Heh, that’s where I’m at now. Bought myself an ‘01 Celica GT-S with high miles and in as-is condition. Some new brake hardware and a few electrical parts replaced, she’s running better for sure.

What a coincidence! Saw one on the road today enroute to pick up my Celica’s full-size spare!

After seeing this I’m convinced some guys should forge metal LEGO bricks and pieces, just so we can get one of these things to operate like a real engine. Heck, if it proves successful, we could really be onto something. :P

My parents own a ‘11 Venza w/AWD, gotta say yer pretty accurate. The handling is fairly disconnected from the road, its large and bulky, and has enough storage for what we typically use it for. It’s only shining point for me is the 2.7L 4-cylinder that’s got a decent 180HP on tap.

Being a young adult used to the beauty of data and the Internet, I’ve a few solutions for someone bored in the backseat:

Had a Dead End Dodge Viper Alternator as a kid. Can confirm, that thing stayed in robot mode for 2 years before I was old enough to transform it back to vehicle mode (and even now I find his engine block blaster is still slightly out of place from how it was originally placed).

“2b: Running out is inconvenient at best. It will not happen in front of a gas station in a good part of town when you don’t have an important meeting to get to.”

I’d figure it would be harder to actually find the engine, no? A 1LR isn’t exactly something as easily obtainable as Chevrolet’s LS motors. Plus, it’d be heart-wrenching to rip one out of an LFA (unless one owner actually managed to wreck the car with the engine mildly intact).

Yeah, but look at the bright side, early model Lexus LS/GS/IS/SC models were all RWD, so although you can’t have 90's JDM fun, you can still have some decent fun with the Lexus lineup of the 90's-early 2K. I’ve personally got a liking for Lexus’ 1UZ-FE 4.0L V8 in the LS/GS 400. :)

Well, the Mark IIs were only sold as Cressidas up until Lexus became the luxury brand in North America.

As I mentioned in my introductory post on Oppo way back, my liking for cars has almost been genetic. Both my grandpas on both sides of the family worked on cars, two of my uncles also worked on cars, and for a brief while my dad worked at a used car dealership as a summer job in Northern Ontario back when he was a…

Similar situation with me, sans actual ownership of a car.

Approx. 60km from me.

Correction: meant to say top down. The morning after a night shift leaves me still very drowsy. :P

Saw one of these black in GTC trim when I was leaving the theatre with my parents yesterday. Although the red side stripes made it look mildly cool, still not cool enough to be stolen. (Dude left his top up too.)

Every time I go to Kijiji/Auto Trader for a stock 240, I can only find them with an automatic, and most often as a convertible. Finding an unmolested hatch with a manual is like finding a needle in a ricer haystack.

It’s at moments like these when you realize as a high school graduate how much of a small fish in a big pond you are.

While I don’t own a car yet, I do agree CVT’s dampen the experience. Test drove a Corolla iM with one this year, and despite how good it can feel in the semi-manual shifting mode, it just feels strange in Drive. Seeing the revs climb and stay while the speedometer creeps up is a weird feeling, as is the feeling that…

See also: Buick

Can confirm. Done this a handful of times when I needed to drop my mom off at work and leave a car at home for ourselves. She’ll have the key on her, and then once she leaves the car the key’s out of range. Regardless, I can still drive the car all the way back home with no issues whatsoever, side from the car telling…