My Nissan Leaf got t-boned today! (hit and run)

[Mdoss]

So on my way to work this morning, some jackass pulled out of a side street and hit the side of my Leaf. He took off. I (not wisely) chased after him for a bit, flashing my lights at him, but he floored it, doing at least 70+ in a 45, weaving into oncoming lanes to get away. I decided it wasn't worth chasing, and I didn't know what my damage was, so I pulled over and called 911.

Here's some photos.

Insurance is wanting to do repairs. The issue is, the car is a LEASE - and the end of lease is May 19!!! I was 1 month away from turning it in!! I called Nissan (since they technically own the car), and they are wanting to claim a total loss, and asking insurance to pay whatever the cash value is. There hasn't even been a claims adjustment done yet, they are just basing it off of these pictures. So Nissan asked my insurance (Progressive) to call them so they can hash it out.

Am I gonna get screwed here?? Are they gonna say the cash value is $9000, while the lease buyout cost (the residual value at end of lease) is $11,836?? So I would have to pay Nissan the difference??? This better not be the case, because of some careless hit-and-run idiot!!!

 

[jkoya]

Sorry to hear about the accident and hopefully you were not injured. Did Nissan give you an explanation why they want it considered a Total Loss ?

 

[miimura]

If this had happened to me in my leased e-Golf I think I would have only owed the remaining lease payments.
1. My lease had Gap Insurance included. This means that the leasing company would accept the insurance payout and I would not owe any potential difference.
2. My automobile insurance had Uninsured Motorist coverage with $0 deductible. I think a hit-and-run with an unidentified responsible party would go under UIM coverage.

 

[Drax]

Unlike Tesla’s crazy repair times if the car doesn’t get totaled out, you should easily be able to get that repaired in time to turn it in next month. Doesn’t look like a lot of damage either. Last year our ‘18 Leaf was rear-ended being less than a month old and it took just under a month to get it back. They said the repair should’ve taken around 1-2 weeks tops, but our request for parts was actually the first in the US for the new Leaf and Nissan didn’t even have parts numbers cataloged let alone have them in stock. Even so, they still managed to get it finished in under a month.

In the meantime, double-check your lease paperwork, because chances are you’ll have some GAP coverage, so don’t sweat it too much.

Good luck!

 

[Mdoss]

Sorry to hear about the accident and hopefully you were not injured. Did Nissan give you an explanation why they want it considered a Total Loss ?

Thanks. Yeah no injury. Just been fuming mad all day!!
No idea why they think that's a total loss. This conversation with Nissan was via online chat (their phone help had closed for the day) so maybe it was lost in translation. But she told me to have Progressive contact their Total Loss department at xxx.xxx phone number. I looked it up, and that number also is their general insurance/damage/total loss number. So Maybe I just took her Total Loss mention too literally.

1. My lease had Gap Insurance included. This means that the leasing company would accept the insurance payout and I would not owe any potential difference.
2. My automobile insurance had Uninsured Motorist coverage with $0 deductible. I think a hit-and-run with an unidentified responsible party would go under UIM coverage.

I guess the good news is, I had just made the last monthly payment, so nothing needed there.. All I should be out is my $250 deductible.

In the meantime, double-check your lease paperwork, because chances are you’ll have some GAP coverage, so don’t sweat it too much.

Thanks. No mention of GAP coverage anywhere in the paperwork. So I went to nissanfinance website, and found this:

"Lease vehicles do not have GAP Insurance, however, NMAC does provide a GAP Waiver at no additional cost."

So it sounds like I'm in good shape. The 'GAP waiver' is basically the same thing.



If I just turn the Leaf in at the end of lease (like I was planning to) there was going to be a $395 re-stocking fee.
I wonder if they call it a total loss and terminate the lease, if that will negate this $395 turn-in fee??

If so, I will come out ahead, by only having to pay the $250 deductible, and not the $395 turn-in fee..
But I'm not that lucky. I'm sure I will still owe something!!

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Sorry to hear about the accident and hopefully you were not injured. Did Nissan give you an explanation why they want it considered a Total Loss ?

Financial, I expect. They'll take a loss when the car is returned and then they have to wholesale it for $7K or whatever.
If the car is totaled, they probably get more money.

On the surface this looks like something easy to fix. Have you had a body shop give you an estimate?

 

[wycolo]

Steve Wozniak would have caught him!!

And if no airbag went off, how could it be totalled?? There has to be rules and standards.
--

 

[Dre78]

Glad you're okay! Such bad timing.

Hope insurance and Nissan work it all out. Maybe you can buy the car at a huge discount!?

Keep us posted.