Used Car of the Day: 2007 Toyota F Cruiser TRD Manual

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

We at TTAC hope you're enjoying this new "used car of the day" feature. Remember, it's not meant to sell the cars, just to get you guys talking about some cool cars for sale -- even if that means you mocking a pick.

And for us older Millennials, one of the cooler vehicles of our generation was the Toyota FJ Cruiser. Divisive looks aside, it was a bad-ass off-roader available with three pedals. I spent a good chunk of my 20s wanting one.


Now, for about the price of a new Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, I could finally take one home. I won't, for a variety of reasons, mostly related to my bank account, but the option is available.

And believe me, this one tempts. I also liked the Acura RSX back in the day, but I wouldn't have bought the one featured here a few days ago -- too much work needed. In this case, though, the owner claims no real issues beyond some minor cosmetic imperfections. The mileage is 142K, so a bit high, but not surprising given the rig's age. The driver claims he or she only does 8K miles per year, but that must be an average since the 8K miles per year for 15 years works out to 120K miles.

The presence of a stick-shift makes this FJ at least 10 percent more desirable. Save the manuals, and all that.

There are also the TRD performance bits. One major mechanical issue to note -- the control arms have been replaced, along with the battery and alternator.

I rarely want to buy any of the vehicles featured here. I make picks based on what I think you guys will like to argue about. But this one made me pause. Buy it, so I don't have to.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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3 of 18 comments
  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Nov 30, 2022

    The birfield joints on these older units tend to need a rebuild and are very expensive to replace.

  • Scott Scott on Dec 01, 2022

    An excellent pick. 2007 TRD special edition was the most well equipped FJ compared to the rest. Finding a manual in these is impossible. 141 k is nothing. Whoever buys this can probably drive this another 200 k. These cars are the bitcoin of automobiles with one of the best resell values. These will easily bring in Supra like prices in a few years. Mark my word. They do not make good vehicles like this anymore.

    • Teddyc73 Teddyc73 on Dec 01, 2022


      I'm writing this down right now for future reference. Actually, it's not impossible. Here is one.

  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh wut is this ... wut ?
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Defender looks way better than the Bronco in both 2-door and 4-door.
  • ToolGuy I found this particular episode to be incredibly offensive.I am shocked that eBay Motors is supporting this kind of language and attitudes in 2024.I will certainly keep this in mind next time I am choosing where to buy auto parts (I buy a LOT of auto parts).
  • SaulTigh When I was young in the late 80's one of my friends had the "cool dad." You know the guy, first to buy a Betamax and a C-band satellite dish. Couple of stand up arcade games in the den. Bought my friend an Atari 2600 as soon as they came out. He had two of these crap heaps. One that only ran half the time and one for parts in the yard. My middle school brain though he was the most awesome dad ever, buying us pizza and letting us watch R rated movies recorded on free HBO weekend. At the time I though he was much better than my boring father.Now with adult hindsight, I now know he was "dad who should have taken better care of his family" and not had so many toys.
  • Dave Has to be Indy 500. Many more leaders and front passes than NASCAR, and Monaco is unwatchable with the inability to pass on that circuit.
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