If a tree falls in a forest...

[LandHoosier]

So driving home last night I came around a bend in the road during some high winds and had just enough time to see to see a brown blur drop from the sky. The LC and tree met basically at the same time, and I realized that is was indeed a tree by the time they were colliding. The tree was forked, and the main fork thankfully fell in front of the bull bar while the smaller portion landed on the A pillar/hood junction. I'm sure the truck is totaled based upon the damage to the A pillar alone. I'm devastated to lose the truck.
I'm preparing and dreading the fight with the insurance company over the value. So now my question is how to accurately portray the value of a built 100 series? I'm sure the insurance company will argue that the selling prices posted here are not the sold price, and therefore a moot point. My LC is fully built, armor, lockers, re-geared, etc. rust free, well cared for on maintenance. I have used the search function and cannot get the thread for "Most recent 100 purchase prices" to load. Am I missing something? Any advice on how to value and proceed would be greatly appreciate!
I included some pictures of the damage and the offending tree for those curious. You can see the head of the snorkel and side view mirror cap among the tree debris to get an idea of the size.
Thanks everyone and I hope to be back in an LC soon.

 

[nukegoat]

This exact scenario happened while I was driving my parents f250. An oak limb came through and destroyed the entire side... Bed, roof, a pillar, etc.

Freaky! It was surreal to sort of experience the slow mo of a tree limb falling while you're driving under it.

Anyway, just wanted to say I know that feeling

 

[Zero Emissions]

that A pillar may have saved your life, hope you are able to come to an agreement with the insurance company

 

[2020 Rocks]

I hope you bought a lotto ticket that day. Good luck with the claim!

 

[suprarx7nut]

 

[Mbchance]

Wow.

Crazy situation to say the least. Glad the A-pillar held up!

 

[thebeedeegee]

WOW dude, you are lucky. These things really are built like a tank.

Good luck with the insurance company. I'm going through the same deal myself right now.

 

[FxFormat]

That's a good looking cruiser, glad you were able to walk away!

 

[bamabrock]

are you going to buy another 100? if so, I'd strip this one down and swap everything over before calling the insurance company.

 

[99Cruiser]

are you going to buy another 100? if so, I'd strip this one down and swap everything over before calling the insurance company.

Or you can just pull the sliders and bumper before calling insurance then try and buy back the rig since swapping the rear axle and front locker might take some time. That way you can have time to find another rig and have this one for parts. Then part it out after you take all the good stuff.

 

[Live to Ski]

Hope...I think the big guy gave him a winning lotto ticket.

 

[TheForger]

You ever seen Final Destination?

 

[bluecruiser]

Man, that’s rough. Glad you’re okay and thanks for sharing the pics and story.

 

[thex2]

It's probably best to ask your insurance agent this question. I'm by no means an expert, but I had asked my agent about what would happen in this very scenario (14' Chevy Caprice (6.0 liter o/)). Her response was that my vehicle had a stated value of $10,000. They had to manually quote it for $22,000. The amount that I paid for coverage was actually the same for the $10k in coverage vs the $22k. So after that, I've always had them quote it manually as well as the stated amounts. In my opinion, every vehicle owner out there should do this.

 

[gregnash]

Found out that mods deleted the 100 Series thread for whatever reason. There is another going in the Classifieds that has some good information, but at this point any of the historical data we had about pricing has been lost. Hadn't been in there in a bit so not sure if something was getting contentious or what.

To add on to what @thex2 said, you want to be sure to talk with your agent first and foremost. While a fight is likely, you don't want to go in there with guns blazing first. Give them a chance to throw a number to you, do their thing, etc. but also realize that Insurance Agencies, regardless of how good they are, are not in the business of paying out money. But, easiest thing to do is start compiling NATIONWIDE data on your own of similar vehicles (both armored and unarmored) to show the basis of your pricing. Then move from there.

GL and happy to see that the hundy did her job protecting you.

 

[LandHoosier]

Thankfully I purchased the vehicle from a mud member who had meticulous records from the first owner, and he continued that as well. I continued on with that, and I think it will save me in this instance. I have a three inch ring binder of all receipts as well as a word doc of all mods, another of all maintenance with date, mileage, and expense. So in addition to being able to hand copies of that over to whichever poor adjuster gets stuck with me, I have also already begun the nationwide search through here, expo forum, and all the various auto sale websites and creating a word doc with hyperlinks to all similar vehicles both built and stock, and including a description of what mods/mileage/maintenance those vehicle have/lack compared to mine.
I know going in that I will have counter with whatever the insurance company provides as the first offer. I always viewed it the same as purchasing a vehicle from a dealer: there's going to be haggling, lots of paperwork, and dealing with clueless non-car enthusiast people.
My dad retired from the insurance industry as a CPCU so he's helping with the process. The dude never talked about work growing up, but now that this has happened he's come out of retirement like the John Wick of underwriting.
I'm still waiting to even hear from the adjuster, but I will keep you all posted on the progress.

P.S. - The wife has shed tears over it several times. I think she's secretly had the cruiser bug for a while. Then she had the audacity to ask if she could have the rear drawer system for her SUV... greedy.

 

[di1uted]

If you’re selling parts I’d be interested in the bumper and sliders. Can ship my parts up to you via Fastenal and vice versa

 

[fblainen11]

How much you want for them sliders!

 

[LandHoosier]

Not sure if I'm going to sell the armor yet or not. Debating between buying a second one and swapping everything over, or making the jump to a 200 series.

The adjuster came to assess it on 01/24 and I have not heard back yet. He had never assessed a Land Cruiser before let alone a modified one, despite over twenty years as an adjuster. Goes to show how rare these are in Indiana. He checked the mileage on the odometer and goes, "261,000 miles? Wow. Couldn't have been much life left in it anyway. Can only be worth, what? $2,000?" How can a vehicle have both a rear hatch and a tailgate? If anything ventured away from his drop-down menu, he was confused on how to input that item into his data system. Lockers? Meh. 4.88 gears? Visible confusion. But man oh man... that power radio antenna. Now there's some money right there according to him. And, extensive preventative maintenance does nothing for a vehicle's resale value. He was quite overwhelmed when I provided him with a copy of everything in the binder, and file folder of researched vehicles currently for sale. I continue to email him more for sale listings as I find them. AutoTempest has been a wonderful resource.

I expect a near-vertical uphill battle over the value. My plan of attack is negotiate for the value of a stock one and allow me to keep all non-factory parts to swap. Or maybe part out all of it if I decide to move on to a 200. I'm not particularly excited about the thought of swapping/rebuilding, or starting over with a 200.

 

[Manhattan]

All these insurance threads are driving home the point: We need to address the coverage BEFORE the tree falls in the woods. Stated value, specialty carriers, etc. There are policies are out there just for this need. I'm in the same boat... times 2. My 100 and a little Pickup I've been restoring.

@LandHoosier, your 100's suffering will not be in vain... you're motivating us to do ^that^. I will do this by this time next week.

My newest toy went from this...

... to this, since we bought it July.

Which version do you think is in the adjuster's book?