My wife has been hating her Crosstour since I bought it a few years ago. Abbreviated version of the story- we were moving back from overseas and I picked it out on CarMax so she’d have a car on arrival- and like some of my other gifts, it was not a hit. Live and learn. At least she kept the engagement ring- so far. Regarding the Hondstrosity- It is functional, reliable, efficient, and.... ugly. So ugly.
She’s not wrong. It is an ugly car, even to someone like me who loves wagons. It has the Kardashian booty of wagons. I’m going to use it for winter duty until my daughter starts driving next spring. Hopefully it’ll be dorky enough to keep the boys away; a dad can hope, right?
The FJ seems pretty solid for 105,000 miles. A little surface suspension and exhaust rust, so it wasn’t a garage queen, but nothing too bad for the price. It has a Ricochet skid plate (that looks unscathed for what it’s worth) and Toytec coilovers. Doesn’t look like a lift, but it could be an inch or so:
Any off-road Oppos that know about these things can educate me. The Hankooks hum, but if it doesn’t bother my wife, who cares? It won’t be our road trip vehicle. The exhaust seems a little loud, but I think it is worn-out stock rather than aftermarket.
We paid for a warranty since it might’ve been abused, and it should do fine for ski-hill and Costco duty for my wife. The plastic interior will also work for wet dog, muddy hiking boot, and garden supply duty!
Back to the Crosstour- I’m thinking of planning a drive through BC and Yukon to Denali and the arctic circle. I think with some gnarly tires and a roof rack it might be the perfect car to sacrifice to my crazy plan.... and my wife won’t mind at all if it gets run over by a logging truck or mauled by a bear!