10,000 Days in the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser

. took an hour to get out of the parking garage and back onto the I-8 freeway). But the FJ's short body made it easy to maneuver, and for better or for worse, its sheer height made it a pleasant place to bide my time because I didn't have other people's headlights streaming into the cabin -- can't say the same for the mid-90s Kia Sephia in front of me.

And at 18 mpg, my fuel economy for the trip wasn't bad, either -- probably made possible by the fact that I shut off the engine completely for the 20 minutes I wasn't moving at all.

Other observations: Seat comfort is marginal in the FJ due to the flat seat-bottom cushion. And the V6 engine is very smooth, but the transmission could certainly be a little quicker with downshifts.

Not that I got too hung up on the occasional late-arriving downshift. Mainly I was thinking about the concert, which I really enjoyed. For anyone interested, the playlist was jambi, st*nkf**t, 46&2, schism, lost keys/rosetta stoned, pushit, wings for marie/10,000 days, lateralus, vicarious and aenema.

Erin Riches, Senior Content Editor, 25,240 miles