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

Normally I do not bother with Priuses newer than 2003, but the Prius C comes in numerous whacky (even for a hybrid) colors; This one honestly looks like a New York taxi in this hue, but I only think they use the standard-sized Priuses and Prius Vs as taxis and NYC.

On another note, this one is far too clean to have ever been a taxi; I saw a 300K mile ex-taxi Prius that the second owner had bought for a song, for the sole purpose of using it to drive for DoorDash. He never bothered to repaint it; It was the standard issue taxi yellow and you could still see the outlines of the taxi company name, phone number, dispatch number, etc...

As you can see, this one is pretty nice!


December 22nd, 2021:

Lahaska, Pennsylvania

 

The Prius C was sold in the United States from models years 2012 to 2019; The federal backup camera mandate went into affect in May 2nd, 2018...

It would appear that the the Prius C sold a lot better before the backup camera mandate went into affect, because most of the ones I see in my day-to-day life (including the "taxi yellow" example above) do not have backup cameras.

I called an Uber once after a night of drinking, maybe 3 or 4 years ago, and it was a Prius C; I ended up riding shotgun because the backseat was so cramped, but it seemed to be a well-built vehicle, with the quality you'd expect from any Toyota product. The owner had nothing but good things to say about it.

 

I'm guessing this Solara is a 2004-2005 model because it actually has a factory CD/cassette combo; When my mom's side of the family flew out to Hawaii for my cousin's wedding in July 2009, my aunt and uncle rented a red Solara convertible that was no more than a year old at the time, and it had an an AM/FM stereo with a CD player and an auxiliary input (which I used to play my iPod) but no cassette player. I think Toyota did away with cassette players across the board after about 2007...?


December 24th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

I found this MR2 behind the dealer when I went to check out their 2022 Tundra inventory...


December 24th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

I don't think my dad's 2003 Matrix had a cassette player.

 

Peruzzi Toyota is asking such rate-inducing prices for used vehicles that they won't even put them on the window stickers; I first noticed it with this 2019 Camry that has almost 40K miles...

 

After looking the car up online, I can see why they're not putting the prices on the window sticker; This is used Mercedes E-class money for a 3-year old Camry!

 

And here, we have a 2010 Corolla with almost 120K miles for almost $10K...

 

And next to it, a mint 2008 Corolla with barely over 94K miles, the price of which isn't even listed on the dealer website; This leads me to believe that they are asking more for it than the higher mileage 2010!

 

After getting a new battery installed in the truck, I headed to the Wawa across the street to satisfy a snack craving; It is there that I saw the white T4R and these sweet rides! There was a whole group of guys, including one with a brand new 2022 Supra and one with this 2008 Lexus GS460!


December 26th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

Brand new 2022 Supra; The owner is younger than me, and he got this car below sticker because he knows some people!


December 26th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

In the original run of Rugrats (1991-1994), Angelica's parents had a 1991 Toyota Previa...

 

I understand that issues would have arisen if the producers called this a Toyota Previa, but who came up with the name "Wahorn"...?

 

The name "Wahorn" can be seen on a gas stove in Stu and Didi's kitchen in The Rugrats Movie as well, so I'm thinking it's the last name of somebody who worked on the show; In Hey Arnold! some of the shops in Arnold's fictional hometown of Hillwood, Washington were named after people who worked on the show.

 

Very well-drawn interior...

 

Also, for years I never knew where Rugrats took place, but the fact that one episode revolved around a blizzard and the area where they lived was shown to get significant snowfall at other times led me to believe that series was set somewhere in the Midwest or Northeast; However, just look at Stu and Didi's house...

I have seen Southwestern style houses like that in my neck of the woods, but not many; If you look closely in some episodes, you will quickly realize that the Pickles family and their friends live San Bernardino County, California. More specifically, they live in Yucaipa, California; This is made obvious by the name of a high school in an episode where Tommy's mom Didi, a high school home economics teacher, brings him to said school for the purpose of teaching her class how to change a diaper. Cars are also shown to have classic blue California plates with golden yellow lettering, and Phil and Lil's dad Howard makes a reference to "the demolition derby in Barstow".

 

Stu and Didi were shown to have a red Previa in a few episodes, but this was retconned out when baby Dil was born; Stu drove a blue 1970s Citroen DS, and Didi drove a green 1980s Volvo wagon (with a mishmash of styling cues from from both the 240 and 740). In an episode where Stu buy a used late model Previa to accommodate his growing family (and it's called a Pastorelli for some reason), nothing is said about this red van from episodes past; Despite the fact that Grandpa Lou is seen driving it in this episode, it is actually Stu and Didi's van...

 

In another episode; The backdrop also strongly hints at the series being set in Southern/Inland California...

 

Here is the yellow minivan that Stu bought after Dil was born, called a Pastorelli; This was the episode where Stu bought the van, and Grandpa Lou can be seen bringing up the rear in Stu's Citroen, which they decided not to trade in...



The inside of the van sorta resembles a Previa, but exterior barely does; Also, Stu states that this van has 300hp...



The earliest Previas had a paltry 135hp, and even the later supercharged versions only had 160hp; The last Caravans as well as the current Chrysler Pacificas have like 285hp, but I am pretty sure that no minivan in North America ever came from the factory with 300hp!

 

A 1991 Previa in Rugrats in Paris, clearly wearing a roughly 1988-1993 California plate...

 

Background vehicle in The Rugrats Movie...

 

1999 Lexus RX300 with 156K original miles


December 28th, 2021:

Ivyland, Pennsylvania

 

My grandma's 2002 Coach Edition did not have heated seats, likely because it was purchased in Florida, but this one does; I've never seen a heated seat setup where the driver's seat had to be turned on in order for the passenger seat to be on...

 

My grandma hates the heat, even in winter, and my late grandpa was always cold; When my aunt blew the engine in my Grandpa's 1993 Lincoln Continental, they decided not to replace it because neither of them drove very much. The Lincoln went to the great parking lot in the sky in 2004, and my Grandpa forced to give up his license in 2010 at the age of 86 due to health issues; Even when my grandpa still had his license, my grandma did most of the driving, and I guarantee you many fights would have broken out during long car rides because my grandpa would have wanted the heated passenger seat on!

 

One thing I hated about the 1999-2003 RX is that they are one of the worst vehicles ever for a car audio enthusiast, and this played a significant role in promoting my grandma to sell hers as well...

Until recently, there was no aftermarket dash bezel or reconfigure kit that would allow for the installation of an aftermarket head unit. I went on a Lexus forum a couple years ago, before Grammy decided to sell, to research installing an aftermarket radio; Grammy was willing to pay to install a backup camera, and the obligatory touch-screen radio, which would also give her Bluetooth handsfree calling (something that even $100K+ vehicles lacked in 2002). I found a thread from 2006 on this Lexus forum, where a member from California detailed the install of a double-DIN touch screen HU in his then-fairly new 2001 RX300 using a dash bezel that he had fabricated himself; It turned out very well, and I would have pursued this if it were my RX300, but after talking it over with Grammy she decided to just sell it to a family friend and buy a new car...

 

When I had cruise control installed in my Taco last March, I asked the guy at the shop if they could install an aftermarket HU in a 1999-2003 Lexus RX300, and to my absolute shock there was an elaborate reconfiguration kit that would allow for the installation of a double-DIN head unit!

The kicker was that the damn thing cost $600, just for the kit; A decent HU would have cost another $300-$400, so by the time all was said and done you were looking at over a grand if you didn't do the install yourself! The reason it cost so much is because the HVAC controls were integrated, and I would have bought it if I had an RX300, though I would have enlisted the help of my neighbor Ryan (who did the backup camera, sub, and amp in my Taco) to install it rather than paying a shop to do it!