Last week, a 23-year-old driver found himself in a bit of a pickle after Google Maps led him astray on a dirt road in Utah. The young man, driving a trusty Toyota Tercel, got stuck on the west side of Strawberry Peak. This unexpected adventure led to a team from Wasatch County Search & Rescue taking three hours to get him out of the mess. Luckily, he was uninjured. This is a good reminder that sometimes those “shortcuts” aren’t always the best route.

Now, I want to talk about that Toyota Tercel. This little car has quite a history. Toyota produced the Tercel from 1978 to 1999, making it one of the automaker’s long-running models. The Tercel was reliable and economical, a solid choice for a no-frills, budget-friendly vehicle.

Like the Corolla, the Tercel came with a variety of engine options. It began with a modest 1.3-liter engine and eventually offered a, well, also modest 1.5L. Obviously, Tercels weren’t powerhouses, but they hit their target. Fuel efficiency was a big selling point. It came in both front-wheel-drive coupes and 4WD options. The latter was in wagon form and quite handy for those tricky dirt roads – like the one that led to our driver’s mountain misadventure. Unfortunately, the Utah driver was in a coupe, which is just a 2WD.

The Tercel did pretty well in terms of sales. It sold millions of units worldwide during its production run. This car appealed to those who wanted a simple, dependable ride without breaking the bank. It wasn’t flashy, but it was practical, and that made it popular among a wide range of drivers. Since the latest model year is 1999, all Tercels are officially “classics” in the U.S. today.

The next time you rely on Google Maps, maybe think twice when it suggests a dirt mountain road over a paved, lit path. Once, on the way to a family cabin in northern Michigan, our GPR erroneously took us down an old, unlit logging road in a Honda Pilot. That experience was far short of a hoot.

What a great reminder of the humble Toyota Tercel, though. It might not have all the bells and whistles, but it’ll still get you where you need to go – most of the time, anyway.