Toyota Stalking, er...um, SPOTTING with Charlie™ (Cars, vans, SUVs, Lexus, Scion, and brochures)!

August 28th, 2021:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

2020 Subaru BRZ


September 4th, 2021:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

2-owner 1985 Toyota Celica GT-S with Toyota-authorized convertible conversion by ASC! I really am a Toyota nerd; There were millions of dollars worth of Corvettes, Ferraris, at least two Lamborghinis that I saw, two or three McLarens, and so many Porsches that I lost count! However, I made a beeline for this beauty when it showed up!


September 4th, 2021:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

The owner expressed disappointment at it not being a stick shift, but it was just too clean for him to pass up!

 

It even has power windows in the backseat!

 

Totally stock except for the Pioneer HU; The only thing on this car that does not work is the A/C...

 

Why do people replace damaged panels on their cars and not bother to paint them? I'm not talking about pulling a door, a fender, or a hood off a wrecked car of a different color, but rather installing a brand new unpainted panel...

That's the case with this 2004 Lexus ES330 I spotted in the parking lot where they were holding the Cars & Coffee; I took a closer look at this car, even peaking through the window to get an idea of what kind of condition the car is in. In addition to the clearly mismatched hood, the paint on this car is shot, but the interior was actually very clean! On top of that, this car has less than 150K miles, which is actually pretty low for a 2004 vehicle in 2021; According to Carfax, this car has had three owners, but has spent its entire life in the Long Island area...

On another note, the only reported accident was in May 2009, when the car would have been six years old; The car also has a clear title. This leads me to believe that the hood was replaced as the result of a later incident, and the owner likely only has liability insurance on the car due to its age, so they were forced to pay out of pocket for repairs...

I just don't get why they didn't find a hood from a wrecked Lexus (and thus a painted hood) and put it on this car; The paint may not have matched, but it wouldn't have gotten all rusty...


September 4th, 2021:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

This is actually one of the better looking Prisms I've seen in the last few years, and this one is old enough to still be badged as a Geo rather than a Chevy! If you look closely, you'll see that it has a brand new license plate, and temp tag in the back window. I also tried running the license plate through Carfax and got no result; This would indicate that the current owner literally just bought it. As such, I could not get the year...

The inspection stickers expired in January 2021, which means the car was probably sitting for a little bit, but aside from the peeling paint the car is in okay condition overall; Also, see that white apple logo on the left side of the trunk lit? I am 99% sure that is the logo for Apple Automotive Group, which is based in York, Pennsylvania; York is less than an hour from Buck Motorsports Park, where I spotted this car, so that means this car has probably spent its whole life in the area where it was bought new!

My overall opinion of the Geo Prism is that it is a genuinely good car, which probably has something to do with the fact that it is based on the Toyota Corolla, a car that is legendary for its reliability even when poorly maintained!


September 4th, 2021:

Quarryville, Pennsylvania

 

I always get excited when I find one of these, and when I found this one shortly after taking pictures of the red Geo Prism in the same parking lot, my reaction was no different; I've had a soft spot for the 1991-1997 Toyota Previa for a while now; The 1994 Previa LE shown below is rear-wheel drive, which from what I've seen is not particularly common in Pennsylvania. Most of the ones I've seen in PA and NJ are all-wheel drive models, and even more surprising is that according to the Carfax report, this one has the naturally-aspirated 2.4L 4-banger instead of the supercharged one...

Non-supercharged Previas made something like 135hp, whereas the supercharger brought power up to a much more competitive 158hp; Based on what I'm reading online, the Carfax report would refer to this van as an LE S/C if it had the supercharged engine. This is not say that the base 2.4L was a bad engine; In typical Toyota fashion, it was incredibly reliable! According to Carfax, this particular van had over 220K miles on it when it passed its annual emissions test in June 2021!

The Previa was first sold in the United State in 1990, as a 1991 model, but the supercharged engine did not become available until 1994 (which is the year of this van); However, even then it was only available as on option on the LE trim (which this example has; Why someone opted to get the top trim, including the very expensive CD/cassette combo that it still has, but not the more powerful engine is beyond me!). Anyway, the supercharged engine was available on all models beginning in 1995, becoming standard on AWD models but remaining an option for RWD models; I believe that by 1996 it was standard on all models regardless of whether it had AWD or not...

The one thing I don't like about the Previa is that it has horrible crash-test ratings; However, if one drives defensively I don't think this is a big deal. My parents had a 2000 GMC Safari, and the Astro/Safari did horrible in the NHTSA crash tests, but I never felt unsafe riding in that van (It would have been nice if the A/C could hold a charge for more than a summer though)!

I don't think there are any unsafe vehicles, only unsafe drivers!

 

The 1994 Toyota Previa LE I saw in the spectator lot at Buck Motorsports Park; 1994 was the first year for the much more powerful supercharged engine, though it was an option that this particular Previa does not have...



Seriously though, I nerd out whenever I see one of these!


September 4th, 2021:

Quarryville, Pennsylvania

 

2nd Gen RAV4 rocking the 1st Gen RAV4 wheels!


September 4th, 2021:

Quarryville, Pennsylvania

 

Normally, I wouldn’t photograph a Boring Beige Corolla, but this was parked across the street from my friend’s house and it was in decent shape compared to other Corollas from the same era that I’ve seen recently…


September 6th, 2021:

Chalfont, Pennsylvania

 

2008 Pontiac Vibe; Another one from the Truck Nationals that I forgot to add...


August 8th, 2021:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

Can it be?!?! Yes! A 2002-2006 Camry that's not only actually in good shape, but has all four of its OEM wheel covers!

I ran the license plate through Carfax and this is a 2002 model (first year for this body style) with the XLE trim...


September 9th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

I saw this near the Camry; 2004-2005 RAV4 Sport


September 9th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

A Picture of the '85 Celica convertible that I forgot...

 

September 10th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

September 11th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2002 Camry LE; Amazing! Another one that has all four OEM wheel covers!


September 11th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2004 Scion XA


September 11th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2003 Highlander 4WD V6; The license plate comes back to a Limited on Carfax, but while this is not a base model (a base model would not have the alloy wheels), it is clearly not a Limited...

It has cloth seats, no sunroof, and no foglights; All 1st Gen Highlanders, even base 4-banger FWD models, had the ETR/Cassette/CD combo (including this one). All Limited models had the JBL sound system, and I'm pretty sure I've seen mid-level models with cloth seats, foglights, and even the coveted (in my opinion) JBL audio system; I wasn't paying enough attention to see if this example has the JBL system, but I took pictures of it because it such a beautiful color combination!


September 11th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2009 Scion TC


September 11th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

2021 Supra


September 12th, 2021:

Quakertown, Pennsylvania

 

September 15th, 2021:

Ivyland, Pennsylvania

 

I took this picture to show why I generally don't take pictures of 2002-2006 Camrys; This shitbox is in bad need need of a paint job, has damage to the rear bumper, and if you look closely at the lower left corner of the windshield you will see a New Jersey rejection sticker (Meaning it failed an emissions test; It has a Pennsylvania plate though so I'm guessing the current owner recently bought it). Also, this is a "loaded" LE model; For this generation, LE was the base trim, but this example has the V6 (which by default gave you disc brakes) and a sunroof...


September 15th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

A Matrix wearing the wheels of its badge-engineered twin, the Pontiac Vibe!


September 15th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania