GR Corolla - reject herd mentality

Jamiel’s story illustrates a serious breakdown in the auto industry that needs correction. Here’s the deal: Jamiel Royes bought this GR Corolla because it was AVAILABLE to buy! You get what I’m sayin’? It’s not rocket science. And it wasn’t a buried treasure. Rather, ‘a cool car’ was sitting on the dealership lot for sale, gleaming in the real-life sunshine. And Jamiel bought it on impulse. The purchase was emotionally driven. And no – he does not have an ounce of regret. Here’s what happened:

Jamiel was casually driving past Beaver Toyota in Cumming, Georgia…

If you’re not from around here, please take a moment to giggle at the town & dealership names. I didn’t make them up, and I have no explanation. Anyway, Jamiel is a big car enthusiast. He loves Japanese culture, drifting, spirited driving, AE86s, glory-day Varsity meets, etc. As he passed by the Toyota dealership, he glanced over and saw (hory shet) THREE GR Corollas sitting at the front of the lot. It took a second for Jamiel to actually wrap his head around such a rare site. But count ‘em up: Yep… 1, 2, 3 GR Corollas!

Jamiel ripped a u-turn & pulled into the dealership…

Keep in mind – Jamiel woke up that day with ZERO intentions of buying a new car. But… he cracked the door open on that white GR Corolla, eased into the bolstered seat, and felt the spirit like Ferris Bueller in the forbidden Ferrari. Jamiel hit the ignition to reveal that uniquely-cool GR Corolla exhaust note… right as the salesperson softly whispered in his ear, “MSRP”. It was his density (boom that was two 80s movie references in one paragraph IYKYK). And the moral of the story is: a GR Corolla was SOLD… Because a GR Corolla was THERE to be sold.

Look, some exciting drivers cars are actually being made right now…

The problem is: They’re not actually ‘being made’ right now. For all intents & purposes… they’re an F’ing illusion. A mirage that comes across our social media newsfeed… but then disappears when we go to actual dealerships. I think more people have collectively spotted yetis in the wild than these new GR Corollas, Supras, GR86s, Zs, Type-Rs, Type-Ss, GTIs, and Golf Rs.

The demand & desire for these cars are real… but the inventory is not. And because the inventory is so sparse, the prices of these cars have exceeded their real-world value. Fact is: The vast majority of car enthusiasts are just not gullible enough to bend over for these dealership markups.

We want to support the car manufacturers who are making fun cars again…

And we’re thrilled that exciting/fun cars are coming to market. But are they actually? We’re already wrestling with inflation. And, we’re also dealing with high interest rates. What we WON’T deal with… are dealerships holding these cars hostage with greedy markups. So if/when manufacturers kill these great cars off in a few years, siting a ‘lack of consumer demand’… just know that’s a cop-out.

Car makers need to get these exciting new cars on the dealership floors, control the pricing, and together – let’s reignite the spirit of driving. These are the types of cars that create a lifelong fanbase, and protect ‘the future of mobility’ from being an dispassionate appliance.

Jamiel lights up when he talks about his GR Corolla…

He says it’s the perfect daily. And I believe it! The thing is: A lot of us have devolved the definition of what a daily really is… or could be. We’ve made the word “daily” synonymous with “a boring beater”. When really, that’s the wrong approach. Life’s too short to drive boring cars… ever.