We were in a car accident with our 2013 LEAF and the LEAF's front end was damaged and airbags deployed. We had the car for 6 weeks before the accident happened and the car has 2500 miles on it. The accident was in the end of October and our car was just fixed and ready for pick up yesterday (3 months after the accident). After a painfully long waiting time for parts, and switching body shops mid-repair, due to finding the first, non-LEAF-certified shop, incompetent to repair it (now it is at a LEAF-certified shop) the cost for the repair has reached $22K and our insurance wants to total the car! THE CAR IS REPAIRED ALREADY AND READY FOR THE ROAD!!! So to me this means they will have to pay for the repairs and then also pay for our lease... Has anyone been in such a situation and what happened?
The first body shop was a preferred shop by our insurance and claimed to be capable of repairing the car. They gave a $13K estimate for repairs. When we caught them in incompetence they refused to finish repairs (I am glad they did, because we did not want them to anyway). We requested the car to be moved to a Nissan LEAF certified body shop and because that shop was not on their preferred list an estimator from the insurance came for a new estimate and gave a $15K estimate. So the car went to the Leaf certified shop and they said they will not be able to give an exact estimate, because the car repairs were already in progress by the previous shop, there were parts that had been purchased but not installed, and there may be additional damage that they may find as they go along to repair it... well the car is now repaired and ready to go. Sure enough the certified shop found additional damage that the previous shop did not, like the whole sub-frame of the car had to be replaced... so their bill is about $9K plus the $13K the insurance already paid to the previous shop for the parts and labor the cost of repair reached what they would have considered total loss. So now we can't pick up our car because the insurance wants to go through their total loss department and potentially total the car, even though it is already repaired, and they will have to pay for these repairs... and in my opinion if they do total it they should also pay off our lease too... it is not our fault their preferred shop and their estimator were incompetent enough to not total it in the first place... essentially they would pay for the car twice?!
Meanwhile if we don't get the car back and we don't get a $26K total value for it (to pay $23K for the lease total loss and cover our investment), we will sustain $3K loss from down-payment and monthly leasing fees for the 3 months that they have been fixing it instead of totaling it in the first place (that is not even counting the wall charger and install, the rentals, after we reached our insurance rental max, and paying for gas)... Don't get me wrong, I am not aiming for having had a free car for 6 weeks (the total time we had it before the accident happened) I am willing to accept not gaining back my monthly lease payments for the time we used the car... But, I don't want to end up having spend 3K for owning a LEAF for 6 weeks (not including home charger, etc). The car is like brand new... 6 weeks of driving, 2500 miles on the odometer and 3 months siting in for repairs, with everything repaired, new sub-frame, new dashboard, new charging ports, new many things, repaired by certified shop, with remaining warranty... If I have to take a 3K loss I prefer to just get the repaired car back... And if we do end up without a car and losing 3K, I will not buy a new LEAF for a long time (as much as I liked it for the 6 weeks I had it), not until the market is actually ready for it (parts are available, more body shops know how to fix them, better re-charging infrastructure where I am located), and insurers know what to do with them after a car accident... I just will not be able to drive everyday in fear that an accident (no matter who's fault) will cost me another 3K loss...
The whole situation is ridiculous and I wonder if anyone else has been through the same issue and how it played out.
Thanks!
UPDATE:
We finally have the whole story from the ins co. The total loss department did an "investigation" and determined that the sub-frame of the car was not damaged by the accident, since the pictures their estimator took at the 1st body shop, before the car was moved to the leaf certified shop, show that the frame is not damaged. So the damage must have occurred during the transportation process. On top of that the parts that were ordered by the first shop for $10K and the insurance payed for did not all make it to the shop or when they did were broken. This resulted in re-ordering of some of the parts and additional labor to the total cost of almost $4K that is not accident related (or direct consequence of it). The ins co will put the $4K under a new comprehensive claim and will pay (less our $100 deductible). They will go after the towing company and the 1st bodyshop to recover these charges. If they do recover any money from the towing co and/or the 1st bodyshop they will refund us our $100 comprehensive deductible. There was additional accident related damage to the car found by the leaf certified shop, so total accident related repair cost was almost $18K (vs $15 estimate), which comes close to their total loss threshold, but it does not cross it and it is already fixed anyway, so they will pay the bills less our total of $150 in deductibles. The ins co will call us after the paperwork is done and payment is authorized. Then we should hear from the bodyshop/dealer and probably will pick up our car tomorrow or early next week. The ins co apologized for the confusing voice mail that their inspector left last Friday and that he jumped prematurely to the conclusion that the car will be totaled! Overall, I am OK with how things are resolving. I hope the ins co will remove the 1st bodyshop from their preferred list...
The first body shop was a preferred shop by our insurance and claimed to be capable of repairing the car. They gave a $13K estimate for repairs. When we caught them in incompetence they refused to finish repairs (I am glad they did, because we did not want them to anyway). We requested the car to be moved to a Nissan LEAF certified body shop and because that shop was not on their preferred list an estimator from the insurance came for a new estimate and gave a $15K estimate. So the car went to the Leaf certified shop and they said they will not be able to give an exact estimate, because the car repairs were already in progress by the previous shop, there were parts that had been purchased but not installed, and there may be additional damage that they may find as they go along to repair it... well the car is now repaired and ready to go. Sure enough the certified shop found additional damage that the previous shop did not, like the whole sub-frame of the car had to be replaced... so their bill is about $9K plus the $13K the insurance already paid to the previous shop for the parts and labor the cost of repair reached what they would have considered total loss. So now we can't pick up our car because the insurance wants to go through their total loss department and potentially total the car, even though it is already repaired, and they will have to pay for these repairs... and in my opinion if they do total it they should also pay off our lease too... it is not our fault their preferred shop and their estimator were incompetent enough to not total it in the first place... essentially they would pay for the car twice?!
Meanwhile if we don't get the car back and we don't get a $26K total value for it (to pay $23K for the lease total loss and cover our investment), we will sustain $3K loss from down-payment and monthly leasing fees for the 3 months that they have been fixing it instead of totaling it in the first place (that is not even counting the wall charger and install, the rentals, after we reached our insurance rental max, and paying for gas)... Don't get me wrong, I am not aiming for having had a free car for 6 weeks (the total time we had it before the accident happened) I am willing to accept not gaining back my monthly lease payments for the time we used the car... But, I don't want to end up having spend 3K for owning a LEAF for 6 weeks (not including home charger, etc). The car is like brand new... 6 weeks of driving, 2500 miles on the odometer and 3 months siting in for repairs, with everything repaired, new sub-frame, new dashboard, new charging ports, new many things, repaired by certified shop, with remaining warranty... If I have to take a 3K loss I prefer to just get the repaired car back... And if we do end up without a car and losing 3K, I will not buy a new LEAF for a long time (as much as I liked it for the 6 weeks I had it), not until the market is actually ready for it (parts are available, more body shops know how to fix them, better re-charging infrastructure where I am located), and insurers know what to do with them after a car accident... I just will not be able to drive everyday in fear that an accident (no matter who's fault) will cost me another 3K loss...
The whole situation is ridiculous and I wonder if anyone else has been through the same issue and how it played out.
Thanks!
UPDATE:
We finally have the whole story from the ins co. The total loss department did an "investigation" and determined that the sub-frame of the car was not damaged by the accident, since the pictures their estimator took at the 1st body shop, before the car was moved to the leaf certified shop, show that the frame is not damaged. So the damage must have occurred during the transportation process. On top of that the parts that were ordered by the first shop for $10K and the insurance payed for did not all make it to the shop or when they did were broken. This resulted in re-ordering of some of the parts and additional labor to the total cost of almost $4K that is not accident related (or direct consequence of it). The ins co will put the $4K under a new comprehensive claim and will pay (less our $100 deductible). They will go after the towing company and the 1st bodyshop to recover these charges. If they do recover any money from the towing co and/or the 1st bodyshop they will refund us our $100 comprehensive deductible. There was additional accident related damage to the car found by the leaf certified shop, so total accident related repair cost was almost $18K (vs $15 estimate), which comes close to their total loss threshold, but it does not cross it and it is already fixed anyway, so they will pay the bills less our total of $150 in deductibles. The ins co will call us after the paperwork is done and payment is authorized. Then we should hear from the bodyshop/dealer and probably will pick up our car tomorrow or early next week. The ins co apologized for the confusing voice mail that their inspector left last Friday and that he jumped prematurely to the conclusion that the car will be totaled! Overall, I am OK with how things are resolving. I hope the ins co will remove the 1st bodyshop from their preferred list...