A video from builder @nicoandy shows the gutted cabin of a 1986 Toyota 4Runner, carpet and seats already ripped out, with a caption that turns the job into a group decision: “The nasty carpet and seats are out! What carpet color should I go with? The interior is going to look 100x better already with the new carpet and cleaned seats.” The post pulled in 37,200 likes, 398 comments, and 365 shares.

The timing of this build tracks with what is happening to first-generation 4Runner prices across the board. Hagerty added the 1984 to 1989 trucks to its official Price Guide after noting that insurance quotes on the model have doubled over the past two years, with valuation editor Andrew Newton saying plainly that the trucks “can’t be ignored” anymore. A first-gen 4Runner in good condition now averages around $8,400, climbing to roughly $13,700 in excellent shape and $21,100 for a concours-level example, and that is before factoring in rarity: owners report that trucks with good original seats are especially hard to find, which makes a seat-and-carpet refresh like this one directly relevant to resale rather than just cosmetic upkeep.

Interior work is also one of the few restoration categories where a DIY builder can meaningfully close the gap with a professional shop. General pricing guides for classic car reupholstery put a full seat and carpet replacement anywhere from several hundred dollars per seat using a kit up to several thousand for a complete shop-done interior with custom stitching, depending on material and whether the work is done at home or farmed out. Pulling the old carpet and seats yourself, as this build does, removes the single biggest cost driver, labor, while still letting an owner upgrade to better padding, sound deadening, and a color that actually suits the truck instead of whatever faded shade thirty-plus years of sun left behind.

None of that explains why strangers on the internet are being asked to weigh in on carpet color, but it does explain why they care. Hagerty’s own data shows Gen X and millennial buyers driving the current run on these trucks, two groups that grew up wanting one and are now priced out of the pricier Land Cruiser market the 4Runner descended from. A build like this one, document every step, invite the audience into decisions as small as carpet color, turns a routine interior job into proof that the truck is being done right, which is exactly the kind of provenance that keeps resale value climbing on a model this scarce.

More from Steel Horse Rides

• Owner Says the Seats in a 1986 Toyota 4Runner Smell Exactly How You Would Imagine, Then Pulls Out the Carpet and Asks Followers to Pick the Color for the New Kit
• Mechanic Pulls a Snapped Crankshaft Apart in Two Pieces on the Shop Bench, Says the Car Drove In Like That and Jokes the Customer Only Wanted an Oil Change
• Narrator of a Repair Clip Says a Car That Shook Every Time the Owner Hit the Gas Had an Engine Mount Cracked Clean in Half, Then Explains Why the Impact Wrench Is Not the Last Step