The search for a 2010+ FJ 6MT started in mid February 2019. I was looking for Iceberg (White), Quicksand (Tan) or Cement (Gray). Searching for used FJs is a chore, but trying to find a clean 2010+ 6MT with no rust is a real challenge.
The first one I test drove was a 2011 Iceberg 6MT w/ ~50k mi. I was in North Carolina in July on a family vacation and had watched it from afar (Colorado) for 6 weeks. We liked it a lot but ultimately the dealer wouldn’t budge from the $30k asking price PLUS $1700 D&H. The latter part left me disgusted so we kept searching.
Afterwards I made offers on three or four 2012+ 6MT FJs and the dealers weren’t budging. I briefly considered a 2010 in Montana with 120k on the odo, but photos provided showed substantial rust underneath.
Finally, after ~6m of searching, I found a 2013 on autotrader.com at a Hyundai dealer near Phoenix late on a Friday evening. With no pictures or details, I popped the VIN into the My Toyota site and was quickly excited after reviewing the build. 2013 Trail Teams Cement 6MT w/ Tow Package and TRD cat-back exhaust.
I reached out to the dealer for some pictures and they replied with several shoddy photos in low res. After missing several nice FJs due to dragging my feet, I decided to take a chance on this one. I bought a one-way plane ticket for $50 and flew down on the following Wednesday. Hopped in a Lyft, took a 30min drive into the desert, and there I found the cleanest, 100% stock, unmolested one-owner beauty pictured below. It had ~114k on the odo but looked and drove like new... except.
Before flying from Denver to Phoenix I reviewed the service history from Toyota. I found every oil change and routine service from day one. It appeared to be immaculately maintained except for the last two visits, one in February 2019 and the final one just a few weeks before trading it.
The owner reported a long-standing, regularly occurring 6th gear shift grind in addition to a new intermittent 2nd gear shift grind. The dealer noted they were able to reproduce the 6th gear issue and wrote the 2nd gear was “notchy”. They recommend the following in order: 1 synchro additive / performance transmission fluid, 2 remove transmission and inspect for wear / replace parts, 3 total trans replacement. Previous owner declined to service the transmission and traded it in on a new Hyundai SUV instead.
I used this knowledge during the test drive to reproduce the 6th gear issue for the salesman, but was unable to find any issue with the other gears. Based on the service report and my findings I negotiated $3300 off the already reduced price. Low $20s is what I ended up spending.
I immediately (within 2 hours) made this mine on 9/12/19 and drove it ~1100mi back home to Colorado. Ive had zero issues with the truck in the last 1500mi other than the 6th gear grind. If I focus on rev matching and not accelerating during the shift there are no problems getting it into 6th. I’ve done some research on this issue (~$4-5k for a reman trans installed, synchro repair, etc) but will start a new post on this.
My build thread starts here.
The first one I test drove was a 2011 Iceberg 6MT w/ ~50k mi. I was in North Carolina in July on a family vacation and had watched it from afar (Colorado) for 6 weeks. We liked it a lot but ultimately the dealer wouldn’t budge from the $30k asking price PLUS $1700 D&H. The latter part left me disgusted so we kept searching.
Afterwards I made offers on three or four 2012+ 6MT FJs and the dealers weren’t budging. I briefly considered a 2010 in Montana with 120k on the odo, but photos provided showed substantial rust underneath.
Finally, after ~6m of searching, I found a 2013 on autotrader.com at a Hyundai dealer near Phoenix late on a Friday evening. With no pictures or details, I popped the VIN into the My Toyota site and was quickly excited after reviewing the build. 2013 Trail Teams Cement 6MT w/ Tow Package and TRD cat-back exhaust.
I reached out to the dealer for some pictures and they replied with several shoddy photos in low res. After missing several nice FJs due to dragging my feet, I decided to take a chance on this one. I bought a one-way plane ticket for $50 and flew down on the following Wednesday. Hopped in a Lyft, took a 30min drive into the desert, and there I found the cleanest, 100% stock, unmolested one-owner beauty pictured below. It had ~114k on the odo but looked and drove like new... except.
Before flying from Denver to Phoenix I reviewed the service history from Toyota. I found every oil change and routine service from day one. It appeared to be immaculately maintained except for the last two visits, one in February 2019 and the final one just a few weeks before trading it.
The owner reported a long-standing, regularly occurring 6th gear shift grind in addition to a new intermittent 2nd gear shift grind. The dealer noted they were able to reproduce the 6th gear issue and wrote the 2nd gear was “notchy”. They recommend the following in order: 1 synchro additive / performance transmission fluid, 2 remove transmission and inspect for wear / replace parts, 3 total trans replacement. Previous owner declined to service the transmission and traded it in on a new Hyundai SUV instead.
I used this knowledge during the test drive to reproduce the 6th gear issue for the salesman, but was unable to find any issue with the other gears. Based on the service report and my findings I negotiated $3300 off the already reduced price. Low $20s is what I ended up spending.
I immediately (within 2 hours) made this mine on 9/12/19 and drove it ~1100mi back home to Colorado. Ive had zero issues with the truck in the last 1500mi other than the 6th gear grind. If I focus on rev matching and not accelerating during the shift there are no problems getting it into 6th. I’ve done some research on this issue (~$4-5k for a reman trans installed, synchro repair, etc) but will start a new post on this.
My build thread starts here.