Toyota FJ Cruiser review: the SUV Bahrain's dune runs will miss
4/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy an FJ Cruiser if you actually use an SUV the way Toyota built this one to be used — sand, gravel, and the causeway runs into Saudi Arabia's desert tracks — because on tarmac alone it is thirstier and less refined than a Prado for no real benefit. Rear visibility through the small windows and half-doors is the daily annoyance every owner mentions, and it is a fair trade for a chassis that shrugs off dunes a modern crossover would not attempt. Values are already holding firm since production ended, so do not expect a bargain.
Pros
- Genuine part-time four-wheel drive with a locking rear differential, not a soft crossover
- 4.0L V6 shared with the Land Cruiser Prado has a strong reliability record in the Gulf
- Shorter wheelbase than a full-size Land Cruiser makes it easier to place on technical terrain
- Values have held firm since production ended in December 2022
Cons
- Rear visibility through the narrow windows and half-doors is genuinely poor
- Fuel consumption in city traffic is closer to a full-size SUV than its footprint suggests
- Ride on tarmac is firmer than a Prado's, with no real comfort upside in return
- Discontinued nameplate means values are not softening the way an aging SUV's usually do
Toyota built the FJ Cruiser as a deliberate throwback to the original 40-series Land Cruiser, wrapped it in retro styling most manufacturers would consider too risky, and then kept it in the Gulf lineup for fifteen years because the region genuinely bought it in numbers other markets did not. When Toyota finally retired it in December 2022 with a limited Final Edition, it closed out one of the more distinctive body-on-frame SUVs the brand has sold here.
Built for sand, not just styled for it
Underneath the retro panels is a genuine off-roader: part-time four-wheel drive, a locking rear differential on higher grades, and a 4.0-litre V6 shared with the Land Cruiser Prado and Fortuner of the era. On the dunes near Sakhir or across the causeway into Saudi Arabia's desert tracks, it does the job with the same unfussy competence as its more expensive Land Cruiser relatives, and the shorter wheelbase than a full-size Land Cruiser makes it noticeably easier to place on technical terrain.
The trade-offs are exactly what you would expect from a small, tall, boxy off-roader: rear visibility through the narrow windows and rear-hinged half-doors is genuinely poor, fuel consumption on Manama's stop-start traffic is closer to a full-size SUV than a compact one, and the ride on tarmac is firmer than a Prado's.
Buying one now that it is discontinued
Because production ended in 2022, values have held up rather than softened, and good examples are not the bargain the car's age might suggest. Check the locking differential and A-TRAC system actually function rather than trusting a dashboard light, inspect the underbody for damage on any car with a genuine off-road history, and expect Toyota's main dealer network to still support it well for now given how recently it stopped selling.