Quick question. My car was totalled by an accident that wasn’t my fault. Thanks to GAP, I basically just lost the car. Still, I feel like I got ripped off by losing my downpayment. Is that something that is recoverable?
Sorry to hear about your accident; glad you’re okay. Unfortunately the down payment is not recoverable. This would be a good example of why we recommend to not put any money down when leasing.
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How long did you have it for and how long was the lease?
If you are hurt or have whiplash, you could be talking some serious $$$$$
Yeah you kind of did. Which is why putting any money down is a big no-no for leasing.
Look on the bright side though; you had a major car accident and walked away from it un-hurt and you learned a valuable lesson.
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I totaled a leased car couple years back and having GAP saved me about $3,000. And as others have mentioned… that’s the risk with money upfront.
Every company is different and not sure if this effects you but the leasing company will reimburse any monthly payments made after the date of the accident. Just FYI…
And another bright side is that you now get to go on the hunt for a deal and lease a new car.
I didn’t jump to another lease after my accident… does that effect one’s eligibility for Tier 1 credit status? Assuming the person was Tier 1 at the time of the previous lease.
Car accidents don’t affect credit worthiness. They might affect insurance premiums though. Not many people know this but there is an insurance FICO score as well. And even no fault accidents can ding that score.
This is very true, I just got into a not at fault accident, and I got ding for that. My premium just went up too not by much but still…
Still would like to know how long the lease was for and how many months were remaining.
Correct me if I’m wrong… If your 18 months into a 36 month lease and the cars totaled your only out half of the down payment? First 18 months were reduced payment because of the deposit so the op’s not out completely.
Do you have any numbers?
Are you sure you are actually at GAP territory?
This was two years ago, I just thought about it as I was doing some paperwork regarding the accident. I was the car owner, but I wasn’t in the car at the time. GAP definitely kicked in because I was paid $10500 for the Nissan Leaf, payoff was 15K. I lost the car exactly 2 years into a 3 year lease. I even made sure they reimbursed me for the CVRP rebate return
Would you lose MSD too if a car was totaled?
Thought that was illegal or is it only in some states?
not sure, as this was my first time getting rear ended that went through insurance.
Don’t you have to by law purchase full protection for 3 year and under cars with car insurance? They just send you a new car…
So you only ‘lost’ 1/3 of your down payment.
My lease Nissan Leaf got totaled . Do I get anything back ? I didn’t punt no money down and it’s almost about 1 yr.
Unless your car is worth more, which I am doubtful. If you got the CVRP rebate, you might want to tell the insurance about it as the state will come after you for it.