[FJ Cruiser Matt]

Frame- The OP appears to be in Roseville CA. As far as I can tell the frame issue pops up with guys dealing with road salt. The OP might be dealing with an occasional trip to Tahoe etc, but that's about it.



Motor- I drove several 07- 09's and 10-11's before I bought my 07. Honestly, I could not tell a difference in torque, despite the hp difference. Maybe its there, but it is subtle.



Rear end- see my post above.



All that said, I would have loved to have bought a 2010+, but the price difference was just not justified at least for my purposes, and I would rather spend it on mods.



HTH

I have driven a Tacoma that has the same engine as the 07-09 fjs and the only place you notice less power is passing on the highway. Other than that, I swear that the 07-09 engine feels faster around town. I would not let that be the deciding factor at all.


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[gerry100]

In actual dollars or by percent? In either case, the 07 may yield a better deal as far as depreciation is concerned. The OP is indicating that he can get a 07 for $11k less than the 14. Hard to say for sure but I would imagine that most of the "heavy" depreciation is already rung out of an 8 YO vehicle. 11k is ALOT of delta in this case.

If the 07 is worth 65% of a 14, not enough depreciation has happened

 

[luk4mud]

^ Agree, a typical 8 YO vehicle should be worth less than 1/2 the price of the new version. But we now know that the FJ is not typical. Add to the equation that every 4wd model I have ever encountered has a baseline price- for example even a completely worn out Jeep is worth $5k it seems.

We also know that the near new FJs are selling for MORE than their MSRP now. If they have appreciated in value (at least temporarily) I would posit that the older ones benefit from that effect as well. The FJ prices will either come crashing down (not likely) or hold their value quite well, like the FJ40s have.

Consider this scenario. A new 2007 base with the typical options sold for right at 29k at MSRP. I just paid 24k for that vehicle, or 83% of its original MSRP. Not exactly an investment but not bad either.

 

[jbreddawg]

Having owned an 07 since 3 days after they came out up until trading it in on a 14 a month ago I can tell you, go for the newer one (10-14) if you wallet can swing it. Just a better overall package . They worked out the bugs, added options, seems more refined in almost every way. If all you want is a fun vehicle you can mod and have cheaper payments, the 07-09 are fantastic ! Bottom line, you cant go wrong with either, go with the best you can afford .