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

I hold car inspections in the same regard that I hold DUI checkpoints; I've considered moving to a state that doesn't require annual inspections of vehicles, many times!

 

DUI check points are easy to manage.

Just need to politely ask a few questions.

Many videos on what to do and what NOT to do.

 

I've been through one; I used to work at a bar and was driving home from said bar after working all day on St. Patrick's Day in 2017. In addition to the fact that DUI checkpoints are a flagrant violation of the 4th and 5th constitutional amendments, I have Aspergers and do not deal with well with (A) changes to my daily routine such as a checkpoint that delays my getting home from work by 40 minutes, and (B) having a cop on either side of my truck shining a flashlight through the window at 11pm. The latter was both sensory overload and a violation of my personal "bubble". As a barback, I was probably the only person for miles driving home from a bar who had any business behind the wheel.

I was stone cold sober and got through the checkpoint just fine; Just a few questions and they let me go right through, but I utterly terrified and shaking because it had been over a decade since I'd been pulled over.

 

i believe that year did not have antilock brakes. If you live where there is snow, may want to consider that

 

Back in the early '80s before DUI became the current level of intensity.

Fridays after work a small group of us would visit the bikini bar for happy hour. The first duty was to choose by random drawing who would be the designated decoy. The decoy would not drink, the rest of the group paid the decoy's expense. When Happy Hour was over, the decoy would leave first and act plowed out of his mind. There was always a patrol car waiting just 1 block away. Well, the patrol car would stop the decoy as soon as he left the parking lot. While the officer was busy with sobriety tests on the decoy, the rest of the group would leave.

 

I had one of those many years ago and it was dam reliable and drove smooth. Great car!

 

Also, I have never been arrested and I 100% support the police, but I had a very unpleasant encounter with some some cops back in March 2013 that I still haven't totally gotten over.

I have told this story many times on TW; I was walking around Doylestown Borough taking pictures of old houses, and unbeknownst to me there had been four break-ins by a heroin addict on the street where I was taking pictures in less than a month, so residents were on edge...

Someone called the cops, and while I was walking back to my truck the sergeant of what was then the Doylestown Borough Police Department (now Central Bucks Regional Police) drove by in his marked Expedition, turned around, and pulled up alongside me.

He got out of his police SUV and immediately asked to see my ID; I was terrified, but I complied. Next thing I know two more cop cars and three more cops, including a plainclothes detective, showed up; As I said, I was fucking terrified and visibly shaking, so much so that of the cops asked me if I was okay and I lied saying that I was okay.

Two different cops asked me the same questions, and I was also asked to show the pictures on my camera, which I complied with but felt violated my rights. They asked me if I lived with my parents or by myself; I answered truthfully that I lived with my parents, but also felt that this was a violation of my rights and privacy. The address on my driver's license was current address, and I felt like that's all they needed to know. At the age of almost 24, was my first encounter with the police outside of a traffic stop when I was 17; It traumatized me, even though I wasn't searched, handcuffed, or put in the back of a police car. I have autism, and it is my opinion that nobody with autism would have come out of that situation without feeling some sort of emotional turmoil. I say again that I have no criminal record and have never been arrested, but that incident led to a general disdain for law enforcement that lasted almost three years!

To date, I am still triggered by someone asking to see my ID in certain situations, though I've gotten better; I am very pro-police, but I've stopped taking pictures in certain areas because I'd
rather they go after real criminals than harass me.

 

A late 1990s Lexus with no ABS?!?!

 

anti-lock for Tacomas didn’t come out til 2003…so yah likey

 

Tacomas had no ABS at all until 2003? Even the higher-end ones?!?! Not even rear-wheel?!?!

 

no. I know this because I owned a 2002 and 2003

my 2002 brakes locked up at an intersection going downhill in the snow…that was exciting

a Google search will give you answers

 

That is very good to know, as I would not want a daily driver with no ABS; A secondary vehicle that only came out on weekends would be one thing, but yeah here in Southeast Pennsylvania I'm glad my 2010 RC has ABS and traction control!

 

And that is both funny and ingenious at the same time!

My uncle is a lieutenant in New Jersey, with almost 30 years on the force; Back in about 1996, he got a call from dispatch about a possible drunk driver. He was about to get off his shift, but the alleged drunk was headed in his direction; She passed him and he pulled her over.

My uncle walked up to the car and asked the woman where she was coming from; She responded, "Uh, the bar..."



She was hammered, but this was before body cameras and I'm also pretty sure my uncle's patrol car did not have a dashcam back then; My uncle's approach has always been "honesty is the best policy", so he parked her car in a nearby Home Depot parking lot and just drove her home!

He says that he and his fellow officers have almost no discretion in situations like that nowadays due to body-worn cameras and dashcams, but if more cops were like my uncle I believe that police as a whole would have a better reputation than they do today!

 

@Taco critter

Your '02 Baywatchmobile doesn't have ABS?!?!

 

I seriously thought all 1st Gen Tacomas had a bare minimum of rear-wheel ABS; I've driven vehicles with no ABS and even no power brakes, but I've never driven anything without ABS in the snow...

You ever drive it in the snow?

 

Here's a fairly uncommon vehicle I found during my travels today; No, it's NOT a Smart ForTwo!

This is a 2013 Scion IQ, which in Consumer Reports testing proved is an all around better car than the original Smart car, but being reliable did not sell well once the novelty wore off; This is one of only two of I've taken pictures of for my stalking thread!

I spotted this one in the parking lot at work, and I initially thought it was painted or wrapped to look like an Air Jordan sneaker or just a tribute to a certain very famous basketball player; Turns out there's actually a Philly area realtor who shares his name with that very famous basketball player!


December 28th, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

For the record, I did know that non-turbo 1993-1998 Supras could be had with a 4-speed automatic transmission, but I am pretty sure that this is the first slushbox twin-turbo Supra that I have ever seen!

I was at Thompson Toyota accompanying a friend who was looking to buy a new Corolla Cross, and this beauty was on the showroom floor; This 1993 Supra is part of the massive collection owned by the late Jack Thompson, along with the 2000GT that is still in a the showroom. It is 100% stock and I'm pretty sure that it has insanely low miles...


December 28th, 2021:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania