What Happened to Samson, My FJ Cruiser?

Here's the update since we shipped him off to Toyota.

The last four months of 2024 were an absolute sh*t show. A hurricane damaged my home, the insurance denied our claim, I had a stalker, my move to Spain was almost canceled, and I lost my dream job 10 days after I arrived.

Still, the only thing that reduced me to absolute tears was when mechanics nearly totaled my beloved Toyota FJ Cruiser.

If you know anything about me online or in person, you know there isn’t a single thing I own in all the world that means more to me than my FJ Cruiser. I used a down payment I had saved for a home to buy Samson instead, and I’ve never regretted that decision for a single second.

It was love at first sight.

I remember the day I saw one for the first time. It was 2006—my last year of high school—and I was walking to the bus stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Out of nowhere, the most beautiful beast appeared wrapped in Red Bull swag and blasting music. What is THAT? I wondered with heart emojis in my eyes. It was the newly released Toyota FJ Cruiser, and I had fallen in love with it at 16.

It took almost double that time to get my very own FJ parked in my driveway. And once I had him, that ole boy became a permanent family member. Below was his very first day at home after a proper wash.

Mechanics almost murdered the love of my life.

If you missed last year's drama, you can read about it here: We've Been MIA for a Few Weeks. Here's What Happened. Basically, mobile mechanics did shoddy work on my FJ Cruiser. Even though the signs weren’t immediately apparent, the way he smelled and sounded was off, so I drove straight to my dad’s mechanic.

Some say he broke down in that parking lot as soon as I pulled in, but really, it was me. I was an absolute mess. I was 80% Angry Jamaican Woman and 20% the wife of a man diagnosed with terminal cancer.

After a few days, I got called in for a formal diagnosis. They said it was so bad that they wanted to give it in person. I was told to mentally prepare myself for buying another car. The radiator had melted, and the engine gasket may have also blown. If that was the case, it would need to be resurfaced. The estimate was astronomically high.

It was also bad enough that they didn’t want to touch it, so we arranged for AAA to take Samson to our local Toyota dealership.

Toyota took good care of him, and now he’s home.

Toyota accepted their wounded child without a fuss and conducted full diagnostics. I was happy when they told me the gasket hadn’t blown. However, I needed to replace the melted radiator and the sensors that caused the failure.

The total repair job was under $2,000. It was by no means cheap, but keeping my ole boy on the road was priceless. He spent about a month and a half at the dealership, and my parents stopped by a few times to ensure he was okay.

Like I said, permanent family member.

Samson now spends most of his days quietly watching over Jasmine at home. But every so often, my parents start him up and take him out. He’s been hanging out with Mom at work this week.

I can’t begin to explain how hard it was to start my new chapter in Spain with Samson deserted in a parking lot in Atlanta. After four faithful years on the road without issue, someone had finally done terminal damage.

Now, he’s all patched up and ready to go.

Here’s to another 220,000-plus miles with the best adventure partner on four wheels!

As luck would have it, no sooner was Samson back on the road than Jasmine (my Keystone RV) started showing symptoms of needing repairs. The final bill was expensive! I had no idea it would take that much to fix it. In the next Free Post, I’ll share:

• What broke

• The dangers it created

• What you can do if you find yourself in that position

For paid subscribers, we’re switching gears and picking up where we left off last time. Next week, I’ll share my trip to Santiago de Compostela.

See you soon!