Update on my totalled build and insurance resolution.
 

So... Thanksgiving weekend I totalled my 4runner.

Road Bull's 2002 SR-5 timeline.

I got my insurance claim rolling a few hours after the rollover. I called State Farm and let em know the bad news as I was waiting for AAA to come and flatbed my 4runner back to my house. I have to say, overall, I am satisfied with the outcome.

I got back home, tarped up my broken 4runner after downloading all my gear inside. I knew that I wanted to keep the vehicle in MY possession. Once you let them tow it away to a yard... Things go missing.

I started itemizing all the items from my build and had roughly 30 mods, along with the price and dates of purchase. I requested an adjuster to come to my house to assess the damage. I expressed that I intended to keep the vehicle. They agreed and sent an adjuster to me.

The adjuster noted the damage to the A,B,C,&D pillars, as well both doors, front fender, hood, dash, windshield, rear cargo window, roof, rear hatch, & rear quarter panel. My brand new Sherpa Matterhorn roof rack was toast. : ( Tis but a flesh wound! Hey! She started first try, and got me ten more miles down the mountain. He said that it was totaled.

State Farm called and put me on a 3-way call with a third-party assessor. I had told them that I had a build page that clearly documented everything I did to the vehicle, and when I did it. It also illustrated that the vehicle was not trashed before it rolled over. I feel this helped my case a lot.

The assessor stopped my about 19 items into my 30 mod items. She was very polite and asked the State Farm representative if they could move my assignment over to the one-ton commercial assessment side of things, as well as to expand the search to a regional search for "like" vehicles. The State Farm representative agreed and they said that they would get back to me.

My insurance policy put me into a rental covering 80% of the rental till they finished their assessment.

After week 3, I called them because I hadn't heard anything. They were surprised that I was still in the rental. The representative said that they had the initial figures. I asked if that included the build page items that I listed. He said they did not. I pointed out that without that, the total it would only give me a partial picture of what I was getting back and it would be very difficult to find a replacement vehicle. He said that he would call the third-party assessor to see if they had a number. He called a short time later and said that payout would be about $15,200 with about a $1200 buy back. This meant I could keep the vehicle and have $14,000 to get things sorted.

I really had no idea what number they would come up with. I think that me having home owners insurance and car insurance with them helped. I was almost expecting a long uphill fight to get some value out if the vehicle. I figured this was a fair number and was not upset at all.

Throughout all my conversations with my insurance, I was calm and respectful and tried to convey that this was more than a car to me. I told them it meant a lot and I took care of it. I directed them to the build page for reference. Now... I am not sure if, or by how much my rates may go up, as they do consider my accident on the ice a "collision". But I guess time will tell.

*Part Two / Moving On*

Finding a replacement during the busy holiday season has been a righteous pain in the ass. I want my old build to live on through the new vehicle. I believe most of the major parts are fine. Well, except the Sherpa roof rack. (I think it kept me from rolling all the way over and kept the oil from pooling in the cylinders enough to be able to drive it down the mountain).

I have seen a few vehicles that got me excited, only to find that they were hiding rust, or painted over rust, or some other "no-go" defect. They are ALL more expensive than when I purchased mine at the end of 2014. So if you are fond of your 3rd gen, drive carefully. Good specimen are getting rare.

I wanted to share my experience with the community. I can't guaranteed that insurance will always be this favorably for you, but I think combination of my good driving record, my insurance company, and the fact that I have bundled homeowners insurance all helped a little bit and getting a more than reasonable payout.

I am heading out to go scope out a replacement tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me. LOL. I can't wait to get back to having fun again.

I'm glad they're taking care of you. Did they know all/any of the modifications you've done prior to the claim?

That number surprises the hell outta me. I've *never* heard of anyone getting THAT good of a payout on insurance. I can see my own insurance company (USAA, and I've had autos, home, and life with them for a couple decades) offering $3k payout for a totaled 4runner, with a $2k buyback. Most of the time when I was involved in insurance as a motorcycle mechanic, insurance didn't offer enough to even buy a like replacement of a Stock example, even if the add-ons were hours old with receipt in hand (had that once, bike totaled pulling out of the parking lot).

I see you're on the Crazy Coast where things are lots more insane than elsewhere in the country, but that's a HUGE payout. You certainly don't have $10k in extras, and clean 4runners seem to be in the $5~6k range where I am (SE, bought mine in TN and felt like I overpaid).

I'm just floored by the number.

That’s a super surprising number! But congrats on it! I’m also curious what they knew about prior to the accident. I’ve heard arguments for both sides, tell insurance about mods, don’t tell insurance about mods. Curious what side you took.

[QUOTE=Road Bull;3415907]So... Thanksgiving weekend I totalled my 4runner. ...$15,200 with about a $1200 buy back. This meant I could keep the vehicle and have $14,000 to get things sorted.
.../QUOTE]

So how much did this vehicle cost to insure monthly? :cowboy:

Oh many that is a horrible experience, sorry you had to go through that.

Your insurance is giving you a fantastic payout though!

Glad to hear of the good outcome after a terrible incident, State farm is a good insurance also your good driving record is a factor. Tough decision ahead which is are you going to stick with your intial instinct of buying a 3rd Gen and swapping out the mods to it? Or a taco, a 5th gen, even a land cruiser 80 , 100? Good luck with what you decide.

Glad all worked out to your liking. And especially glad to hear SF treated you right as I just switched to them in August.

Good luck with your search.


Eddie

I’ve never heard of insurance paying out 2x the real value of a vehicle. Guessing you had it insured for replacement cost.

Also guessing someone in that office will be in trouble if that claim gets reviewed.

There are dealers over here who try to sell low mileage 3rd gens for $15k+ so I can see where they might have found the numbers. Those cars sit forever and never seem to sell.

Maybe this is the vehicle they used as a comparison?

2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4dr 4X4 V6 / 5-SPEED MANUAL / LIFTED / Leather

You'd be surprised how many vehicles MM Investment Cars sell with how outrageous their prices are. I see their placeholder plates all the time. Their warehouse is massive for a used car dealer and they seem to consistently rotate through inventory.

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I know they sell vehicles, but I’ve not seen them sell the outrageous priced 3rd gens. Maybe around $10 or $12k they sell.

Roof rack and a lift don’t double the value of a 4runner. (This comment is toward the Portland dealers, not the OP)

Wow !! I think you got a really great settlement AND an outstanding deal on the buyback.
As far as the crash goes they label it
"failure to maintain control of the vehicle".
Usually a point on your record depending on your state.

I just got a 2019 4runner from a payout from StateFarm for my 2015 gl550. They gave me waaay more then I was expecting. I was expecting 35-40k( a lot of miles ) but they came back with 51k lol. I didn’t hesitate to take the offer. StateFArm has always been really good with me.


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Great news Ryder. That leaves you enough to pick up a crawlbox for the new rig. I'm stoked for you.

Good luck with finding a worthy replacement. Fly and drive home if you need too. Keep the search going until you find the right one. When you do I'll walk you through the crawlbox install.

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.