Totaled Vehicle

2017 Pacifica was deemed a total loss with three lease payments left. According to the dealer disclosure, the purchase option on the vehicle is $19887.40 and there were three monthly payments of 330.30 remaining. My insurance payed to lease company 21663.00 after my 500.00 deductible. I received an invoice from the lease company for 500.00 for a deductible. I don’t know what that pertains to since my insurance company has that. My calculations has the lease company owing me 784.70. Am I wrong? Are there other numbers I should be considering? TIA

If it’s totaled there are no sale/purchase considerations. It doesn’t matter it the buyout is $1, it’s not sellable.

Depending on your lease agreement, you may or may not get the balance of the insurance payment to FCA - discussed at length in past posts.

Start shopping for the next one and expect only a letter from FCA saying your account is closed.

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@jeisensc is correct. On a lease, we have heard here some people get a check for some equity while others don’t. By the way, hope all is well with you.

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Your insurance company doesn’t have your deductible.

Deductibles, by definition, come out of your pockets.

I missed that in my reply. Hope nobody was hurt and it’s just twisted metal. Still recovering from my last one almost 2 1/2 years later.

The insurance should of paid the payoff amount and the remainder be paid to you in a separate check. If the payoff happened then you would not owe any of the remainder payments. If they cut the complete amount you are stating to the finance company then the finance company would owe you a check in theory.

On a separate note did you have an vehicle appraiser do an appraisal? If that was the amount the insurance gave you off the bat chances are it was worth more. Have you looked at the market to see comparable?

Hopefully you are ok.

Dude ! Its a an accident car. You really think anyone would have that on mind to get it appraised to see if they can cash out equity ? Highly likely if its non driveable as OP mentioned its totaled, there is no possibility of anyone else appraising other than the insurance company who is writing off his car.

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Unfortunately Mani that is what the insurance company hopes for.

You can appraise a vehicle that is totaled. Like I said it is about finding comparable. How do you think houses are priced by area? Comparables.

Look I just offered advice they don’t have to take it or use it. I’m just letting them know. Don’t shoot the messenger. :rofl::joy:

Oh im not brother Sorry if it seemed like that lol.
Problem is that the OP has to check is lease agreement. Most banks already have in the agreement who the equity goes to. But curious, how do you think he can find a comparable appraiser if the car is totaled, i.e. non driveable ? Im assuming its already sitting a tow yard of insurance companies choice

You would just find comparable cars. Similar options and mileage. You would put a few of them together and average the price of the 2-3 of them. You then take that average and that should have an idea of what your upside is. The insurance tends to take the lowest examples and average those and pay you that number.

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Yeah but I think, that’s what the insurance company is doing for the OP right? And they dictate what they want to appraise it at. I thought you meant that OP can get it appraised 3rd party and negotiate with insurance ?

The op will do the negotiating themself. They can find the comparables themself or hire an appraiser who will do a written appraisal which is comprised of comparables. They would then submit the findings to the insurance company and negotiate.

In reference to what you were saying about the lease contract. In this case the payoff is less than the amount the insurance company paid. Meaning that the car would be bought at the payoff amount. In that case the op no longer has any obligations to the finance company anymore. They can not keep the extra money.

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Just to be clear, the insurance company took my $500 deductible from the appraisal of the totaled vehicle and sent the remainder to the leasing agency. Why now is the leasing agency charging me a $500 deductable when thy are not the insurerer and the payout was substantially more than the buyout would have been at lease end in three months?

And thank you all for your concern. Bruises, bumps and mild abrasions but no one was badly injured.

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That doesn’t make sense, the leasing company shouldn’t be charging a deductible. What was their explanation when you called?

I tried a variation of what you are mentioning here in 2017 when I got hit and had very different results. When they took the car apart and true’ed up the repair estimate, it was 78.8%. I wanted it totaled. Both my insurance and at fault party’s insurance came back with

I suspect they suck-in a lot more data (auction reports, black book, what’s comparable/for sale used), but the computer just spits out a number/percentage which is not easy to override.

I did hire a professional 3rd party appraiser, most of his work is in disputes over accidents with ultra-lux/super cars, but same applies. He built up a case of what the car was actually worth showing it was over 80%, and what I got back was

3 months of repairs, gremlins for balance of lease, and mismatched paint. I was made whole eventually, in other ways unrelated to the the at fault’s collision claim, but as someone who can usually find and work the loop holes, I hit so many dead ends I gave up.

Did you follow up with a Dimished value report and loss of use?

What you are talking about and what the op is saying are 2 different things. If you weren’t happy with the repairs you had the right to refuse the vehicle (depending on the state you live and their rules).

Yes. On a lease you can’t claim diminished value because you don’t own it. Loss of use (after rental coverage was exhausted) required a lawyer.

Once I had everything (estimates, 3rd party valuation, written denials), before any repairs had started, I even went to the leasing company to assert their standing and req a total. Ford’s policy there is not to get involved. What they got back in August was a repaired hybrid that will sell at auction for prob 6-8k less than the residual value, can’t be sold as a CPO.

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Incorrect, it is considered an “out of pocket property damage leasehold loss”. It is still filed under “diminished value”, but that would be the correct term.

I’ve made diminished value claims before on cars I financed. What you’re saying makes sense but both insurance companies told me in CA they don’t do DV or anything like it for leases: the lessor doesn’t have standing.

I’ve only been in CA 6 years, had 1 accident and 2 lemon claims. While the consumer protections are better, my general experience is: 1) big company always says no 2) hire a lawyer 3) you generally get what you wanted, but it’s called something completely different than what you asked for. My loss of use (a couple thousand) they denied but then I got a “general reimbursement” that included rentals and Lyfts and all that same BS.

Basically a 100% settlement where the memo reads “good will” vs “our mistake”.