. Sonar and camera will only come later in the production cycle. Real bummer, as the 2 features are essential for city driving considering the poor visibility in the FJ Cruiser.
Another annoyance is that the automatic is not a full time 4 wheel drive, it is a rear wheel drive. The manual version is a full time 4x4.
Price, it is not the $22,000 as originally rumored. The initial batch of cars arriving at the dealership are fully loaded, raising the MSRP to just over $30,000.
All in all, if the dealer has a yellow automatic available, I will trade in one of my cars and get the FJ Cruiser.
For some, cars are just a method of transportation. They will be happy with anything as long as it gets them safely from point a to point b. I wish it were that simple for me.
You see, cars are a very personal item to me, they are an extension of your image, they must have a focus, a personality. They don't need to be expensive, or exclusive, but they do need to have style and presence.
One of my favorite cars to date is the Honda Element - the Element has a lot of personality. People will either hate it or love it, no one will be indifferent to the car. Compare the Element with the Honda CR-V. While the Element speaks to you, speaks of adventure, of ruggedness, youth, the CR-V is just an ordinary small SUV. I am sure the CR-V is a great car, but its design just doesn't speak to me.
When I sold my Element I did so with reservations. I loved almost every aspect of it. If I could redesign the Element, I would only change one things
Gas mileage was not great, I was getting ~16 MPG. For a small car I had hopped to nearly double that. But overall, I couldn't be happier. Yet, I needed a car that could accommodate 5 people, so the Element had to go.
One year later and along comes the Toyota FJ Cruiser - WOW. That's my car right there.
The FJ Cruiser is supposed to be as good as a Jeep Wrangler for off-road prowess and it looks like an off-spring between a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Honda Element - it has all of the great features of an Honda Element and all of the great ruggedness of a Land Cruiser. And best of all -- it looks the part!
Cost? $21,500.
Sold!
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