I'm glad I didn't go with the FJ
 

16 months ago I thought I would get an FJ, but I knew even Toyota's 1st year vehicles have problems, and people were being foolish and bidding them up at dealers anyway, so I bought a '97 4Runner instead. I loved it so much I bought another recently.

Meanwhile, FJ demand has slackened to the point that people are buying at invoice, and a couple of serious issues have cropped up. $1200 windshields, steering shimmies and now sheetmetal fatigue in the engine bay. If FJ sheetmetal cracks after only one year, what happens after 10?

Maybe in another 5 years when they have the issues resolved and the supply of '96-00 manual transmission 4Runners is depleted, I'll take another look.....

I have heard about the windshields but that is the first I have heard about the steering and metal fatigue.

Problems
 

I don't know if it is kosher to mention the website, but there are some damn scary pictures of cracked engine bays on another website. And multiple steering shimmy/vibration threads, similar to what you read about 4th gen 4Runners.

People are still trying to track when it happened, but apparently Toyota started welding in some reinforcements into the problem area after some number of vehicles were produced. It sucks to be an early adopter....

List the website!

Post up the other site. We're curious.

Heard about the bay fatigue yesterday. I'm interested to hear what they've done to resolve it...

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forum...body-rips.html

No problems on my end.
And I am 100% happy being a first year buyer :D

Toyota will take care of this problem.
And yes, I am on my 2nd windshield, and I am sure I will get another one before next summer.
This is nothing new with rigs that have a near vertical windshield.

The front end shimmy I have not read about over on the huge FJ forum, and I spend almost as much time over there as I do here.

I would not trade my rig for anything right now, I am well pleased with it.

Oh man, I can see there being cost issues with new vehicles, but not the metal fatigue, that looks really bad.

So does this.
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forum...ive-crack.html

Toyota is already aware of the issue, as they monitor the big FJ site and they also monitor YotaTech on a daily basis.

If it happens to mine, it will repaired under warranty.

$1200 for a windshield?
 

Sure, the more vertical the windshield, the more cracks you'll see. But the windshield is $1200. Twelve-hundred dollars. That's nuts.

You're OK with $1200 a year for windshields?

Really?

There are too many other issues with that rig, too. The sheetmetal on the hood is glued on to the frame underneath, and in hot climates the glue fails. Ooops.

These things have only been on the road a little over a year. I'm sure Toyota will get a handle on it eventually, but this is a Chrysler/GM type first year effort from what I can see. The resale of all '07s will be hit by this. Just like the resale of 4Runners from the head gasket era. There will just be a blanket 'Stay away from the '07' label put on these.

The windshield was $1.6K :D
Check out post #29
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f135...ruiser-109036/

But...and I say but...I only had to pay $50.
So yes, I am fine with the windshield.
Heck, if I had to replace it every two months, $50 is chump change.

The hood separating in hot climates.
No worries, I live in the state of rain and mild temps :laugh:

Resale?
I do not plan on selling mine.
I plan on having it a very long time.

Most FJ owners feel the same way about their rigs from what I have read over there and here.

Sure, there are a few glitches, but you live with it and get it fixed.

Again, no complaints here except for nose/hand prints on my windows from curious gawkers.

Is the metal fatigue issue being caused by stress or what? The problem I see with the windshield, is insurance is bound to be higher because of it. It's not the first I've heard of glass being costly though. A friend of mine roosted his brand new BFG's and popped out the back window of a co-workers Porsche. That cost his insurance company over $1000. That was for a car 15 years old at the time.

There is discussion here as well.
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=171443

Actually the $$$ of the windshield has gone down.
Mine was for genuine Toyota glass and the top molding.

The name slips me, but a glass company that starts with P is cheaper.

I do not think the insurance is any worse than any other new $30K rig.

I am sure the glass will be dealt with too, as Toyota is aware of it.
Maybe we will get 1 foot thick windshields ;)

$1600??
 

Good God.

Trust me, if you put in a $1600 claim every year, your insurance company is going to jack up your rates, and probably drop you like a rock after the third or fourth claim. I've heard some states have laws that insurance companies must fix glass without holding it against the policyholder, maybe you are one of the lucky ones, but I live in CO, and trust me, after the third $1600 claim here you are going to be either dropped or your rates will skyrocket. This issue alone disqualifies the FJ for me. The longest I've gone without replacing a windshield is two years, and that was after driving it for over a year with a huge crack. In fact, I drive them until they are shotpeened to a thousand points of light regardless of cracks. Colorado is the worst place on earth for glass.

Hopefully in a few years there will be a less expensive glass alternative, and the first year issues will be history.

I drove three new UZJ-100's (Land Cruisers) between '98 and '00. Each went through two windshields due to the gravel used on our roads during the Winter snows (six in total). Each of those cost $1,800. My full insurance coverage cost declined during that time.

When I voluntarily changed insurance carriers, they had a record of the windshield replacements and assured me it would not affect rates.

Maybe you should check out another carrier, or maybe things are different there, but from what I've read it's not related to a design or manufacturing defect.

I'm on my second FJ. Neither has needed a windshield repair of any kind.

My insurance company already told me my rates would not climb on account of the windshield, even if I had to replace it several times.

Not all insurance groups are the same.
I dig my carrier.

I've owned my FJ for a year and a half now and I have the same wind shield. I have a couple of chips buy I applied window epoxy and they have not grown at all. Even thur a winter and sumer. I live in a fairly hot place(near Sacto) and no hood glue problems. I just checked and I didn't see any cracks either. I'm very happy with my FJ and Toyota in general.

Differs by state
 

The Republik of Oregon must be one of the states where glass coverage is mandated. Trust me, in CO you'd be dumped in the high risk pool for six glass claims in two years.

I don't know anyone who can afford $50 deductible here. I have $500.

Over on the other website there are a lot of pissed off people over this issue.

You're pretty damn smart for buying the 1997 4runner. Esp because the 1996 they changed the body style, and redesigned most all of the 4runner components. I've never heard of anything like the sheet metal fatigue.....doesn't sound real safe, though.

My comp or collision is not $50, only the glass is.
Many insurance carriers have special glass policies which mine does.

My comp is $250, collision is $500.