Hi All!! =D


First, I would like to say 'Hello' to all of you if FJ Cruiser land.

Second, I am a proud new owner of one of these. Lets just say that this is a SWEET ride!! I've had it now for 4 days and I'm all a GA GA over this vehicle.

A few things to note.

First, The GPS unit that comes with the vehicle has a Security PIN that is required before activation. The staff at the dealership thought that all information was included in the mountain of docs that come with the Cruiser. This PIN number you will not find in the docs, it MUST come from the Service Dept. who in turn to call Corporate. Make sure that they have the serial number of the unit beforehand.

Second, I have put 570 miles on this already (a slow trip to Philly and back will do that. and was able to achieve 22 mpg. NOT BAD!! Its too soon to tell, but comparing the fill up cost to my previous vehicle (a '02 Tahoe LS) the price was somewhat comparable at Premium prices vs. the Tahoe at Regular. However, with this kind of mileage on the highway, I'll probably be filling up a bit less than the Tahoe. So we'll have to stay-tuned on that one.

The ride in this vehicle is much better than I thought for highway driving. I haven't had the opportunity to take it off-road yet, though I plan on doing that soon; I have had the opportunity to take it down some bad roads in my area as a ride test and it did very well. I was VERY impressed!


Unfortunately, like others on this site, the DRL feature cannot be disabled. I'm at a loss to understand why Toyota wouldn't include an ability to turn this off (The Tahoe had this capability). I think I found the connector that someone had referred to in another post, but this would be a great opportunity to kit a cut-out switch for this, if two more connectors for this harness can be had from Toyota, and wire it to a Toyota-provided switch in one of the spare switch locations on the dash. (Unless some after-market folks care to cobble this together?... to I smell a business opportunity? ... Hmmm...?) This is the only drawback I've discovered so far.

Maybe I've grown used to the creature comforts of a Tahoe, but the overhead map lights were very useful. Though that as an inclusion definitely flies in the face of the retro feel of some of the elements of the interior (note the overhead domelight with three way switch).

Also, being an amateur radio operator, I've been hunting for a location to place a rig in this vehicle, and I don't want to mar the dash for the remote control head of the radio. Has anyone done this as of yet in a FJ and what were your experiences with power, antenna cabling, radio placement, etc...

Overall... I love this buggy!!! =D

,
Steve