The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a real production vehicle, not a concept. It is a retro-styled, mid-size, body-on-frame SUV that Toyota built from January 2006 to December 2022, assembled for most of its life by Toyota’s subsidiary Hino Motors in Hamura, Japan. It was sold through Toyota dealers and shares much of its structure with the Land Cruiser Prado. Anyone searching for a “2019 FJ Cruiser” should know two things up front: there was no 2019 FJ Cruiser in North America, but the model did remain on sale in the Middle East and a handful of other markets well into the 2020s.
Was there a 2019 FJ Cruiser?
In North America, no. Toyota USA announced that the 2014 model year would be the FJ Cruiser’s last in that market and marked it with a Trail Teams Ultimate Edition; United States model years ran from 2007 to 2014. The vehicle continued to be built for other markets, and its export to Australia was discontinued in August 2016. As of April 2022 it was still sold in markets including Chile, the Middle East, the Philippines and the countries of the Southern African Customs Union.
So the honest answer is market-dependent. A buyer in the United States could not order a new FJ Cruiser after 2014, but a buyer in the Middle East could walk into a Toyota showroom in 2019 and order one. Production finally ended in December 2022.
The engine: one V6, not three
Every FJ Cruiser used the same basic engine: Toyota’s 4.0-liter 1GR-FE V6. Early United States versions made 239 hp; from the 2010 model year the output was raised to 260 hp and 271 lb-ft of torque. The final Middle East specification, as listed in Toyota Oman’s FJ Cruiser brochure, quoted 268 hp and 38.7 kg-m of torque (roughly 280 lb-ft). There was never a supercharged, three-engine line-up. The drivetrain was a part-time four-wheel-drive system with either a six-speed manual (four-wheel-drive models only) or a five-speed automatic.
Chassis and dimensions
- Layout: front-engine, part-time four-wheel drive (GSJ15) or rear-wheel drive (GSJ10)
- Platform: Toyota F2, body-on-frame
- Wheelbase: 2,690 mm (105.9 in)
- Length: 4,670 mm (183.9 in)
- Width: 1,895 to 1,905 mm (74.6 to 75.0 in)
- Height: 1,830 mm (72.0 in) on four-wheel-drive versions
- Curb weight: 1,837 to 2,015 kg (4,050 to 4,442 lb)
Design and ancestry
The FJ Cruiser was designed as a modern homage to the original FJ40 Land Cruiser, with a boxy body, an available white roof and rear-hinged (suicide-style) half-doors for the rear seats. Toyota first showed it as a concept at the January 2003 North American International Auto Show, approved it for production after a positive consumer response, and revealed the final production form at the February 2005 Chicago Auto Show. It went on sale in North America for the 2007 model year.
The idea of a new FJ dated back to the mid-1990s, when Toyota planners explored a compact, retro-styled off-roader. The production version used a shortened version of the platform that underpinned the Prado and the Tacoma, which is why it drove like a smaller Land Cruiser rather than like the car-based SUVs that became common in the same period. It entered the Japanese market on 4 December 2010, having been announced on 25 November that year.
Model-year changes
The FJ Cruiser changed little over its long life. The most significant mechanical update came for 2010, when the 1GR-FE V6 was revised to produce 260 hp and 271 lb-ft. Toyota also offered a Trail Teams Special Edition in several years, culminating in the 2014 Trail Teams Ultimate Edition that closed out United States sales. Because the same basic vehicle remained in production for another eight years, later Middle East cars are mechanically very similar to the 2010 through 2014 United States models.
Interior and practicality
It was a five-door SUV with a compact, utilitarian cabin and seating for five; a third row was never offered. The rear half-doors made access to the back seat awkward but allowed a short wheelbase and a tight turning circle, which helped off-road. Its off-road credentials came from the body-on-frame chassis shared with the Prado, generous ground clearance and the part-time four-wheel-drive system, rather than from any special trim package.
The end of the line
On 1 October 2022 Toyota announced that the FJ Cruiser would be discontinued in the Middle East in December 2022 and released a Final Edition grade limited to 1,000 units. That Final Edition kept the 4.0-liter V6 and part-time four-wheel drive and served as the nameplate’s send-off after a 15-year run. The announcement ended one of the most drawn-out farewells in the industry, since the model had already left North America in 2014 and Australia in 2016.
What buyers can get today
Because the FJ Cruiser has been out of production since 2022 and out of the United States market since 2014, used examples are the only option. There is no direct replacement in Toyota’s line-up; buyers who want a comparable new body-on-frame Toyota would look to the 4Runner or the Land Cruiser Prado family. Related model coverage is available in our 2019 Toyota Highlander price and review and 2019 Toyota Hilux concept review. For more Toyota models, see Toyota Review.
The FJ Cruiser’s unusually long run means that late-production cars from as recently as 2022 occasionally surface as used imports around the world, even though they were never sold new in the United States after the 2014 model year. That makes the nameplate one of the few Toyotas whose “model year” span in one market bears almost no relation to its global production life.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_FJ_Cruiser
- https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/toyota-unveils-2023-fj-cruiser-final-edition-hu5dl9ly
- https://www.motor1.com/news/613748/fj-cruiser-final-edition-middle-east/
- https://www.toyotaoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Toyota-Oman-FJ-Cruiser-Specifications-2022.pdf
