Toyota Stalking, er...um, SPOTTING with Charlie™ (Land Cruiser, FJC, and Lexus LX/GX Edition)!

October 9th, 2020:

Allentown, Pennsylvania

 

February 13th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

2018 Land Cruiser


February 13th, 2021:

Jamison, Pennsylvania

 

February 13th, 2021:

Jamison, Pennsylvania

 

Well, I was thinking about a newer Landcruiser, but actually they look a bit boring on the outside.....

 

February 19th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

I really wish I could find one of these in a color besides white...


March 1st, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

April 3rd, 2021:

Warrington, Pennsylvania

 

1991 Land Cruiser; Inspection stickers expired in October 2019, and it's obviously in a state of disassembly, so I'm guessing it's an ongoing project...


April 3rd, 2021:

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

 

April 3rd, 2021:

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

 

Saw this at the dealer when I went to pick up a part today; 1996 Lexus LX450! It has Maryland plates, so I'm guessing they had to make an unscheduled stop at the dealer for something...




April 13th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

2005 Lexus GX470


April 17th, 2021:

Englishtown, New Jersey

 

2008 Lexus GX470


April 25th, 2021:

Richboro, Pennsylvania

 

2018 Lexus LX570


May 2nd, 2021:

Lahaska, Pennsylvania

 

1995 Land Cruiser


May 2nd, 2021:

Lahaska, Pennsylvania

 

2018 Land Cruiser


May 15th, 2021:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

2006 Lexus GX470


May 15th, 2021:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

2020 Lexus GX460


May 18th, 2021:

North Wales, Pennsylvania

 

2016 Land Cruiser


May 24th, 2021:

My neighborhood

 

1989 Land Cruiser GX


June 9th, 2021:

Horsham, Pennsylvania

 

June 13th, 2021:

Yardley, Pennsylvania

 

June 18th, 2021:

Hatboro, Pennsylvania

 

2020 Lexus GX460 Premium


June 18th, 2021:

Hatboro, Pennsylvania

 

1973 FJ40 restomod


June 20th, 2021:

Springtown, Pennsylvania

 

The owner of the beige 2008 GX470 shown above told me that examples without the navigation package (which includes a backup camera) are very rare; It would seem that most Lexus GXs were equipped with the navigation system and, thus, the backup camera...

I have only seen one GX (that I can remember) without these features, and it was a gray 2005ish model that I found on a small used car lot in Plumstead Township a couple years ago (Might have been in 2020, but I don't remember). I did not take pictures of that one...

I saw this 2006 Lexus GX470 in spectator parking area at the Carlisle GM Nationals, and it DOES NOT have a backup camera; A quick look through the passenger window revealed that it has the standard Lexus cassette/CD combo but no screen. I would obviously prefer one with the backup camera/navigation package because (A) it is a royal pain in the ass installing an aftermarket HU in a most Lexus vehicles (and impossible in some) and (B) even the oldest GXs already have Bluetooth and decent stereo (Why fix it if it ain't broke?)...


June 26th, 2021:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

My grandma had a 2002 Lexus RX300 Coach Edition that she bought brand new and drove for almost 17 years, putting only about 87K miles on it in that time; It never had any problems in that time. However, being a 2002 model, it lacked features that are now standard in even the cheapest econoboxes; These features include Bluetooth and a backup camera, and after seeing SUVs with automatic rear liftgates, my grandma decided she wanted that feature too. My grandma's Lexus was a front-wheel drive model with every option except navigation and heated seats, bought new at JM Lexus in Margate, Florida (for some reason, I thought the dealer was in either Boca Raton or Coral Gables); The fact that it was spec'd for a Florida buyer is why it lacked heated seats and AWD. Despite lacking AWD, it spent maybe a year of the entire time my grandma owned it in Florida (my Grandma did have two houses in Florida, one for her and one for her own mother, but she sold them both in 2005 or 2006). The Lexus was registered in Maine (where my grandma still has yet another house) from 2002 until 2006 or 2007, and then my grandma registered it in Pennsylvania not long after she bought a house here in 2006.

My grandma sold the Lexus to my dad's friend, who lives in Kentucky and owns another RX300, in 2019; It is currently living a pampered life there and has around 100K miles on it at this point.

 

My grandma sold the Lexus not because she didn't like it or because there was anything wrong with it, but because it was virtually impossible to install an aftermarket radio with Bluetooth; It became clear early on that retrofitting an automatic rear liftgate was not feasible, but my grandma decided that spending $400-$500 to install a new radio and a backup camera andholding onto the Lexus for a few more years was a better idea than spending $30,000+ on a new vehicle. I extensively researched installing an aftermarket radio in a Lexus RX300, and turned up nothing except an old thread on a Lexus forum...

The thread was from 2006 (I stumbled across it in 2018 or 2019) and the OP was a guy in California who'd managed fabricate a dash bezel and install a double-DIN head unit in his 2001 RX300; I have no idea whatsoever how to fabricate an an entire dash bezel, and nobody seem to make one for the RX300. I gave up, and Grammy ended up selling the Lexus.

It is my opinion that the factory radio in the 1999-2003 Lexus RX300 is among the worst designs ever; It's one saving grace is that it has a cassette player. If you are totally fine with not having Bluetooth or a backup camera, and just desire a way to plug in your iPod, then the factory radio is perfect. My Grandma's Lexus did not have the optional Mark Levinson speakers, but I always thought the standard factory 6-speaker system was pretty good. All Lexus RX300s equipped with the optional 6-CD changer (which Grammy's was) had it located in the glovebox; It may have been standard by 2002, but I seem to remember that while all RX300s were prewired for the CD changer so it could be installed by the dealer if buyers of lesser-equipped models wanted it, the CD changer was in fact an extra-cost option in the early years. Whatever designer decided that it was a good idea to put the CD changer in the glove compartment was an idiot and should have been fired; My parents have only owned one vehicle with a CD changer (a 2008 Acura TL) and it was located in the dash directly above the cassette player (that Acura was the last vehicle my parents owned that had a tape deck). I honestly think that a CD changer was rather pointless, especially if it was located in a remote location rather than in the dash, because what if you wanted to listen to a specific CD but couldn't find place to pull over and put it in? As for in-dash units, you have to press button before you can put the CD in, and sometimes you forget you have the maximum number of CDs in there...



My Tacoma came with a CD player, and I've never had an aftermarket radio in there that didn't have one; I have an iPod and I'm pretty that the last time I played a CD in my truck was before COVID (there might actually be a Billy Joel CD that's been in there for close to a year and a half)!

My mom's 2013 Nissan Murano and my dad's 2018 GMC Yukon both have CD players, but they also both have iPod hookups and my parents both have iPods; The Yukon's CD player doubles as the DVD/Blu-Ray player for the rear-seat entertainment system, and when I'm watching a movie back there the CD player cannot be used to play CDs through the primary speaker system. This does not bother my parents because, like I said, they both have iPods. The 2013 Honda Pilot Touring before the Yukon, and the 2004 Honda Odyssey EX before the Pilot, both had DVD players that were separate from the CD players in the radio, so I don't know exactly what GM was thinking...

I used the DVD player in the Odyssey so much that by 2009 or so it no longer worked; I used my laptop to watch movies on long car rides until my dad replaced the Odyssey with the Pilot.

 

Crutchfield sells a dash bezel for installing an aftermarket HU in a GX without navigation, but not for ones with navigation; However, like I said above, Navigation-equipped models come with a backup camera, Bluetooth, and great speakers so I wouldn't see much point in replacing the radio in one.

Crutchfield still does not offer a dash bezel kit for the 1999-2003 RX300 and says "We don't recommend replacing the radio in your vehicle"; However, this is bullshit because I found out just three months ago that there is a dash bezel kit for the RX300. One of the big downsides to the RX300's stereo system is that while the radio itself is one unit, the digital display that tells you what radio station you're listening to (and whether or not you're listening to a tape or a CD, or which of the 6 CDs you're listening too) is the same display that shows you the HVAC settings. The HVAC controls are also integrated with the radio; Late 1990s Ford vehicles (specifically the Taurus/Sable and Escort/Tracer) have the radio integrated with the HVAC controls, but it's just a panel and it was easy for an identical bezel with a cutout for a single-DIN radio in place of the factory radio to be made (these are very cheap). With the RX300, there is a slew of electronic guts attached to the factory bezel; As such, a complete bezel with relocated/redesigned HVAC controls had to be made, and this costs $600. By comparison, a complete stereo in my Tacoma with subwoofer, external amp, component speakers, and a backup camera costs about $700-$800. I am a big enough audiophile that if I had a Lexus RX300 I would spend the $600 to bring the stereo system out of the 1990s and into the 21st century, but most people including my dad's friend who bought my grandma's Lexus, do not; He wanted to put a backup camera and Bluetooth stereo in both the 2001 he bought used almost 20 years ago and the 2002 Coach Edition, but when I told him about $600 kit he said he didn't think it was worth it. I still see a good number of RX300s on the road today, most of which are in excellent condition despite the newest ones being 18 years old at the time of this post; However, I have taken a passing glance through the window of the ones I see in parking lots, and every single one of them has that overly complex factory tape deck. I may have seen one with an aftermarket backup camera mounted above the license plate, but I don't remember...

 

My verdict? If you are seeking out a Lexus GX and plan on replacing the stereo system, look for one that does not have the optional navigation system...

 

July 17th, 2021:

Mohnton, Pennsylvania