I leased an Macan base for my wife back in Jan 2018. Last month, she was involved in a car accident (not her fault), the insurance adjuster deemed the car total loss. They did an appraisal and the market value of the car is higher than the payoff amount by 3k…my question is do i get the difference back? I did put 5k down (2300 being downpayment, rest is 1st month pymt and license and registration and acquisition fee)
Nope. You technically not the owner of the car. This is prime example of why not to put money down on lease. It’s sucks, but nothing we can do about it.
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Just a thought. Can you initiate a payoff with the financial company and then get the money for it from the insurance?..
you need to have the necessary cash, no one is going to finance a totaled car!
Right. But op is saying the appraisal is 3k more than the payoff…
Insurance money goes to the lien holder, which is the financial company. You can’t payoff the car with the money which is designated to the financial company. The only way it might work, you take your own cash, payoff the car, become the owner, insurance money will be yours. Although the whole process of title transfer takes usually 3-6 weeks.
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Yep. That’s what I meant.
I am not sure that I agree with what everyone here is saying. I am not in insurance and do not contend to be an authority on the issue but I can tell you from experience… I bought my wife an Audi A3 some years back and a week later she was rear-ended and the car was determined to be a total loss. The value I received was also higher than the payoff amount and I got the difference back. The way I understand it is that the insurance settlement is yours (not the lenders), the lender is just interested in their loan. Hence, once the loan is satisfied the difference belongs to the owner of the policy.
If the bank gets paid more than the amount owed (the payoff - no matter who is actually making the payment) the money in excess of the amount is refunded back to the account holder. I would bet dollars to donuts that you are going to get a check for the difference between the payoff and the value assessed by your insurance company.
I am in California and the lender was Audi Financial FWIW.
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for a loan yes this is the case.
was it a loan or a lease? a loan you are the owner the bank is just a lienholder
I think that may be the case. After I traded in a leased Acura, I got a small refund check from Acura financial services for an overpayment made by the dealer. It may come down to the provisions within the insurance policy.
Yes, and on a lease the bank is the owner of the asset and the customer is just a lessee. I am familiar. Whether finance or lease, this should be the case, at least in California ( I would guess). Mine was a lease. I got all the money above and beyond the payoff amount back as a check.
OPs was a lease. Says so right on the first post.
This is a ver interesting question since one poster has experience other than the conventional wisdom of not getting to keep any equity. Edit: Roger that. I misunderstood what conventional wisdom on the site was.
Uh that’s not conventional wisdom at all.
This would all be cleared up by checking your insurance contract. And a lien just means they get paid first. Any overages should be due to the insured party, ie the OP.
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I just went through this in April with a totaled ‘16 Honda Odyssey. The value of the car exceeded the payoff owed to honda and I received the difference in payment from my insurance company. It is illegal for the lein holder to keep the extra cash. I believe the legal term is callled “Conversion”
The insurance company may have to pay the bank per their policy, but the bank has to pay you the overage. I am not an attorney, but I worked with my sisters-in-law, who is an insurance attorney to navigate this with me.
Hope everyone is OK from the accident, cars are replaceable. Make sure you fight to get what is owed to you. And good luck!
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You receive the difference if it is higher than the payout. Gap insurance takes care of the difference if it’s lower. If you don’t have Gap (Toyota option), you’re on the hook if it’s lower.
I totalled my leased 2015 Q5 after 9 months. Got a check for $2300ish (was $3300 before deductible) and my Audicare back!
Always do zero drive offs!
Here in Cali. Had a Mercedes lease 30 months into the lease and it was totaled. Car appraised $4k over payoff. I got a check for the $4k. Don’t remember if it was from insurance or Mercedes financial. But you should get the difference back.
Im a newbie here but owned leased financed lots of cars… the only thing you owe the lender is the payoff
anything extra goes to you…
My wife leased a 4Runner and five weeks after taking it off the lot, it was totaled by our insurance company and it was appraised for over $4100 above the payoff quote.
.
We asked our insurance company how it work as the appraisal was above the payoff amount and the insurance rep said that the leasing company should send you a check for the difference minus any deductible.
We asked what if Toyota Financial does not refund the difference the rep said call us back and we will work with the financial institution to get you the difference as that money is yours.
To make a long story short, Toyota Motor sent us a check for the difference, so technically any money over the payoff is yours.
hi thx for all the feedbacks. I also talked to my agent morning and he said i will get the difference back. I will report back and confirm this once i get the check.