Till these off-road-centric vehicles have interiors that a LOT more people want (and they hardly go off-road...nothing wrong with that) they simply will not sell well enough. The FJ's dark/awful looking interior and the suicide doors simply turned off too many. We need those nice people to buy them too, so the FJ needs to offer options/packages for them. Otherwise, they fade away.

When I ordered my Rubicon, I ordered it with leather, heated seats, etc. It was far nicer to drive than my other Rubicon which was 2-door and all black fabric. Even a guy who does go off-road (me) would not buy the old FJ unless it was a third vehicle. Toyota just missed that whole demographic of people who want a rugged vehicle but also want leather, a lighter-colored interior, heated steering wheel/seats, and all the electronic connectivity features.

Had 2 FJ's and would've still been buying them if they imported it. I don't need true 4 doors. I liked the interior/suicide doors. I personally hate leather. My wife always has it in her cars.Hopefully it comes back when I'm ready to trade this 4runner in cause I don't like what I'm seeing in the 6th gen IF they're gonna look like what's been out there.

Then let it be an upper trim thing. I don't want to pay for that crap.

You may not but the people who matter...they do. They will happily pay $60K for a FJ while you may only want to pay $40 for a basic version. A top end package or two is exactly the point. THOSE packages make the manufacturer the high profit margins that are needed to keep that model from fading out.

$40,000 on an FJ?

Also, all these people that matter are temporarily embarrassed millionaires. John Steinbeck is rolling over in his grave.

Why? Because they spend 60K or even 100K on a vehicle? Yeah, okay. Great logic.

When they're not financially stable enough to do so responsibly, yeah. Temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

There's no reason that there can't be off-road-centric vehicles that don't cost luxury car amounts of money. No, unibody car-based crossover things don't count.

This isn't the rich peoples' club. This isn't Greenwich, Connecticut. Too many Americans have deluded themselves into thinking they're made of money.

I actually know at least some of these people. Not at all deluded or whatever. They make a lot of money and like spending it on huge homes and expensive vehicles. Not sure who you are referring to. I don’t make 400K-500K a year but a lot of them do and that’s what some of them do….buy toys. Heck, a neighbor just bought his son a Raptor for graduating HS. More power to them.

Those aren't temporarily embarrassed millionaires. Those are actual millionaires.

You're making a Land Rover out of an FJ Cruiser. An FJ Cruiser was roughly $30,000 for a 4X4 in its final year. There are way more people with $30,000 to responsibly spend than $60,000 or more, and the overall income a manufacturer would see through sheer volume alone would be nothing to scoff at. Of course, nobody's ever accused the average big business of being smart in the long term.

Your points are stupid. Go be dumb by your rich self. I'm out.

Good luck with that $30 mark if it comes back. You will be lucky if it stays below $40K. Toyota will need luck with the sales #s if it has a crap interior like it did. Remember...it was a flop here, so they stopped making it....similar to the Honda Element...sinking sales and a total flop. People stopped buying it. Next you will want a 6-speed. Yeah, people stopped buying that too. Let's stop living 20 years ago.

I'd hardly call it a flop. At the time it had one of the highest re-sale values in the SUV market. Toyota does some stupid $hit when it comes to halting production. Look at the Celica, that was a huge seller yet they stopped it, MR2 also. So to say the FJ was a flop because Muffy & Biff couldn't get their leather/cushy interior is just . my friend!

I don’t think that it sold well at all, certainly way behind the competition.

Before we reflect fondly back at the FJ, please remember that it had its fair share of issues:

1. Front fender bending/bulging with any off-roading…a weakness due weak front crossmember that was shared with 4th gen 4runner.

2. Piss poor visibility in any direction.

3. Tight backseat and smallish cargo.

4. For some, it rivaled the Pontiac Aztec as being the ugliest vehicle ever made….

I can forgive #2 to 4. But fender bending is a no-no in my book. That is pure fail.

Well for me I never encountered any of the 4 issues you mentioned in either the 08 & 12 that I owned a total of 7yrs between the 2. What was the competition? Don't say Xterra that was garbage Did you own one? Not being a arse hole just asking.

My brother had one and we off-roaded with it. Well familiarized with it. And i was an active FJ forum member for years because we had group trips.

The fender bulge was a BIG issue that affected LOTS of FJs.

Thanks for sharing!!! Like I posted wasn't trying to be a 'Richard" just asked if you owned one BUT you have basically 1st hand knowledge. Now I didn't do major off roading with either of my 2 nor W/2015 Tacoma TTRD Sport or W/Present 2018 4Runner TRD OR. I save that for my ATV. I loved the FJ, my wife was ok W/it /Never liked the Tacoma( I don't want/need true 4 dr) BUT I wasn't buying another Tacoma. She loves the 4Runner. Says it's way classier then Tacoma till I put the 275/70/17 Discoverer XT's on it