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

It’s always 2009-2014 Priuses; At first I thought it was because the first car I saw had snow tires on or something, but then I started seeing more of them with this exact configuration...

I even saw one on the used lot at Thompson Toyota with the stock wheels in the back and the upgraded alloy wheels in the front...

 

In front of the Panera Bread in Doylestown while waiting for a DoorDash order yesterday...

 

Front...

 

Rear...

 

It is always a 3rd Gen Prius (XW20; 2009-2014), identifiable by the more rounded off body lines compared to the 2004-2008 model, and rear disc brakes.

 

Its probably a spare in the front.

 

I’m not positive but I think the actual wheels are the same but the same but the rear wheel has a hub cap. Priuses came with aluminum wheels and hubcaps that cover them.

actually I think they must have just bought a different stock wheel from a junk yard or reseller because they messed one up.

 

Yarp.

https://priuschat.com/threads/anyone-painted-their-2016-oem-wheels-yet.166391/

People hit their front wheels on curbs a lot more often and toss the covers. And then don't rotate their wheels, so they stay up front.

 

Nah, it had it on the left too...

 

I looked really close and it’s not the same wheel; The rear wheel is a black steel wheel with plastic cover and the front is a legit alloy wheel...

 

Why don’t they rotate their wheels? Is it a hybrid thing?

 

They all have the same alloys under the cover. The cover is supposedly for aerodynamics. Hes missing front covers thats all

 

Doesn’t seem like the wheel covers on the rear would fit over the wheels on the front...

 

Laziness and complacency. Wasn't saying that the owners manual says not to

Though I have read as of late, that with all the lazers and whatnot used in modern alignments, you really only need to do front to rear without crossing over. Enough so that most shops will only do that, and owners manuals will do that too. Because one shop may do it differently than another when crossing, so...

When I do mine I just do one side at a time and it's just swapping front and rears, I don't cross over anymore.

 

If I had to drive a Prius, I’d lift it and put Cooper Discoverer AT/3s on it!

 

I did not know that. That wheel is hiding under that godawful plastic cover? I mean, the wheel is no looker either, but its loads better than the hubcap... I'm surprised more people dont remove them. Actually I take that back, I'm not at all surprised.

Its been my general observation that Prius owners are the antithesis of car enthusiasts. Find me one Prius that doesn't have a single scratch, hubcap cracked in half, line through the windshield, or Dorito crumbs that have been stomped into the floormats, and I'll show you a 2 day old paper license plate.

 

The original Highlander was produced from the 2001 through 2007 model years; The redesign came for the 2008 model year and while it was rather bloated compared to the 1st generation, the 2nd Gen still looked good! Don’t get me wrong, the 3rd and 4th Gens also look good and are some of the better-looking crossovers in their class, but they still have that “soulless blob” look...

The first two generations were boxy and still looked rugged; The 1st Gen is the best looking in my opinion!

The problem is that newest examples are now about 14 years old, and while there are decent examples like Limited Hybrid model I photographed in the parking lot at work today (which I believe is a 2006-2007 model), most of the ones I’ve seen have not have been particularly well cared for and are rather beat up.

One of my friends had a 2003 Limited 4WD model that his parents bought new and just gave him in 2011 when his dad bought a new Altima; He totaled the Highlander in the summer of 2003, with 185K miles on the clock. That Highlander was rather beat up, but aside from an A/C refrigerant leak that had manifested itself shortly before it got totaled, it was mechanically sound and ran great! My friend ended up totaling it before he could make the appointment to get the A/C recharged...

Back in March 2015, I had the opportunity to photograph (and sit in) a 1st Gen Highlander Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle. These were only leased on the West Coast (mostly California; Possibly Oregon), and Toyota was showing it in Pennsylvania just for the heck of it; That is the first and only time I’ve ever seen one in person.

So yeah, in my opinion, the 1st Gen Highlander is one of the greatest vehicles built by Toyota in the last two decades; The downside to that is that like most Toyota vehicles, the majority of them were ridden hard and put away wet. The light blue Hybrid below likely has over 100K miles, but the pictures don’t do it justice and you can tell that the owner cares for it!

 

February 9th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

https://youtu.be/BQjCZ-uUU1s

 

Some of those stock Prius wheels are LIGHT. Like 14.3 lbs for the 15's. I was thinking of getting a set to replace the 17.5 lbs wheels on my mk4 tdi jetta. I wanted to try to improve on the mid 50's mpg I was getting. I never did find a set for what I was willing to pay.