I might have lucked out. Who knows? Anyways.. The market for just stock 4runners over here IS crazy town. Trust me, it's not a "buyers market". My advice is don't total your 4runner.

Having said that, I might have just lucked out talking to just the right combination of people. That's impossible to say. As for the dollar amount bolted to the vehicle... It just adds up quickly. The gears / locker install was about $3K alone. So if it helps you to believe that there isn't over $10K on that 4runner, so be it. But rest assured, I certainly don't have the most expensive whip here. *also, side note, they didn't consider aftermarket skid plates an addition* I pointed out that they are a custom armor modification that cost a fair amount. They didn't seem to care. I asked if the weren't being considered, could I take them off? They said sure...

What did I expect / hope for?

I would have been fine, or at least understood, had they said that they weren't covering all the add ons so long as the price of the add ons didn't inflate the buy back. So if they just wanted to give me the $8.5K or whatever it was with a $600 buy back, I could have still worked with that.

I wasn't trying to hustle them. I have all the receipts. I didn't even include everything. But I provided enough information to give me the best possible chance for a positive outcome. It would seem as though they valued the additions at a little less than half the cost or replacement, (perhaps to allow for depreciation) *just speculative* I didn't update them about everything that was done to the vehicle, but I kept all the receipts. I am happy to proceed whatever way makes the most sense the next time I sit down with my agent.

The other thing is that your vehicle has a buy-back salvage value. I asked how they come up with such a number as it seems arbitrary to me, not knowing the business. He said that they are very good at being able to determine what they would get for the vehicle for "scrap value". Okay... I wasn't sure how my additions were going to impact this number. Like, if they added $4000, but raised the buy back $3000, then what is the point? Anyway, the buy back was VERY reasonable. I am sure that if my rig had been sitting in a yard somewhere, all sorts of stuff would be missing with no accountability. That's why it stayed with me till we got things sorted. This also works in their favor as it isn't incurring storage fees. AND.. it is safe with me where I can keep an eye on it.

I have good insurance. Maybe it isn't cost effective for such an old vehicle, but I am a single guy and my vehicle is important to me. I pay about $92 a month for coverage with a $250 deductible. Rental car coverage is 80% them, and 20% me up to $1K till they came up with a number.

This is / was my DD. It has been a pain, because work doesn't slow down because you want to obsess about finding a replacement. Meanwhile rental fees eat away at your wallet. This is great motivation for finding a secondary vehicle. I would love to find a Tacoma as my side hustle.

There ARE a handful of companies around the area that view these things as investments.. This jacks up the market the same way companies buy up housing to run rentals like a business and jacking up THAT market. And you're right... Throwing a cheep-o lift, some Fuel wheels, mud tires, a crappy roof basket, and wing-it-geometry front bumper adds no value in MY eyes. But it does have a negative impact on the market.

My neighbor had an interesting convo with his insurance agent. He was trying to insure some old cars. They are hard to get good "like values" for. The agent just straight up asked, how much of a payout would work for you should something ever happen to them. He came up with a number, and payed insurance on THAT number so that if it gets stolen, or destroyed, there will be no delay in what is expected for pay out. That seems fair too. Like, this is how much insurance will cost you a month for this type of pay out. Not sure if this works for most situations, but it was an interesting approach.

I know everyone's situation is unique to their driving record, part of the country, muti-vehicle policies, bundled policies.. etc., etc...

I just wanted to shed light on my experience so that we as a community can begin to paint a better picture of possible outcomes.

My advice might be to have a factual build page that includes things and dates modified with plenty of pictures. Also, keep ALL your receipts. Although they didn't ask for receipts, I had them all to back up what I had listed.

Hope this helps some people down the road.