You Already Thought the Toyota FJ Cruiser Was Dead, But Now It Actually Is
When was the last time you thought about the Toyota FJ Cruiser? Yeah, you know, the badass off-road SUV that was all the rage 15 years ago. While we haven’t seen them in production in the States for some time, only six months ago, Toyota released the FJ Cruiser Final Edition in the Middle East. After 17 years, it seems the FJ Cruiser is finally getting completely discontinued for real. Pour one out for the truck we all thought was already dead.
Does Toyota still make the FJ Cruiser?
According to Autoblog, although we haven’t had the FJ in America for some time, Toyota has confirmed that the FJ Cruiser has finally left the assembly line in all markets, some of the last of which was in the Middle East and South Africa. Cars.co.za recently made this discovery and reached out to Toyota, which confirmed the “global discontinuation of the FJ Cruiser product line as of December 2022.” Unfortunately, this “isn’t just limited to South Africa” but also applies to all international markets.
When did the FJ Cruiser get discontinued?
For Americans, the FJ apocalypse happened in 2017. However, aside from just the Middle East and South Africa, the FJ continued in many markets around the world. Other markets slowly dropped the model too, but the Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors at the Hamura factory in Japan continued making the FJ Cruiser for the Middle East, South Africa, and the Philippines. Autoblog notes that in the Middle Eastern market, you could buy a new Toyota FJ Cruiser for $41,000 until its recent discontinuation.
For the model’s final year of production, Toyota made the FJ Cruiser Final Edition, which was essentially the same spec as the U.S. and Japanese versions in 2017. Last October, Toyota announced that the 1,000 units would come in a single-tone beige, along with some special interior trims, blacked-out bits, and a uniquely-number badge notating its exclusivity.
Toyota FJ Cruiser specs
The last FJ was only available with one engine option, a 4.0-liter V6 making 270 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. The power was sent to all four wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission. It could hit 60 mph in a sluggy 7.5 seconds, although no one was buying an FJ to drag race. It also had a handful of helpful off-roading tech bits like Active Traction Control (A-TRAC), Crawl Control, Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), and an electronically controlled locking rear differential, all offered as standard.
There is a lot to love about the Toyota FJ Cruiser. When it came out in 2006 (2007 model year), people freaked out. At the time, there weren’t many proper 4×4 off-road options available. It was essentially the Jeep Wrangler. Sure, there were other 4x4s like the 4Runner, but a hard-nosed, plain 4×4 SUV made specifically to off-road was a rare thing. The 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser stacked awards and accolades like bottle caps. People loved it. Fast forward 10 years, and the thing gets discontinued. Many people mourned the exciting and playful off-roader and begged for it to return. Its existence in other parts of the world may not have helped American fans much, but at least it was out there. Now that it’s really gone, we actually have to face the reality of an FJ Cruiser-less world, and that sucks. RIP, FJ.
