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The Drive Home -- First impressions
The long-awaited moment finally came. Yesterday I flew to Boise to pick up my new FJ to drive it home to Portland (why? Got the exact one I wanted and a slightly better deal than it seemed like I was going to get here).
My salesman picked me up at 8:20 and took me to bkfst since the dealership wasn't opened yet. At 9:10 we arrived at the dealership and I saw my rig which was, as promised, sitting locked in the showroom out of the weather.
5 minutes of paperwork and I was out the door. The salesman (Shawn Lancaster at Peterson Toyota) really made an effort to make it a positive experience. He has some Toyota sales award for customer satisfaction that he seems intent on keeping. Basically said that if there is anything that is keeping me from reporting 100% satisfaction on the survey the will send then to call him and he will fix it. I got the impression that he was being sincere, but I guess we will find out. Regardless, my experience with this salesman and this dealership were positive. I get the impression they have their act together.
I drove for 15 minutes then stopped by an auto supply store to get some blind spot mirrors (my first modification!). They are a great thing to have. I was going to post a step by step overview of the process with pictures and everything, but decided the work to humor ratio of that effort wouldn't be worthwhile.
Followed the break in procedure outlined elsewhere on the forum (not the radical "drive it like you stole it" version, but the in between version that seemed most sensible).
I took back roads to help with break in and because it is more fun. The experience overall was good but this rig is not without flaws. Oregon is a beautiful state and it was good to be alive.
I like the look, I like the power, I like the fact that it will be a great off-road vehicle, I like the ****pit room and I hope I like the reliability. I also like the mileage (18 - 20 mpg). This is a big improvement from my Silverado with the big V8. Not as much power, but still plenty. I like the turning radius. I know some complain about it, but for me it is an improvement -- even though the Chevy is pretty good considering it's size. I also liked the 6 CD changer aspect of the stereo, which is still going to get yanked ASAP.
I am not crazy about a few things. The sound of the stock stereo is lousy, but I already have the replacement on the way. The horn is a joke. I read on the forum that this was the case, but I was still surprised. I think I can yell louder. It feels a little more squirley at speed and feels a lot lighter on the road than the Chev (probably because it is). The doors by comparison feel light and flimsy, but I'm sure they'll be fine. The seat isn't nearly as comfortable as the Chev's multi-adjustable electric everything seat, but I planned on that too and will install a lumbar support that should solve that problem. The 200 yards of muddy side road I attempted for a photo opportunity showed that the stock tires aren't really going to cut it (that fix is already planned for as well).
The biggest problem -- and I fear this is going to cause me to go berserk, is that I already have 2 major paint chips. One on the pillar and one that goes all the way to the metal on the door. Not even 500 miles on the clock and already the paint is in worse shape than my Silverado with 95K miles.
I'm going to have to assume that this was not just a freak incident and I can expect the problem to continue. At least I have an opportunity to test my salesman's mettle in helping me along the path to a solution. I know, I know, it is an off-road vehicle blah blah blah but it would be nice if it stayed on for a few hundred miles. I see elsewhere that I might be banging my head against the wall getting Toyota to deal with this, but I will at least give it a good effort.
I did get some great pictures that I'll post once I get a few spare minutes and I'll post more as I continue with my mods. Again, thanks to all for such good info on this forum. I didn't find any problems I didn't expect (except for the paint, which seemed like it was not a problem for everyone).
DR
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and glad there is at least one other poster that writes as prolifically as I do at times. Welcome! 
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