some points to ponder
I think you can be safe buying the first model with Toyota or Honda. This is just my opinion. I too looked at the FJC yesterday and here are some items you might want to check out for yourself. You will probably not notice them from just sight but probably if you actually sit in it. It might be something you may not want to overlook.
1) Seat felt firmer and the materials rougher to the touch than the SR5. My opinion is that it would feel uncomfortable on a long trip. The head rests are leather and felt nice. The seat would look more complete in all leather to match the head rests.
2) When sitting on the rear seat, I felt like the back seat reached just about the middle of my back. As if the seat was not tall enough. The fix was just to extend the head rests. This probably was done to improve rear visibility for the driver.
3) Sitting in the rear has less leg room but more head and toe room than the 4 runner. You feel like you are in a commercial airliner from the back seat since the panels are very thick and the window is small and not directly to your side. So in other words you have to lean slightly forward to see out the small window. From the outside the window looks larger.
4) The rear cargo is hard plastic and the front is rubber. I thought it was a little thin for being a rubber floor.
5) 4feet larger turning radius than the 4 runner
I don't think you can go wrong and the price is good. I have a lot postives to say about the FJC but I think they have already been said in many posts on the web.
One last note is that the FJC has a smaller gas tank and those with manual tranny's are complaining that if the vehicle is left in gear and the emergency brake is not applied that the vehicle will creep. If left parked in an incline that it will actually move quite a bit. A few owners have complained about this on the
www.fjcruiserforums.com
Congrats! I am sure you will love it.