Someone hit my parked Kia pretty heavily and left without leaving any note. The damage is pretty bad, might be fixable but there is a chance that the car is totaled. I am super mad and angry. Not only I have to pay the 1500 deductible but I have all the headache to deal with insurance/body shop/dealership. I had actually planed to keep the car at the end of the lease period in few month but now I am not sure what is best thing to do. If I fix it and give it back to Kia, they will have to deal with the lose of value. On the other hand, this was one of the super cheap leases where my residual is just 10k. I think even a car with accident history might be worth more than that. What are the thoughts of the experts here? What is best thing to do?
One scenario is the car is fixable, the other is it is fixable but will be salvaged. So or so, I will bring it to a Kia certified body shop. Any tips and advises will be highly appreciated.
Fix it with the intention of returning it, and move on with your life. Whatever intentions you had prior to the accident are just spilled milk.
It’s just insurance and body shop. There’s no dealer you need to talk to.
To the extent you have any influence over whether it gets totaled vs being repaired, choose a really nice body shop vs a cheap body shop or one recommended by the insurer.
Being in CA, there’s a possibility you receive any difference between the insurance payout and the lease payoff.
Start working on a replacement and order it ASAP. If the terms are good and you can extend, do that. Fix it, ride it like a rented mule, and hand it back along with the keys.
How about it the car is totaled? I guess insurance will pay the value of the car to Kia and gap insurance will take care for the rest (I don’t think gap coverage will be necessary in the current market). Do I need to lease a new car with current market conditions or would kia honor the old contract till end of the lease term (I think I already know the answer )?
How about if I ask to take over the salvaged car and fix it up? So Insurance pays Kia the value of the car minus the salvage value and I pay Kia the rest.
You should look at your lease contract to see what it says regarding if kia keeps any insurance overages or not. They likely do, but its good to check.
Another amateur question: Do I have to take it to a kia certified body shop or can I take it to any body shop? My wife called the insurance and asked them about kia certified body shops. Insurance called the dealership and they told that they will take the car in and will take care of it (sounds fishy?). Any tips would be highly appreciated.
Replying because I had a similar scenario with '21 car that was on lease. nowhere as bad as yours, but definitely a large gash and obviously no note by the idiot that did it. i went to an asian repair, paid $600 to fix, didn’t even bother calling insurance.
No. You do not have to bring it to a Kia Certified Body Shop. Take it to a body shop you feel comfortable with. Start by asking friends & family if there is a local place they have been happy with. If not, call your insurance company and find out what body shop they recommend. I’m really sorry this happened to you. Thankfully nobody got hurt. As @mllcb42 said perfectly: “Fix it, turn it in, walk away.” Also @jeisensc made an excellent point: “THIS. IS. WHY. YOU. LEASED.”
In California you are allowed to choose your body shop.
The kia dealer might be part of a family of companies that also owns a body shop. Nothing shady there.
Your insurance company likely also has some recommended body shops.
You can see if kia has a certified or recommended body shop directory, and choose from that.
As for buying the salvage and fixing it yourself… if the insurance company declares it a total loss because it’s too expensive for them to fix, it’s likely going to be too expensive for you to fix as well. Plus you’d have a salvage title then and your resale value would take a 30% hit forever.
Best advice here is to walk away from this car, be it now if it’s totaled, or at the end of the lease.
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