4 Alternatives To The Toyota FJ Cruiser

The Toyota FJ Cruiser is one of the coolest Toyota concept cars that made it to production, having been released in 2007. It's a retro-style mid-size SUV that took advantage of the retro craze of the 2000s and takes design and styling cues from the original Toyota FJ40 built from the 1960s to 1984.

Some argue that the FJ Cruiser is one of the models that Toyota should have never discontinued, especially with its unique look and body style. But, unfortunately, even good things come to an end and Toyota discontinued the FJ Cruiser in the USA in 2014, although it remained available elsewhere up until 2022.

During its last model year, the FJ Cruiser had a base price of $27,680 with an additional $8,185 if you get the Special Edition Package. That's a total of $35,685 for a brand-new model; if you factor in inflation, it would cost around $50,000 in 2025. Motor Trend says that used very low-mileage late-model FJ Cruisers cost around $30,000 or more — with one example even selling for over $100,000.

So, if you're looking for a reliable off-road SUV with an iconic look like the FJ Cruiser but want something brand new and within a similar price range, which car should you get? Let's look at some options and see what's currently available on the market. We'll also go in-depth in the last section and explain why we picked these models.

The Toyota FJ Cruiser's letters mean something, with "F" standing for the engine code and "J" standing for Jeep. That's because its predecessor, the FJ40, was inspired by the off-road Jeeps that the U.S. military brought to post-war Japan. So, if you're looking for a retro-style alternative to this off-road SUV, why not choose the brand that it was originally based on? Thankfully, Jeep is still churning out a model that evokes the original Willy's Jeep with the 2024 Jeep Wrangler.

If you go to the Jeep website, you can find the two-door 2024 Jeep Wrangler Sport with a 3.6-liter V6 engine starts at $31,995, making it one of the more affordable options that will still give you a good-looking retro-feeling ride. But if you want more power and are willing to drop more than $100,000 on your ride, you can get the 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition with its 6.4-liter V8 SRT HEMI instead.

One thing that you'll get with these Jeeps that isn't available on the FJ Cruiser is the ability to take off the doors and the roof, giving you a vehicle that delivers that ultimate off-roading experience. Aside from that, the Jeep Wrangler has been around for several generations and there's a good community around the vehicle. So, if you ever want advice or run into trouble with the car, or you're simply looking for a group of like-minded individuals that love the Jeep Wrangler, you will find what you need.

This model reentered the SUV scene in 2021 after Ford discontinued the Bronco in 1996. SlashGear was able to test the new era model, and you can say we're nothing short of impressed. If you really want a brand new 4x4 that makes you reminisce of the good old days, the Ford Bronco Heritage Edition will definitely turn your head.

Just like the Jeep Wrangler, you can take the doors and roof of the Bronco to help you be one with nature, and it's also not that pricier. Both the two-door and four-door Bronco starts at $37,995 in the base configuration when you check the Ford page, so you don't have to consider the price when picking a body style. 

But if you want to go to the extreme, you can also pick out the Ford Bronco Raptor with its 3.0-liter V6 engine that puts out 418 hp. It also has a HOSS 4.0 Suspension with FOX Live Vale 3.1 Internal Bypass Semi-Active Dampers for the roughest of trails — this will cost you, though, as it starts at $90,035.

Of course, we cannot leave out Toyota in a list about the FJ Cruiser, especially as it launched the new Toyota Land Cruiser model that sports a retro look. The new Toyota Land Cruiser 1958 features the same rounded headlamps upfront and somewhat boxy styling of the FJ Cruiser. However, it comes with all the modern amenities you would expect today, like a hybrid motor, a touchscreen infotainment system, and a digital instrument cluster.

This model has a couple of downsides, though. First off, it's only available with four doors — while this will give you more space and let you carry four adult passengers in relative comfort (versus the smaller FJ Cruiser), it's also longer, which might make extreme off-roading on it a bit tougher. Secondly, the 1958 trim has a starting price of $56,700 on the Toyota website — pretty expensive compared to the two other entries we've seen so far. Note that this is also the "base" trim, so if you want a model that comes with more niceties, be prepared to shell out at least $61,470 for the higher trim. 

Most people equate Land Rovers with luxury, with the 2024 Land Rover Defender 130 we reviewed costing $93,788. However, this is for the top-spec five-door model with three rows of seats. If you really don't need that much space, the three-door Land Rover Defender 90 starts at just $56,900, putting it within a stone's throw of the Toyota Land Cruiser 1958. Although this is a small SUV, it comes with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine that puts out 296 hp and 295 foot-pounds of torque. So, you'll definitely have a lot of fun with this off-road 4x4.

For the price of the larger Toyota Land Cruiser, you get one of the best Land Rovers of all time, and you'll stand from the off-road crowd with your British SUV. However, you should note that Land Rover isn't known for its reliability, having been ranked as some of the least-dependable brands that you should avoid.

We picked the vehicles on this list based on their looks — after all, you're not just getting the FJ Cruiser for its off-road chops, but also because of its iconic look. Although we tried to stick to the same price range, it seems that you'll be awfully limited at just $30,000, so we expanded the starting price to below $60,000. We did not want to go over that line, though, that's why you won't see the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon in our list.

Aside from those, all the cars in our list must have 4x4 functionality and are capable of going off-road with minimal modifications. We also considered their pedigree and chose models that are already known in the off-roading community.