Because the accident happened while it wasn’t in their name, so audi would still be entitled to the payoff amount. Not to mention that bank can’t actually sell a totaled vehicle prior to the salvage title being issued.
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Couldn’t pass up one more “Genesis Hyundai” jab to add to the staleness. 
yawn. I don’t get stuck on brands and myths of “German engineering” and I don’t have to convince myself of anything. I argued the exact opposite when a G70 owner was trying to convince everybody that his car was better than an M340i a month ago. At least one of us can be objective.
Speaking of staying on topic.
I thought about reaching out to Audi to buy the car for 28k then acquire the title but the process would take weeks and Geico knew it was a leased car and reached out to Audi for payment as soon as it was deemed a total loss.
No, the insurance company purchased the car from Audi- They are the owners now. The insurance company will sell it for parts (recover some of what they paid out). As the former owner you can usually purchase the car from the insurance company- it will be at a cost and it can be a headache depending on the damage if the DMV requires you to make it road ready to register it.
My contract says that Audi are entitled for any additional payment on top of the buy out price in case of a total loss which I am fine with because the car was never mine. Now when Geico deemed that the car was a total loss they sent me this under Leinholder and Leasing Information: “If your vehicle is worth more than you owe, we will then issue a payment directly to you.” but in the next paragraph they say "Since your vehicle is financed, we will issue a payment to VW CREDIT LEASING toward what is owed on your vehicle. Any remainder will be issued as a single payment to ALL OWNERS on the title.
This is kinda contradicting since in the first paragraph they are informing me that they will pay me the difference, but in the next they say they will pay whoever is listed on the title (which I don’t think I’m listed since I was only renting the car). I’m not sure if financing is different than leasing and maybe Geico is confusing leasing vs financing payment rules.
One could probably argue it isn’t contradicting since it isn’t “your” vehicle.
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It seems contradictory but I don’t think it is. I think it’s Geico having one one form where there should have two.
Your vehicle isn’t financed, it’s leased. If this was a lease specific document it would say “Since your vehicle is leased, we will issue a payment to VW CREDIT LEASING toward what is owed on your vehicle. Additionally, any remainder will be issued to VW CREDIT LEASING”. I can see the confusion but you ultimately have to ignore the parts of the document that pertain to financed vehicles.
Feel free to check your insurance policy documents to make sure this is consistent with what you initially signed but I would guess it is.
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OP, I just went thru this last month as I had a total loss (natural disaster)
If you finance, you’re the owner of the car so Geico would send you any overage (after paying the lien holder) but in this case you’re a leasee so you don’t own the car . The overage goes to the captive . It’s their asset and they elected not to give you anything back on the overage .
Count your blessings you’re okay and look towards your next car
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BMW pulled the same thing on me. I fought for 6 months to get it back. All they said was “sue us”.
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Check the Marketplace forum for broker recommendations. You need to find some that serve your area including neighboring states, deal with the makes you seek, and set realistic expectations.
OP do yourself a solid and instead of leasing a loaner which will have few options and been beaten on by random mouth breathers try to find a lease assumption on Swapalease or here on Leasehackr. Ride out the balance of that lease then order the exact car you want.
There are plenty of very well equipped loaners out there and the people on swapalease also breath through their mouths on occasion.
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Yeah, I would also wonder what makes swapelease apriori a better thing than the loaner.
This recently happened to me on a VW Jetta that was flooded. I too was planning on buying the car. As a leasee, I have a right of first refusal so VW is NOT entitled to the overage. Someone in this thread said “Audi was made whole” by keeping the overage. That is nonsense, Audi would have been made whole by getting the buyout amount that was previously agreed upon. Keeping the overage is scam and outright theft. On flip side, why do they make us buy gap insurance?? If insurance pays less then we need additional insurance for the shortage! VW/Audi should be ashamed of themselves!!! This was my 5th Jetta Lease and certainly my last VW product (this include their other brands). By the way, I had a Nissan that was also flooded and Nissan sent me a check for the overage. If what Audi is doing is legal, then our crooked politicians should go to hell….wait they already are!!
Happy Shopping
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It is in the contract that they get the overage. It isn’t surprising to me that a company renting you their asset would expect to get market rate for replacing their asset that was destroyed while in your use.
Audi isn’t the only brand that does this.
As for gap coverage, you shouldn’t be paying for extra gap coverage, as the lease includes a gap waiver (which is why they don’t come after you if the insurance payoff is less than what you owe).
They should get the contractual amount that they agreed to at lease signing! In essence, when the car is deemed a total loss it’s sold to insurance company, who is buying it out on my behalf since I pay the insurance premium. I didn’t say VW is only one who does this, i simply said Nissan didn’t. VW nor any other manufacturer should be prohibited from such practices. How are we being protected in these situations? If they keep the overage they should offer a comparable car at the buyout price. As a consumer I lost $6K in this transaction and if I opted to buy a comparable car I would have to pay that $6K which means I lost $12K (they kept $6K overage + !I have to pay $21K for a car I could have bought for $15K).
As for their “asset”, I highly doubt they have an asset on their books that is higher than buyout amount.
I am not an attorney but will definitely be speaking to one.
My apologies in advance, but you sound like you work for Audi. 
They are getting the contractual amount that they (and the lessee) agreed to at lease signing.
When the car is deemed a total loss, it’s sold to the insurance company who is reimbursing the owner of the vehicle for the replacement value of the vehicle; market rate.
As a consumer, you lost nothing in the transaction. The owner of the car received replacement value for their asset, just as you would if you owned the car. Your insurance paid out the payments to the parties that you agreed to have them pay out to, in accordance with the contract that you agreed to.
Just as an exercise, if your buyout was way higher than what insurance paid out, would you have any issue with VW coming after you for the underage?
And no, I don’t work for Audi or anything other car company, car brand, dealer, etc. I don’t work in the automotive industry at all.
Why do you feel ypu are you entitled to any “protection” beyond what’s written in your contract?
When you signed on the dotted line, did you read it? Did you understand it? If you do not like the way lease works, don’t lease. Finance or buy cash, and than you will get the market value from insurance.
Oh, you want to save on taxes, have ability to walk away if market isn’t working in you favor and enjoy the car worry free? Sure, but don’t expect to eat your cake and have it too.
REPEAT AFTER ME…
–WHEN I LEASE, I DON’T OWN THE CAR, I’M MERELY RENTING IT
–WHEN I LEASE, I DON’T OWN THE CAR, I’M MERELY RENTING IT
–WHEN I LEASE, I DON’T OWN THE CAR, I’M MERELY RENTING IT
It is NOT your car, you’re just renting it. You’re not entitled to the overage. Plain and simple.
It is also stated in your contract which you signed at inception. You also agreed that if the car was a loss, VW will keep any overage from insurance.
You can pound sand all you want but nothing is going to change.
Don’t like the terms? you can always BUY your car next time.
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Funny……LOL