It's rugged, but it's no Jeep Wrangler
The FJ Cruiser has arrived, and despite earlier suggestions from the Toyota folks that this would be a major challenger to the Jeep Wrangler, I really don't think the folks at Jeep have anything to worry about.

While the Wrangler is undoubtedly a competitor, the FJ is aimed more at rugged, family-style compact SUVs. Those vehicles include the Nissan Xterra, which is probably the FJ's closest competitor, but also the Jeep Liberty (particularly the Rubicon model), the new Jeep Patriot, and even Toyota's own Tacoma pickup, rigged for off-road use.

Our test vehicle was something of an oddity. It was the 2007 FJ Cruiser with two-wheel drive, which will never, ever appeal to anyone who would want to take the vehicle on serious off-road trails. And it's really odd that Toyota would bring me a two- rather than four-wheel-drive model to test. The company says it expects 93 percent of FJ sales to be four-wheel drives...

source (http://www.syracuse.com/sports/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1161680575143750.xml&coll=1)

interesting... I don't like the reverse opening rear alf doors. They are too difficult to put a kid in a child seat... or worse yet try getting a sleping one out of one while leaning through the half door.

By the way, I can't get the article to display...

Nonetheless, it does bring up that valid point. The Wrangler is in a league of it's own because, at least up until this year, it never was designed to be a family car.

I'd be curious to see some showdowns between the stock 4 -door Wrangler, FJ Cruiser, XTerra, etc. That'd be more of an interesting comparison.

I test-drove an FJ cruiser with a friend (he drove it) and it was a 2WD model because that was all they had. Anyways, it was very crammed, especially the back seat. And the suicide doors it has are very, very tight to get in and out of. Plus, my friend said that when driving it it felt really heavy, especially during turns and around curves. I can't imagine how much heavier the 4WD model would be. I don't think Jeep should have any concern about competition. Like the source says, the FJ cruiser will be a competition with a Liberty, but not a Wrangler.

The last time I checked, there was no Rubicon version of the Liberty. The writer needs to go back and check his facts.

hahah yeah, i was wondering that too!

I need to find the whole article again... near the end the writer goes off on how the FJ priced out at $29K... for a 2WD!!!

that's about right. the one we test-drove that was a 2WD was almost $30K, and the salesperson said that they weren't doing any rebates because that was actually cheaper than in some states. it definitly was not worth it.

The thing is the two door Wrangler is NOT a familly oriented vehicle but the foor door Unlimited could be. My thinking is the four door could bring people into the Jeep fold that might be thinking FJ Crusier, X-Terra or some other vehicle. I think it would be smart to offer a version of the 4 door that is more Toyota/Nissan like. Add the 4.0 engine, better brakes ( I did not like the brakes) and MAYBE an independent front suspension (if that is posssible). All sales help and if you can add a version that increases Jeep sales I say do it.