“You have a scanner?”
Watch enough CarTok, and it’s impossible to miss the explosions, theft, and endless parade of scams. There are so many scams that it seems no car-related transaction is safe from encountering one.
When you’re car-shopping, most people are just trying to afford a decent version of a machine that is very hard to live without. But once you start test-driving vehicles, it’s surprisingly easy to get caught up in luxury details and overlook boring things like practicality.
While we don’t know if that’s exactly what happened when one San Ysidro, California, family bought their mother a used Toyota Mirai, we do know that they are now looking into buying a 2011 Toyota Camry with 123,000 miles on it instead.
A TikTok posted by the seller (@drivepmg) shows what went down when they bought a Camry that he’d recently acquired at a dealer-only auction.
Purchased at auction for $5,000, the 2018 Mirai must’ve seemed like a good deal. Described by Edmunds as “reminiscent of the Toyota Avalon,” it got mid-to-high marks for driving, comfort, and interior. It was also praised for a longer-than-electric driving range of about 400 miles.
The catch?
As a hydrogen-burning car, it’s expensive to fill (over $100 per tank), and unlike electric vehicles, the hydrogen refueling infrastructure is not yet in place.
“Sales of the 2018 Toyota Mirai are restricted to California because the Golden State is the only state with a hydrogen refueling infrastructure sufficient to support a reasonable driving pattern. As a hydrogen fuel cell car, the Mirai is a laboratory on wheels,” reports Edmunds.
In a TikTok with over 209,000 views, posted by PMG (@drivepmg), one hydrogen car-driving family noted that since they live in San Ysidro, when it’s time to refuel, they’ve got to make a 1-hour and 42-minute drive to Moreno Valley for hydrogen.
As the TikTok starts, a man dressed in a blue work shirt and faded black jeans says to the camera, “Gotta get rid of her…can’t get no one to buy it.” He’s talking about the Toyota Mirai his mother drives.
Then the video cuts to that same man with two women in a parking lot. The man shakes the cameraman’s hand and gestures to the two women with him. “My mom and my sister,” he says.
Next, the video shows them discussing the 2011 Camry. The salesman gives them the basic information (mileage, trim, price) and invites them to take a closer look: “You have a scanner? Feel free to plug it up,” he says. “Anything you gotta do, man.”
After the Camry is thoroughly inspected and tested, it is deemed acceptable, and the seller and buyer quickly agree on an out-the-door price of $6,400.
Now they’ve just got to figure out what to do with the Mirai.
They say, “never read the comments,” but in this instance, the comments are actually helpful. People explain that there’s nothing inherently wrong with the Mirai. It’s just a very deliberate car to own.
“Owning a Mirai is like being in a long-distance relationship with a gas station,” quipped Johnnycut. “You don’t know when you’ll set it again, you’re not sure it exists, and every trip feels like a gamble with God.”
Another self-described former Mirai owner expressed similar regret: “I bought a Toyota Mirai at auction for $8,500. My mistake was going at night and not doing my research properly. I thought it was a sweet buy but not until I did my research I knew I messed up. I ended up losing money on it but luckily some guy from Orange County came and bought it since they have more charging stations in OG/LA area.”
Others were more interested in how the seller communicated. “Bro is honest, fair, and friendly, if I lived there I’d most likely get a car from him,” said King of Kubala.
CarBuzz reports that hydrogen-powered vehicles predate gasoline engines by about 80 years. “For a couple of hundred years now, inventors have seen the potential in taking the most abundant natural resource on our planet and turning it into a propulsion source,” the article notes.
Although the market remains “tiny,” the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo make a compelling case for the technology, CarBuzz notes. Provided the infrastructure can rise to meet the occasion.
Considering infrastructure, there are problems related to pollution and cost-effectiveness. So while it’s an old technology made new, more research and government support are needed to make it a practical choice.
Until then, the 6th-generation (2007-2012) Toyota Camrys are rated 87/100 for the 2011 model, according to CarBuzz. So, until hydrogen is more widely available, that Camry might be a nice, acceptable, refuelable option.
Motor1 reached out to Toyota and to the Camry salesman via TikTok direct message. We’ll update this if they get back to us.
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