My '03 4Runner was sacrificed - for me

[MarkS]

Last December, my '03 4Runner Ltd V-8 met with disaster when a "kid" in a '89 Jeep Cherokee lost control of his vehicle (locked up all 4 wheels in 1/4" of snow), crossed center line and hit me head-on at about 20 MPH. I saw him coming and pulled as far off the road as possible, but he still managed to hit me and total the 4Runner.

The good news is that I walked away from the crash w/o a scratch - all of the safety systems in the Toyota working as designed. The bad news is that driver and passenger in the Cherokee didn't fare as well - they hit the steering wheel, dash, and windshield and needed to be transported by the EMT's (they were NOT wearing seatbelts and the '89 didn't have airbags).

Attaching a pic of the remains of my '03 4Runner - note how the front end is pretty well crushed while the passenger compartment stayed intact from the doors and the windshield to the rear. The insurance appraiser said he could easily tally up $17K of damage without allowing anything for possible engine damage (highly likely since the engine mounts were sheared and the radiator was pretty well plastered over the front of the engine).

As soon as the settlement check showed up, I bought another new '05 4Runner Ltd V-8 - hope this one lives longer than three years!

 

[AlphaQup]

Glad to see you came out OK. I myself got all airbag options on my 4runner just for that purpose.

 

[2003_4Runner]

Nice to know that you weren't hurt and 4R safety mechanism worked as designed for.......

 

[Uneek]

Glad to hear you're ok most importantly. Also glad that you'll be getting another 4Runner.

Like Alpha, I made sure my 4R had side/curtain airbags.

 

[Chigger]

You can alway replace you ride, glad to see you are okay.

 

[Mark86]

That is nasty looking. I am glad you walked away from it uninjured. The smartest thing you can do is go out and buy another 4Runner! I got the side curtain airbag option for the same reason as the other members.

 

[solargroovy]

I'm getting ready to order a new Sport V6 and the dealership is telling me that the side curtain airbags are not available with the leather upgrade. Does this make sense? I sure would like to have the protection, as the only other new vehicle I've owned was a Toyota truck that I took great care of and it ran great until I rolled it. No damage to me, but the truck was totaled.

 

[MarkS]

I'm getting ready to order a new Sport V6 and the dealership is telling me that the side cyrtain airbags are not available with the leather upgrade. Does this make sense?

The information you're getting is partly correct - I don't think that leather is a factory option on the Sport Editions - it only comes on the Limiteds. However, some dealers used to add an aftermarket leather kit. Problem is that the SIDE airbag system is in the front seat bolsters, not in the door panels. As a result, no self-respecting shop will take on the liability of messing with the upholstery on seats that have an internal airbag system. The CURTAIN airbags which deploy from the windshield/roof pillars would not be impacted by the upholstery, but since they are bundled in a package w/ the side airbags, you're out of luck.

If I were you, I'd just spring for the extra $ and get the Limited V-6 if you really want leather - that way you'll have all the airbags and the "dead cows" on the seats! You'll just be missing the hood scoop - which is a LOT easier to add to a Limited than adding Leather to a Sport!