Goodbye JOULEE 3 :(

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Nubo said:
LEAFfan said:
I'm glad you're okay. How fast were you going? There is a thread about going fast in the HOV when there is slower traffic next to it. What about the other driver and their car? What part of their car did you hit? If you hit it in the rear, it's your fault.

If someone pulls directly in front of you, crossing the QUADRUPLE-yellow lines to boot?

Greg posted that there were no yellow lines. Here, we have no yellow lines, and cars cut in all the time. So it's much safer to go slower. I too only go 50-55 in that situation.
Of course if someone is hit while crossing yellow lines, the violator would be at fault.
 
LEAFfan said:
I'm glad you're okay. How fast were you going? There is a thread about going fast in the HOV when there is slower traffic next to it. What about the other driver and their car? What part of their car did you hit? If you hit it in the rear, it's your fault.

oh ya right! what about failure to yield? if that is all it took to get some one elses insurance to buy me a new car, then I would have done it years ago.
 
GregH said:
Last Friday I was in an accident on the northbound 57 in O.C. which it turns out was fatal to my Leaf (so Mercury has informed me this morning). I was traveling in the fast moving carpool lane when someone in 10mph traffic decided to merge about 100ft in front of me. With barely enough time to reach for the break (from cruise control), before I knew it the airbag was in my face and my forward momentum was cut in half. Those airbags stink btw. The windshield fogged up and I had no power but just enough momentum to get to the right edge of the freeway. I must say I was incredibly impressed with how well the Leaf protected me. Not a scratch or bruise to be found and for that I am extremely thankful!
My Leaf on the other hand didn't fare so well. I'll try to get some pictures posted. Bumper, hood and right front quarter destroyed. Right headlamps popped out but did not break. Charge port completely intact. When I saw it at the body shop with the panels off I was impressed how little damage there was (I was very surprised they totaled it). A few dents on the AC evaporator but the power electronics were completely untouched. The motor and battery were well away from the damage zone.

I had JOULEE 3 for about 18 months and had about 17k miles on it. Blue SL. Battery charged to about 245 gids at full. It was a 39month lease. Mercury is going to pay off the car to Nissan for about $22k which is about $1500 LESS than they estimated the replacement cost at so they're sending me a check for the $1500 (!) Also they noted that if I had wanted to pay off the lease it would have only been $21k.... So why does Mercury have to pay more?? Something in the Nissan lease agreement they say. mercury suggests I should go after Nissan for the difference.

So now what? Get a great deal on a new SL? Wait a few weeks for the 2013s? (Oooh 6.6kW!) Try (gasp) a non Nissan EV? Decisions decisions....

glad you are ok which is the only thing that matters but losing your car sucks, believe me I know. Expecting an EFT for my Prius (SO rear ended someone and in this case, it was her fault... not paying attention) in the next day or so.

getting a hair under $23,000 in what should be labeled as a win for me despite having to pay for a rental for 3 weeks ($300 for reduced rate for some sort of agreement between Farmers and Hertz) and the $500 deductible.

But this was a paid off car that I cannot replace at the price I paid for it. It was the first 2010 Prius sold in the state of WA. I got a big discount as part of the Prius Priority Purchase and because I got it so early, it qualified for state sales tax exemption which has since expired for hybrid (EVs still get it for a few more years) so basically I drove it for 44 months at a cost of $5600 (OTD cash price of Prius was about $28,500)
 
kubel said:
mwalsh said:
That honestly doesn't look that bad to me. Looks like bumper cover and it's bracketry took all the structural damage. Or is there damage to the frame further back, that isn't readily visible? Unless there is, I honestly don't see that as a vehicle I'd write off. Heck, I'd even be thinking of buying it back from the insurance company, if it were my car.

Agreed. This is the least damaged new car 'total loss' that I've ever seen (that wasn't flood damaged).

I've been looking at wrecked LEAFs in my area, but can't get a feel for how much they are worth.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/3491550376.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This guy pulled the battery... has Nissan released the cost of a replacement pack yet?

you should have seen my 2004 Prius. I was cruising down the road one day and a ford pickup coming the other way decided to turn left... when i was about 20 feet from him. i swerved but there was no shoulder on this country road so she creased the entire left side of the car. did not even crack a single piece of glass. the collision was so light my SO who was dozing in the passenger side did not even know we were in an accident until i tried to open my door and couldnt.

although the dent was small, at the time the Prius was in very high demand and salvage price was way over the top so it only took $8,000 to total the car.

now, i had paid $22,340 (it was 19,995 plus $220 for mats plus tax, etc) on June 30,2004. drove it until the accident Sept 7th, 2006 put just over 30,000 miles on it. the lady's insurance company paid for my rental for 10 days and cut me a check for $23,800. from the passenger side you could not tell the car had been wrecked. towards the back end of the car, damage was so light that the paint was still in tact...
 
Looking at the photos of that Leaf, I'm going to guess somebody will rebuild it and it will be on the road again. There just isn't enough damage for it to go to the junkyard.
 
adric22 said:
Looking at the photos of that Leaf, I'm going to guess somebody will rebuild it and it will be on the road again. There just isn't enough damage for it to go to the junkyard.

i am sure the salvage value on the LEAF is very high which is the reason it was declared a total loss so quickly.

the formula (at least for Farmers) is book value - salvage value - repair cost must be greater than zero.

I was paid just under $23,000 for my Prius after $500 deductible was removed and biggest reason was the much greater than normal salvage value on the car. I am guessing the LEAF will be the same
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
LEAFfan said:
I'm glad you're okay. How fast were you going? There is a thread about going fast in the HOV when there is slower traffic next to it. What about the other driver and their car? What part of their car did you hit? If you hit it in the rear, it's your fault.

oh ya right! what about failure to yield? if that is all it took to get some one elses insurance to buy me a new car, then I would have done it years ago.

Yep, if you hit them in the rear, you will be cited for NACD. If you hit them on the side, it's FTY on their part.
 
TonyWilliams said:
GregH said:
For those interested.. Joulee 3 (vin 3877) will be auctioned off by Insurance Auto Auctions

https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/Search.aspx?RefinerSetName=Loss+Type&RefinerName=Collision

Click on Automobiles, Nissan, Leaf.. There are 9 cars in the database!

I think I'll bid.

Charge port, inverter, motor, battery (albeit only 245 Gids or so) all in good shape.. 17985mi. odo.

My insurance waived the deductible based on the damage (my front right, his rear left). He was still in the process of entering the carpool lane at the time of impact. Not sure how the insurance companies handled the costs between them. They paid me $1805 and Nissan $22,717. Nissan quotes my cost to buy out the lease at $21259.30. We'll see if I can recover any of that difference when negotiating for a new 2012 (or 2013) lease...
 
Interesting addendum to this story...

I Called Nissan Motor Acceptance Co today to verify they got the Mercury insurance check and had closed out my lease. I asked about the difference between the amount Mercury had to pay ($22,717) and what the Nissan dealer had told me my buyout amount was ($21,259.30). He asked if I would like the overage amount!?!?! $1457.70? Heck yeah! He said they don't have a problem refunding the overage amount when customers request it... So I guess the lesson here is it pays to ask!

P.S. looks like they took a few pictures for the auction..
https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=14059994&RowNumber=7#
 
GregH said:
... I asked about the difference between the amount Mercury had to pay ($22,717) and what the Nissan dealer had told me my buyout amount was ($21,259.30). He asked if I would like the overage amount!?!?! $1457.70? Heck yeah! He said they don't have a problem refunding the overage amount when customers request it... So I guess the lesson here is it pays to ask! ...
That is completely WHACK.
 
GregH said:
Interesting addendum to this story...

I Called Nissan Motor Acceptance Co today to verify they got the Mercury insurance check and had closed out my lease. I asked about the difference between the amount Mercury had to pay ($22,717) and what the Nissan dealer had told me my buyout amount was ($21,259.30). He asked if I would like the overage amount!?!?! $1457.70? Heck yeah! He said they don't have a problem refunding the overage amount when customers request it... So I guess the lesson here is it pays to ask!

P.S. looks like they took a few pictures for the auction..
https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=14059994&RowNumber=7#

CA law requires payout of value of car plus sales tax and other vehicle and licensing fees that you would pay to state to register the replacement vehicle.
after all, you cant get a car that costs $21k for $21k, you have to pay about another 10-12% in sales taxes, fees and taxes. etc.
 
thankyouOB said:
GregH said:
Interesting addendum to this story...

I Called Nissan Motor Acceptance Co today to verify they got the Mercury insurance check and had closed out my lease. I asked about the difference between the amount Mercury had to pay ($22,717) and what the Nissan dealer had told me my buyout amount was ($21,259.30). He asked if I would like the overage amount!?!?! $1457.70? Heck yeah! He said they don't have a problem refunding the overage amount when customers request it... So I guess the lesson here is it pays to ask!

P.S. looks like they took a few pictures for the auction..
https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=14059994&RowNumber=7#

CA law requires payout of value of car plus sales tax and other vehicle and licensing fees that you would pay to state to register the replacement vehicle.
after all, you cant get a car that costs $21k for $21k, you have to pay about another 10-12% in sales taxes, fees and taxes. etc.

Ok, that explains the separate $1800 check Mercury sent me directly (line items included $657.4 Lease tax, $15 DMV transfer fee and $133 VLF refund)... but not the $1457 overage amount Nissan made Mercury pay above and beyond my buyout price...

As Dave noted "completely WHACK".
 
GregH said:
thankyouOB said:
GregH said:
Interesting addendum to this story...

I Called Nissan Motor Acceptance Co today to verify they got the Mercury insurance check and had closed out my lease. I asked about the difference between the amount Mercury had to pay ($22,717) and what the Nissan dealer had told me my buyout amount was ($21,259.30). He asked if I would like the overage amount!?!?! $1457.70? Heck yeah! He said they don't have a problem refunding the overage amount when customers request it... So I guess the lesson here is it pays to ask!

P.S. looks like they took a few pictures for the auction..
https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=14059994&RowNumber=7#

CA law requires payout of value of car plus sales tax and other vehicle and licensing fees that you would pay to state to register the replacement vehicle.
after all, you cant get a car that costs $21k for $21k, you have to pay about another 10-12% in sales taxes, fees and taxes. etc.

Ok, that explains the separate $1800 check Mercury sent me directly (line items included $657.4 Lease tax, $15 DMV transfer fee and $133 VLF refund)... but not the $1457 overage amount Nissan made Mercury pay above and beyond my buyout price...

As Dave noted "completely WHACK".

CA state law also requires the insurance company to go through a variety of calculations to determine the replacement value of the vehicle. it is not always going to be what your lease says it is.
it relates to the specific mileage, condition of the car, as well as comps on at least three similar vehicles.
there is an entire formula.

I had a 4-year-old volvo totaled a few years back and the insurance company wanted to pay me 17k for it.
after three months they paid more than 23k and i stopped fighting with them over the various registration fees for the replacement vehicle.
it was a long and difficult nightmare. i take it that Nissan works this with them all the time. i would do better the second and third time around, i can assure you of that.
my company was safeco. it was the worst auto insurance experience of my career in driving.
 
Greg. Thankful I found your post.

I have a somewhat similar situation, and I am hoping to get your guidance/advice.

Got into an accident about a month ago - State Farm determined that my LEAF is a total loss.

I've had the 2012 SL since January 2012, so 15 months. Only clocked 8,000 miles.

State Farm is paying out Nissan for the remainder of the lease (39 mos, $354/month), and I am getting $2,250 back of my original deposit.

My questions now are in the negotiation of a new 2013 (or maybe 2012) lease:

1) Am I eligible (again) for the $7500 federal rebate, now that this will be my 2nd leaf?
2) Am I eligible (again) for the $2500 CA rebate if i get a 3 year lease, now that this is will be my 2nd leaf?

If no to 1 & 2, I'm considering leasing under a family member's name hoping that both of those rebate benefits will apply.

Thanks so much. I'm sure I'll have additional questions after as well...

Why did you choose to lease 2012 and not wait for 2013?

-Suzy
 
suzywillow said:
1) Am I eligible (again) for the $7500 federal rebate, now that this will be my 2nd leaf?
Yes.
suzywillow said:
2) Am I eligible (again) for the $2500 CA rebate if i get a 3 year lease, now that this is will be my 2nd leaf?
Yes. But you may be obligated to return a pro-rated of your original rebate as you no longer own your old LEAF. Contact CCSE for clarification.
 
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