There's a 2007 Toyota FJ that's for sale for $24,000. 51,000 miles. I'm gonna go see/test drive tomorrow. I know it's 9 years old... I know it's discontinued... I know that's the price of a new renegade... I know the renegade has better gas mileage... I know all these things. But before the renegade was the FJ on my radar. Help talk me out of this. Please and thank you. Haha.
Parts, accessories, resale value, all of that will evaporate quickly on discontinued models. This is a 10 year old vehicle that had a limited production run and few units sold. Also, the Renegade will have warranty should something go boom, but with the FJ if it breaks it's all on you. While the FJ is a good vehicle it is a dead end. Like the memories of your first best girl, the thought of the potential could be sweet, but she's gotten a little longer in the tooth and ain't what she used to be.
dukes, I too was in the same boat as you, lookin at a used FJ reliving memories of the old FJs from years gone by, and I'm glad I went with the Ren!! Just got back from a road trip, 24mpg vs my old Xterra at 15mpg!! It drives like a dream and I couldn't be happier, as a good friend of mine says: "Used is used up!!"
I know... I need to stay the course and keep the renegade in my sights. The mpg and mysky are selling it for me. Unless I can find a good deal on a wrangler.
So, FJ or Renegade... unless Wrangler? Follow your bliss. Decide which vehicle is going to put the biggest stupid grin on your face, buy that one and don't look back.
If you're not worried about mileage, go JK. There is nothing better than top-down in a Wrangler, or the power and fun of the JK in the snow. I love my Renny TH, but I miss the open-air of my JKU that the MySky doesn't replace. It's good... Just never brought the goofy grins the JK ever did.
As a former FJ owner I would say go for the FJ. Yes it's discontinued but there is still quite a lot support for it.
Also my gas mileage stock on the FJ was not far off from the Renegade. The FJ was very easy to work on which was only mods, never any mechanical issues (shares a lot with the 4runner and Tacoma so parts aren't an issue though)
I looked at a 2015 XTerra "Pro X" with 6 spd manual brfore buying my Renegade. Vehicle had only about 30,000 km on it (20K miles) and was in good condition, but it was "used." Thing is, they wanted nearly as much for it as a new Rene--and with financing, it actually would have been more expensive. Better off-road than the Renegade, likely--it had solid axles and a transfer case with low gear--but basically it's an SUV body on a pickup truck frame, with fuel consumption to match. Since oh, 98% of my driving is done on-road, I'm happy I got the Rene!
