Bodywork on the Leaf, expensive or cheap?

My Leaf was rear-ended by a Ford Ranger and sustained some damage. All the bodywork behind the back seats are either bent or broken. The frame is tweak as the LR door got pushed forward, causing the LF not to be able to open. The suspension appears to be fine, maybe one or two bent end links. I don't know if it touched the battery as it appears most of the frame damaged stopped just before the backseat. The car looks to be in rough shape, but I don't know whats under the trunk as the unibody is pretty twisted in the LR area. Parts of the body were rubbing on the tire, but we bent it back with a pry bar. Now my question is, is the Leaf more or less expensive to fix than a typical Toyota? The shop claims they bake the car in 120F oven instead of the hotter temp with other cars. Is that a good or bad thing? I have a year left on the lease, so I am curious if the insurance company will total it or not. The book value is around 11K on it, so I assume if I get to 7K worth of damage. It will probably be total. I am guessing the total is around 5-6K if this was a Corolla or something, so not sure what it would be in a Leaf

It also appears Nissan has "Gap" insurance (see clause 26). So they declear it total, do I just walk away and terminate all my obligation?

Save yourself a lot of trouble, take it to the dealer to get the repair done. They are the one to accept the car after lease, so better they do it, making it their responsibility. You do not want to repair it, only to be charged Thousands of dollars when you turn the car in because of this damage.

take it to the dealer, let them deal with it

your car is totaled a few time over

FYI; GAP does not come into play here... you were rear ended. its nearly impossible for the other driver to prove you were at fault

Just from what the OP described, this car is almost certainly a total loss. If the OP can post pics (you'll need to link from a photo sharing website like Photobucket) that would be helpful.

DaveinOlyWA said:

FYI; GAP does not come into play here... you were rear ended. its nearly impossible for the other driver to prove you were at fault

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Actually, fault does not matter. The other party's insurer, if any, is only responsible for reimbursing the OP for "fair market value." If the FMV is less than what the OP owes NMAC, the OP is still responsible for the remaining balance unless there is gap insurance.

To the OP: yes gap insurance should cover you here, as long as the car is not overmileage, your payments were currrent, and the car was in reasonable shape before the crash.

Ron is correct, I think they will pay out 10-11K instead of the 16-17K required to payoff the car. NMAC lease has a clause that is similar to GAP insurance, but doesn't call it that.

I am not trying to make money or do anything, I am just curious to see if it will be totalled or not, that's why I ask how expensive it is. If the damage is 5K, I will probably see my car back. If it is 8K, it's time for a new ride.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68628392/Photo%20Sep%2010%2C%2012%2003%2056%20PM.png

Ya I'd say they will total that!

Totalled.

Firetruck41 said:

Totalled.

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I agree, esp. considering how bad the depreciation is on Leafs.

You might as well start shopping now. There are Leafs on the Copart (insurance salvage sale) website that have far less damage than that. Here's an example: http://www.copart.com/us/Lot/29628165?searchId=1778642631 That car, newer than yours and with less damage, has an estimated repair cost that is only around a grand less than Fair Market Value.

Hopefully you'll get your insurance settlement while the insane deals on the 2015's are still around, unless you want to hold out for (and pay extra for) the 2016's with the larger battery.

Completely and utterly totaled. No question about it. At all. Even a blind adjuster with no sense of touch would total out that one.

Maybe I am naive, I just figure since the damage is all around the C pillar and trunk. I figure the damage would be 5-6K since I don't think any of the suspension pieces were touched, but then the C pillar and the rear unibody holds the mounting point. We shall see, they didn't work Friday. I have to wait till Monday to see what is going to happen.

I already bought another car, so I won't be buying another one. I just want to know how bad it is.

Here is another picture

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68628392/20150910_123730.png

She gone. Time to acquaint yourself with the 4 stages of grief. I think you may well be in the denial stage right now.

cossie1600 said:

Maybe I am naive, I just figure since the damage is all around the C pillar and trunk. I figure the damage would be 5-6K since I don't think any of the suspension pieces were touched, but then the C pillar and the rear unibody holds the mounting point. We shall see, they didn't work Friday. I have to wait till Monday to see what is going to happen.

I already bought another car, so I won't be buying another one. I just want to know how bad it is.

Here is another picture

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68628392/20150910_123730.png

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No way is that 5k. Probably totaled. Today's cars are expensive crushable containers. I had a Toyota Sienna totaled for much less damage than that. It was closer to a fender bender. Could still even open and close the rear lift gate. I'd say closer to 15-20k. At the rate they devalue, and general worry about working on EVs, it's a goner.

^^^
Agreed. Maybe a decade ago or or more, my dad hit some sort of fence gate on the side of the road that was open, he said, in our 93 Dodge Caravan.

IIRC, damage was basically, cracked windshield, bent rod antenna (on front fender), dent on A pillar (became rusty), broken grille, and scratches/scrapes all along the right side. I think the passenger's side mirror was broken off too. The estimate was over 4K. Pretty much the most significant part of the work (IIRC) was all the repainting on that side. All of that looked WAY more minor than what happened to the OP's car.

The car was considered totaled. Not sure if it was up to him or not. He was semi-thankful about that since the transmission was having trouble (it was the more reliable 3-speed auto, not the beleaguered 4-speed "Ultradrive").

If the car had no transmission problems and I were in his shoes, I would've just had the broken mirror and windshield fixed and done nothing else.

With the used LEAF market the way it is now, the damage likely exceeds the value of the car. Gap insurance will cover you (comes free with all NMAC leases), but you'll be out whatever your down payment was, divided by the total length of the lease in months, minus the completed months. That's why it's always a safe bet to put as little down as possible on a lease.

The blackbook value for the car is around 11K, so the damage just has to exceed about 7K to be totalled. I just hope they pay for the September payment I made one day before the accident and the tires I bought last month!!!

cossie1600 said:

The blackbook value for the car is around 11K,

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I looked back at your old posts and it looks like you have a '13 S w/quick charge. There's no way it's worth $11K in California.

My '13 SV w/premium package (but no CHAdeMO inlet) and under 24K miles was $9,325 + tax and license (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=430825#p430825) and picked up at auction from the used car dealer for $8K + $325 auction fee.

The situation did change recently: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=435924#p435924.

My former '13 SV w/both packages recently sold at auction for $11K (probably with auction fees). NMAC told me around $10.6K, which is probably before auction fees.

Insurance pays close to retail price, they can't pay auction price as I can't buy it at that price.

I don't care if it gets totalled, but I do want my $250 in lease payment that i made one day before it got totalled!!! Also the new tires I put in last month

Car is a goner, 13K in damage, worth 11K (I think it is closer to 12K, the SV are closer to 10-11K)