I agree the fj is more reliable. If I could, I'd get a 2 dr. manual but good luck finding one.
But of course, this being GRM Forums, there happen to be TWO manual fj cruiser owners in this very thread. Go figure..
I agree the fj is more reliable. If I could, I'd get a 2 dr. manual but good luck finding one.
But of course, this being GRM Forums, there happen to be TWO manual fj cruiser owners in this very thread. Go figure..
I loved my two, the $800 '88 Range Rover SWB:
and the '95 County LWB (seen here with my '01 4.6 HSE):
The cheap '88 had a few maladies (slight rust was one of them) but nothing that stopped it from being an excellent offroader and driver. The '95 was a bit more expensive to purchase at the time, but was a rust free, reliable example that was daily driven and used to tow stuff before we got the '01.
Having both at the same time was useful for doing Home Depot runs while building my new garage:
People talk about money pits and headaches to own, but that's not been my experience of over a decade with these vehicles. And I'd rather have another SWB over ANY Toyota truck.
Vigo wrote:I agree the fj is more reliable. If I could, I'd get a 2 dr. manual but good luck finding one.But of course, this being GRM Forums, there happen to be TWO manual fj cruiser owners in this very thread. Go figure..
Except I think he meant he wants to find an old FJ60 or something. Manual FJ cruisers aren't really that hard to find. They are awesome.
Ah, I just assumed all old FJs would be nearly impossible to find in auto, not the other way around. I guess by the 60 and 80 that changed, but i dont know much about any of them.
In reply to mazdeuce:
I've owned older cruisers. They aren't DDable. Way too slow and no top end. Actual max speed is around 75, but at 70 they are streaming and even a 60 is uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, they are very capable but rust, slow, and not that good looking just don't appeal to me right now. FWIW, I've owned 2 40s and a 60.
The FJ60 was the last manual formally imported. You can get diesel manuals but they are grey market and sick money.
Sometimes I kind of wish we still had a national 55mph speed limit. Lots of older cars would be safer/saner to drive.
mazdeuce wrote: Sometimes I kind of wish we still had a national 55mph speed limit. Lots of older cars would be safer/saner to drive.
The hell you say!
Chris V, where did you get parts.
markwemple wrote: Chris V, where did you get parts.
The few parts I needed were either used from eBay or Coventry West:
or new from Atlantic British:
Would you trust Rockauto parts?
Sometimes I kind of wish we still had a national 55mph speed limit. Lots of older cars would be safer/saner to drive.
Considering how many interactions i've had with police that started over my speed (and luckily ended there too, not a foregone conclusion!), it's possible the only reason i'm still safe and whole is white privilege. Lower speed limits would probably end up ruining a lot of lives when things escalate for stupid reasons.
I have a P38 4.0 - despite the terrible reputation it's been solid and reliable and I drive it a few times a week.
The Buick V8 from the Classic through the P38 and Disco II is a beast of a motor. Not powerful or efficient but nearly unkillable.
You can find Classics that need love in the $5,000ish range. You can find P38s in that range as well. The P38 is an all around better driving car if you can maintain the air suspension (5" of height adjustability!). Otherwise, get the Classic if you want simplicity.
You can fix both cars with a hammer, adjustable wrench and screwdriver. I know because that's what I carry with me in the car.
Vigo, not to hijack the thread, but that's why I think almost all speed limits should be abolished. Since no legislature wants to reset them to something reasonable, we get near-zero compliance rates and a ready-made excuse to pull people over.
Mister Fister wrote: You can find P38s in that range as well. The P38 is an all around better driving car if you can maintain the air suspension (5" of height adjustability!).
My '01 4.6 HSE was solid and a really nice driving vehicle:
Towed our 19 ft travel trailer all over the east coast. The air ride is dead simple to keep maintained or repair (and cheap, with the airbags themselves only costing about $100 per corner and taking less than 10 minutes a corner to replace. Source: me doing it at 100k miles as the bags had started to age crack). You can also replace the air ride with straight coils if you want to eliminate that altogether, but a lot of Rangie owners are switching back from coils to air as it just drives better in more conditions and it's not expensive to maintain.
I only got rid of it because we were moving to a larger travel trailer that exceeded it's tow rating.
Are the air systems on a p38 cheaper than a classic?
They're about the same, but the Classics only had it in later years (like my '95, though that one had coils put in before I got it).
compressor, lines, etc are better in the P38
weren't those available as a 2 door?
In reply to mad_machine:
Yes. And those are noticably more expensive on this side of the pond
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