What do you think of this vehicle? Would you buy it? Why or why not?

It's a delight. I LOVE it.

I've had no visibility problems. You do have to get into the habit of using your sideview mirrors along with looking out the windows. And where I park in the evening, I have to thread between 2 closely spaced houses, a few parked cars and basically 'parallel' park on the left. I always back into the driveway, and it only took me a few days to be able to whip right into my space as easily as I ever did with my Caravan.

Reasons to buy an FJ? Love the utilitarian look. Having an electrical (household current) outlet is a great advantage to me (I do a lot of cooking on the road). Love the solid feel of the car. DH liked the way the engine was configured, and the fact that everything underneath is protected from damage. DD loves the look and color (of course I got Voodoo Blue). It's an absolute delight to drive, and to be honest, I find myself 'making up' errands so I can go out and cruise around the neighborhood. Seats are easy to fold up. Lots of rear space for carrying 'stuff'--it's going to be great for travelling. Can't wait to take our first vacation in ours. I love the suicide doors--makes loading groceries et al into the back seat so much easier. We were pleasantly suprised at the cost of insurance--we traded in an '89 caravan with just liability, and took out full coverage on the 2007--and our premium only went up about $250 for the year (in a very high cost insurance state). Love the 3 windshield wipers--they really give great coverage.

Disadvantages would be:
not great gas mileage. Not a problem to me--I generally use only about $10-15 of gas in a month, anyway, so gas mileage wasn't a big consideration when I went car shopping.
you have to get used to the visibility--but as I said, it's not that bad and you will become accustomed to driving it in a few days.
minor detail--the side windows are so long, that the visors are virtually useless if the sun is coming in from the side.
silly disadvantage--I don't have any place for my purse--liked that there was that well between the seats of my Caravan. Still, I wouldn't give up my FJ Cruiser for that!!!

Bottom line? I've driven a lot of cars and trucks in my 40+ years of driving. The FJ Cruiser is the most fun of any I've ever been in.

It may or may not be right for you--but why not go for a test drive, and then give it some good thought. I was back and forth to the dealership 3 times, and I don't know how many visits to the website, before I bought mine (although, I must admit, from the first second I saw the FJ on the Toyota website, I was 'in love'.)

My mailman says my husband spoils me--maybe he's right. But I love my new car, and adore the man who gave it to me. It's kind of fun to be the 'coolest old lady' on the block. All the young guys have been drooling over it, and wanting to take it out off-roading (well, that's not going to happen--LOL!)

If you do decide on an FJ Cruiser, I wish you as much happiness with it as I'm having with mine.

You are right, though--I find that this sort of supposedly sporty vehicle that's designed for the 20-something guys, are actually being driven by 50-something women. I get a lot of women my age coming up to me and asking me about my car because they like the look.

That's 3-5 gallons at today's prices. In an FJ Cruiser, that's somewhere between 45-85 miles a month. Seriously???

I'm a housewife. I go to my mom's a couple of times a week--that's a 5 mile round trip. Maybe a couple of trips to the store, maybe a night out to a restaurant--none of which are more than 2-3 miles away. I don't put that many miles on my car--except in July, when I work 4 days a week (2 miles from my house).

Fact is, I filled my tank 3 weeks ago and I still have over a half tank of gas in there.