USCG_Chuck's FJ Cruiser Site
Chesapeake, VA
Visit the FJ Cruiser Forum
My Voodoo
Blue FJ Cruiser, shown here during a Trip to
The NRAO in Green Bank, WV
Since 1993, I have been a dyed-in-the wool diesel enthusiast. Plus, we live on a farm where our tractor and Caterpillar stand-by generator are both diesel. A couple of Ford F250's (crummy engine, worse transmission), 2 Dodge/Cummins (very good engine, decent manual transmission) a VW Jetta and of late, a 2005 Passat that got 41 in the city and 52-54 MPG with careful highway driving. Want to know more about VW TDI powered vehicles, check out Freds TDI Pages. It would be the Passat which would be sold to make room for the FJ.
In these days of $3/Gal gas, why would one want to sell a car that got 50 MPG? Room and Utility.
I have been an active Amateur Astronomer since 1987. This includes both optical and radio Astronomy. Carrying even small, optical telescopes and supporting gear to a dark sky site in a car is an exercise in shoe-horning with a standard car. Add to that, I enjoy surf-fishing from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore during the regions "secret season," early fall. That means 4 wheeling on the sand. Cool! I still like VW's; my Dad was one of the first in the country opening his dealership in Lorain, OH in the late 1950's. I wanted a larger vehicle, preferably diesel powered. GM gave diesel power a bad rap in the 1970's by dieselizing their 350 gas engine. Now, the EPA Nazies were working overtime to raise the emissions bar so high, by the 2007 model year, there would essentially be no diesel powered passenger vehicles or SUV's. There were used diesel VW Tourag's out there (a 10 Cylinder 310hp, 545 ft lbs of torque oil burner) but they were a mere $65K. Further, the Tourag design has earned a rating by Consumer Reports as one of the least reliable currently on the market. No Tourag. I wanted a vehicle with more room yet did not fit the cookie-cutter "moms SUV" mold. Point it, the car goes. If its dirty a vacuum and damp rag clean it.
In January, 2006 I began to hear rumors of that the FJ had progressed beyond the concept stage and was actually going to start arriving in the states in Mid-March. Got my first look at one around April 1. Wow, most excellent, I want one.
Sorry, its sold.....
It was then I learned first-hand how popular these cars were becoming. FJ's were being sold on E-Bay for nearly $40,000 (as PT Barnum once said, "There's one born every minute..."
The demand in Tidewater, VA was just as incredible. Lets open on an upbeat note. There are a couple of dealers who valued their customers and played on a level field. Checkered Flag Toyota in Virginia Beach, Priority Toyota and Denbigh Toyota in Newport News.
In my initial search, I learned about "Market Adjustments" (the car comes broken?) which in my case, would add $2,000 to the vehicle cost for which the buyer got absolutely nothing. Of course, they won't not allow you to decline the "option." "All our FJ Cruisers are sold this way." Lessee, then we have the dealer who sold previously titled FJ's bought at auction for more than the cost of a brand new, untitled vehicle.
Enough wining....
