Cabal: You bring up some interesting distinctions, but in fact you don't own the car until you make your last payment. Then and ony then will the title be sent to you.

 

yes that's absolutely true. i'm not quite sure what you are trying to approve or disprove.

at the resolution of your lease plan, i.e. your final payment, you don't own the vehicle.

at the resolution of your financing, you are given the title of the vehicle.

of course during the time prior to your loan's/lease's maturity, the lienholder owns the vehicle. i completely acknowledge and agree with this commonality; however, my point is that this similarity alone doesn't make them the _same_ because there are many underlying differences that separate the two.

 

If you finance your car when you buy it - you own the car from day one, not after you make the last payment. Your name is the title and all the state's car titling laws that I have ever seen, your name on the title of a car is evidence of ownership. That's why you don't give someone the title to your car when you sell it before you've got the $$ in hand. The bank has a lien on the car and you own it subject to their lien. You can sell it, trade it in, or even refinance it without the bank's approval and all they are entitled to is the balance owed to them by you. The situation is analagous to buying a house and getting a mortgage.

If you lease your car, Infiniti owns it. You are simply renting it from them according to whatever terms you agreed to. Your insurance protects Infiniti's interest in the car. You have no title in your name. The situation is analagous to renting an apartment (as someone mentioned).

 

Agreed.

 

You have your health and while that may not console you much, just know that many other's have faired far worse, also by no fault of their own.

As many have pointed out, unless you have gap insurance, they pay the book value on the car. This does apply to leases. When you lease a car, the finance company buys the car from Infiniti, who in turn agrees to buy the car back at completion for the determined payoff ammount. The finance company may be IFS, or Wells Fargo, or many others. They own the car during the lease term. They cannot legally require you to carry gap insurance, but they do for property, liability, comp, and collision for the actual value of the car. There will be an explanation of the gap potential you are assuming responsibility for in bold letters on the back of the lease you signed.

There is no sure strategy to what is best for the consumer, it's something of a gamble. Someone said to not put money down on a lease, but this means you have the max. gap from the start. If you do this, gap insurance is a must IMO because you're upside down for most of the term. The most efficient thing to do is put down what the "Drive off lot" depreciation is. This puts you pretty close to even from day one. Little or no gap, and no need to pay for the extra insurance. If you're flat at 11 months, you did just fine. Yeah, it sucks, but having to continue making payments would be worse .

All of that said, if the other driver is at fault, things should be different. You don't have to settle for the "Value" offer because the real loss must be considered, including the financial obligation, loss of wages, rental car, emotional pain, etc... I'm not saying inflate it, just that you're not only dealing with a car here, you're dealing with an accident that involved vehicles.

 

If you leased through IFS, then you have gap insurance. It's standard policy through them. I just leased my G35 through them two weeks ago so I'm up to date on that.

As someone said earlier, this is exactly why you NEVER put money down on a lease. You've just lost everything that you put down. Sure, you can try to get it back by suing the other party, but that can often be a major PITA.

 

Like AV Junkie just said, anytime you lease a car through IFS they automatically add GAP insurance, so why even put money down? Who cares if you have the max gap at the start of the car, thats what the GAP insurance is for. If the car is totaled, the insurance doesn't care that you've paid $1 on the car, or $20,000. They pay the fair value of the car at the time of the accident. If it is less than the current pay off, then GAP insurance covers it. For example, If you were stupid enough to put $5K down on a lease, totaled the car 2 weeks later, and the insurance says that the value of the car at the time of the loss was $5K less than the purchase price (i.e. pay off price), I am under the understanding that you are SOL and out those $5K. On the other hand, if you put $0 down, have GAP insurance, and totaled the car 2 weeks after, your only out the first month's payment.

I'm not entirely sure, but pretty confident that if the value of the car is higher than the pay off price, the insurance would pay the insured (car owner) the difference.

 

You only OWN the car when the title is in your hands. End of Story. So if you lease or finance, you technically don't own the car just yet. It is the same analogy as a renter renting an apartment, he's just barrowing it for a certain amount of time.

 

pdx is right...

 

This is quite an interesting thread... Here is my two cents:

Regardless as to whether or not you owned the car or not, gasp insurance, etc., the facts of the case are simple: You were (according to you) traveling within or close to the speed limit and another vehicle violated your right of way. If you were not significantly speeding, she would be primarily if not solely at fault in violation of California Vehicle Code 21802(a):

"21802. (a) The driver of any vehicle approaching a stop sign at the
entrance to, or within, an intersection shall stop as required by
Section 22450. The driver shall then yield the right-of-way to any
vehicles which have approached from another highway, or which are
approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard, and
shall continue to yield the right-of-way to those vehicles until he
or she can proceed with reasonable safety."

Now, this is key: you need to deal only with her insurance company. If you file a claim under your policy, you may lose certain rights such as that of a jury trial. They will try and value your car less than what you "owe", but who says that it is up to them to determine the car's value? Her insurance policy likely has wording to the effect that the insurance company will pay for all damage caused by the insured driver as a result of the accidnet. Therefore, although they claim the car is totalled, I would demand that they repair the car. The actual repair cost will likely be upwards of the replacement cost for the vehicle, so file a claim and demand the repair costs, and get your money out that way.

Also, I do hope that you are okay and did not sustain any injuries, but if you did, please seek the necessary treatment. I actually work in accidnet reconstruction, so I would be curious to see pics of both cars.

Good luck to you, you may have quite a battle ahead of you.

 

How many more analogies....I can't wait.

 

WTF . . . Your car was considered a total loss by the insurance company? Are you okay? Dang . . . I trust you are, since you are able to post this thread. Injuries, if any, I hope are minimal.

 

ok?