Car Totaled in lease?

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Hello All

I was in an accident a few days ago and all the airbags in the car came out. No one was injured besides some bruises and cuts. The car is towed to a local body shop. The shop said the car is totally fixable but it will be well over $30K in damages. I know it is a great car and would to have it fixed but I feel like the “trade-in” value of this car is about $35K sadly but how does the insurance calculate if it will be totaled? I have been reading on this site lots of mixed opinions and hoping to get a precise answer.

Insurance carrier is Geico

2

Air bags out = most likely totalled.
Most important thing is you are OK.
Start shopping for a new vehicle now.

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Doesn’t matter what you feel like. The insurer will total it if the repair estimate exceeds X% of ACV (x can vary from 70 to 80%).

Have it towed to a higher end body shop if necessary.

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It’s at a shop shop now but they couldn’t figure out why engine doesn’t start. I told them once airbags are out, engine shuts down. Engine was leaking a lot of fluid too at the scene so I’m assuming it has engine damage also.

Volvo actually held up really well and potentially saved my life but it barely looks it was an an accident from outside.

Does anyone know what Gecio policy is to total it out? I have insurance in N.C. but accident was out of state. I’m thinking most likely it is totaled

5

Glad you’re OK!!

Does Volvo include GAP insurance in their leases?

6

Yup Volvo does. OP can just walk away (so hopefully they did sign and drive!)

7

Start shopping right away.

Our car was in accident on Nov 28th. Today we had to return car rental. And for that we had to ask twice for extension which worked for us because of delayes on insurance side.
Otherwise you don’t have heck of a lot time if it deemed totaled.
From what I was told (not Geico) once car deemed totaled you have rental max till check comes (if any equity)

When our other car was in accident but was being repaired Jan 2018 we had a rental for the whole duration of the repair time. That was 3 weeks to repair Jetta that was sandwiched a bit in 3 car train on the red light. Still wasn’t totaled while repair came to $7,500 and I think market value was 10k Max. Though i wasn’t at fault and Geico was paying for the last one who hit us. So it could have been not totaled because it would have cost Gieco much more to payoff my lease.

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This. My qx60 got totaled in an accident a month ago, other party at fault, and thanks to GAP I walked out of lease without paying anything, but I dint do sign and drive, instead put 700ish down, this money is my loss. Neither insurance nor Infiniti can help recover that money. So moral of the story, always do sign and drive.

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We just put registeration/doc fees up front but we used it out of the $4500 conquest so technically sign and drive.

Might end up buying a car since my wife was about 5,000 above her lease. I was hoping insurance values the car high out then the buyout but I highly doubt it lol

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Also is it possible for me to take a rental check during process but not actually rent a car? We have another car we can use but I rather pocket the rental if I can…

11

In my experience, the rental usually gets paid direct from the insurance company as they have contracts set up with them. So, probably not

12

Ahhh okay. I remember before in earlier 2000s they used to just give a check so you can rent on your own. I guess those days passed

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Not to mention, that would be fraud.

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Doesn’t that fall into the same category as: We cut you a check for your repairs, you can do whatever you want with it?

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IDK…asking for a rental allowance with no expectation of using it seems like it would fall in to the fraud zone. This seems a bit different than asking for money to repair a car they are insuring with the expectation you’re going to fix it, especially with this amount of damage. Then again, I’m not an insurance broker.

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It is not fraud, if they cut you a check. Same as repairs. They must cover your expense, but what you do with it up to you. You may decide to walk to work to lose weight :slight_smile:
Fraud would be if you collude with the shop to inflate repair costs.

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Except there isn’t an expense to cover. If you say “hey I need a rental for 10 days” but have no plans to get a rental, that’s a little sketchy.

It’s kind of a moot point anyways, as most have direct billing with ERAC, Hertz, etc… anymore.

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Yes that makes sense now. I am sure people in the past have done it in the past so they probably caught on.

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It’s probably not “hey I need a rental for 10 days” but rather “I don’t have my car for 10 days but still need to move around”. Maybe I want to spend this money on Uber or public transportation instead?

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If you’re paying for “rental coverage,” an Uber isn’t a “rental” per se. It’s definitely a grey area based on the name of the coverage. Admittedly, I’ve never asked/inquired if “rental coverage” could cover the cost of a bus/uber/subway/bicycle/motorcycle instead of a rental, so maybe I’m being too literal and it’s a covered expense.