Not that this is a particularly new idea, but it sure makes my life easier. If not for the rear-hinged half-doors on the Toyota FJ, this is what it would look like if you were trying to get a child seat past the front seat -- already pushed as far forward as it goes.
And this is what it looks like when the rear door is open. Also the generous amount of headroom allows almost enough room to stand up while strapping my precious cargo to the seat. My daughter doesn't like the fact that the rear windows do not open, however.
Chris Walton, Senior Road Test Editor
Categories: 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
redliner says:
07:27 AM, 04/ 9/07
This is not a minivan-alternative-mommy-mobile, so the fact that the rear windows do not go down or that it has poor visability... yada... yada... yada... is realy not a big deal, becuse it never was intended to do mommy duty!
vvk says:
07:27 AM, 04/ 9/07
Boy, that a long way to climb for a small child. Poor kids...
boxermike says:
08:11 AM, 04/ 9/07
Redliner, sure, it's not intended as a "mommy-mobile"-- something you really should tell the moms around here-- but visibility and working rear windows aren't really mommy-specific features. Neither is an easily accessable rear seat.
How easy is the LATCH to find in this? Some SUV/Trucks really make the hardware hard to find/use.
redliner says:
08:28 AM, 04/ 9/07
Boxermike- All i was saying is that the people for whom this car was designed for (young 20 to 35 males) really do not car about how easy it is to get to the rear seats or how well they can see out of the back window. They car about bold retro styling, good off-road preformance, good reliability, and a fair price. Last time i looked, toyota had a good "mommy" SUV called the Highlander.
Then again, you do have a point...Just becuse the FJ was designed for off-roading won't stop moms from buying it.
boxermike says:
08:35 AM, 04/ 9/07
I like to think of it as Toyota giving the young dads (and moms) out there something that will be easy to shuttle the kids about with and then, once they're tucked safely at home, turns into a proper toy.
It's another thing I really like about the edmunds blogs; you get to read about the fun, exciting, wild stuff in the full review, while the day-to-day stuff 99% of owners will deal with are detailed here. Cars today are so multi-dimensional this sort of thing has almost become a necessity.
cwalton1 says:
09:54 AM, 04/ 9/07
The LATCH points are easy-peasy to find and, well, latch to. Regarding comments on this not being a mommy/daddy mobile, the fact that the rear doors allow for this kind of rear seat access takes the FJ from occsional-weekend rock-crawler for single-guys/sporty-girls, to everyday-useful for a family-guy. Without this feature, I'd never consider the FJ as a potential purchase.
lrobb says:
02:44 PM, 04/ 9/07
I agree with boxermike, only I think I could go a little further. Although it's not a "mommy-mobile" or whatever that means, it does have a rear seat and four doors. And knowing that Toyota is taking this vehicle somewhat mainstream to compete with Xterra and the like, I think at a minimum the rear windows should be functional. Poor access and very poor visibility really hurt this vehicle. I know that some folks think that the visibility issue shouldn't be a concern, but I have a completely different "view" on that point. Test drive the FJ and you'll know where I'm coming from.
mikemir87 says:
03:26 PM, 04/ 9/07
I drive an Element and do the FJ's rear windows atleast pop out?
Also I have test drove an FJ and i prefer the element way more. I know Element can't go off road (well it can/has but im sure FJ's a bit better) but i'd still take it over the FJ. Which i think is very expensive and a bit of a gas guzzler. Element gets 18-20 mpg and im sure FJs arent too close to that. Also mine has AWD and has been EXCELLENT in the snow.
My biggest gripe w/ the FJ is the back seat...its so tight compared to the element in which two people can sit indian style on the ground between seats. I sat in back of an FJ and could barely squeeze out of it its so cramped, everyone else i was with who tried also said its hard to get out of.
Element you sit in it with comfort and still have decent room behind seats for cargo. FJ's seat should have been pushed more back..
jerrywimer says:
08:06 AM, 04/10/07
If it didn't have rear-hinged back doors, then it'd have normally-hinged back doors. So your point about the amount of space available to get between the back of the front seat and into the rear past the pillar isn't really valid. Most people with four normal doors (ie. anyone with a crew cab truck, sedan, etc.) don't try to fit a car seat or a child into the rear through the front door opening- they just open the back door.
The reason I point this out is that my 04 Silverado had rear-hinged back doors (extended cab). While it didn't have the space between the front and rear seats that the FJ appears to have, I had the same ease of access to the rear seat with my child seat and my children (to buckle them in) from outside that the FJ does. The fact that it was at almost the perfect height meant I didn't really care that I couldn't stand in front of the seat inside the vehicle either.
But those rear doors can't be opened unless and until the front doors have also been opened. And in most parking lots (*not* parallel parking), that means that you end up trapped between the doors because of the lack of room to move around them. With four normal doors you close the front, open the rear, put seat / child in (or take he / she / it out), then close the door. No sweat. It's one thing I really like better about my Avalanche's doors over the Silverado extended cab. Sure the access was great away from parking lots. It's just that parking lot situations seemed to occur an awful lot, as I bet they do for the FJ too.