I had the same initial reaction as you on a number of things you mention wrt throwing it together. They have undoubtedly saved costs in areas they hope most people wont miss. To us every little detail counts, so no memory seats and no LED taillights is a disappointment.
So far none of the do withouts are dealbreakers for me. They achieved their goal of making it a rough and ready wrt styling, its growing on me and will certainly be distinctive on the road. The angular tail is a bit much but the arc around the licence plate is intentionally to look like the T symbol on their truck advertising - repeated on the plastic step plate on the bumper.
You can also take a step back, and consider what else out there offers the combination that the 4Runner does. If we are able to spec a Limited with the Trail Editions 4WD systems and lockers and Nav, it would probably put it around $45k, now that to me is really a baby Landcruiser with a V6 (instead of V8), at a $20k discount. Pricing seems pretty fair to me when you look at it from that perspective, and to get there you have to save costs.
Its a niche model, and only sold in the US and Japan, so development cost recoupment must be a careful excercise, we are so lucky they didnt just stop making it!
