Im2bz2p345

It totally sucks that your original car got totaled man, but at least you'll be getting a brand new ride soon!

By the way, you may be the first person to have ever owned (leased in your case) an IS350 F-Sport AWD and an IS350 F-Sport RWD!

How many miles were on your AWD? Once you get a chance to break in the RWD, please do a comparison of the cars for us. I would love to read a "real world" review of the differences one finds between the two models (in terms of handling, turning, and other things of course).

Best of luck and let's hope for no more accidents!

~ Im2bz2p345

Aeromotive

I'm happy for you that you're OK and you're getting a new car. It would have sucked if they had tried to fix this. The car would have never been the same...
I'm also interested in a comparison between AWD and RWD. Do keep us posted!

crazych42

In this case that's a good thing. Sorry a god car was totaled but they would have never been able to make it right with so much damage. Just be thankful no one was injured seriously and you are able to walk away with a new car.

carderoni

I'll find out the total tomorrow. I'm going to assume there was frame or axle damage, but the payoff amount on the car was about $42K.

carderoni

Although I don't know yet for sure, I believe this is actually the case here. My adjuster was very up front with me and described how they could not locate a salvaged 3IS to take parts from - as that is standard operating procedure for insurance funded repairs - which is why they took over a week to total it.

So please let my experience highlight the extreme upsides and pitfalls of leasing:

• Placing multiple security deposits (or a down payment to reduce cap cost) is great up front, but all is lost if the car is totaled.
• The gap insurance provided by LFS is fantastic.
• First year leasing - or buying - is risky for many reasons. Not only is the product immature, but the lack of salvage inventory encourages insurance companies to total your car for relatively minor accidents. The airbags did not deploy in my car, nor was any glass broken, nor was there any damage done to the drive train.

Aeromotive

I understand about down payments which are downright silly to put on a leased car, but do you really lose MSD's? Educate me!

If your premium doesn't go up (not supposed to since you're not responsible for the accident, at least that's how it works in Canada) then why is the car being salvaged a bad thing? I understand it's going to take a while for you to get a new IS, but the good thing is you're having a new one after such an accident.

iampraneel

iTrader: (3)

After reading another posters comment on this thread I called LFS yesterday and asked if I would lose my security deposits if my car were to be totaled. She looked to see if I had GAP coverage and stated I would not lose my security deposits if the car was totaled out.

Unless less the rep misinformed me I don't think the quote above is true, but I'm not in carderoni's situation and can't provide first hand experience.

Carderoni-First and foremost I'm glad you are ok. Once you get all your affairs handled please confirm if losing the security deposit is true, if a leases car through LFS is totaled.

Fizzboy7

Sad post. Really happy you are okay. That is the most important thing. So even after a day or two, you didn't have any aches or pains? Often they pop up later on, but not immediately after. If so, a visit to the doc's should happen in case you need therapy over time, the other party will have to pay for it.

I too am surprised it's totalled. High value on a new car. And doesn't the factory always produce spare parts and panels while producing new cars? After 6+ months in production, there should be some parts inventory by now.

carderoni

Hey, good point - could be a cool little claim to fame! And a comparison is a great idea! Once I've had some time with the new car I'll start a thread to compare the two in real world driving/ownership conditions. I had a little over 5,000 miles in the AWD which I think is plenty for a basis of comparison.

Thankfully I was and still am pain-free. I checked out the car at the collision repair centertoday and the service manager indicated that while there was unibody damage, they've repaired far worse. Insurance companies generally don't use new parts to make repairs, they source salvaged cars and reuse whatever they can. The lack of a salvage donor was the reason they totaled this one.

I could be entirely wrong about the security deposits, but I was under the impression that this is exactly what they are for. I hope I'm wrong - I'll find out for sure today when I speak with LFS again.

carderoni

Prepboy607 was right - I just confirmed with LFS that the security deposits are refundable in the event of a total loss.

iampraneel

iTrader: (3)

That's awesome news. Thanks for checking and good luck with finding your new car.

carderoni

Just put the deposit down on the new car, which should be here Monday or Tuesday

It is identical to my first with the exceptions of drive train layout and exterior color:

IS 350 F-Sport RWD
Silver
Black NuLuxe
Navigation
Blind spot monitor
Accessories package (wheel locks, cargo net, rear bumper applique, etc)

Once it arrives I will start a long term thread detailing the differences between the AWD and RWD models from an ownership and driving dynamics perspective. I also salvaged the Joe-Z intake from my old car so it can be as true of an apples to apples comparison as possible. Hopefully it'll be educational or helpful to others.

crazych42

[QUOTE=carderoni;8381178]Just put the deposit down on the new car, which should be here Monday or Tuesday

It is identical to my first with the exceptions of drive train layout and exterior color:

IS 350 F-Sport RWD
Silver
Black NuLuxe
Navigation
Blind spot monitor
Accessories package (wheel locks, cargo net, rear bumper applique, etc)

Once it arrives I will start a long term thread detailing the differences between the AWD and RWD models from an ownership and driving dynamics perspective. I also salvaged the Joe-Z intake from my old car so it can be as true of an apples to apples comparison as possible. Hopefully it'll be educational or helpful to others.[/QUOTE

Congrats man! I'm glad things are working out for you. But now I'm jealous as you are about to get your second 3IS and I'm still waiting for mine to get here!

carderoni

Ha, thanks - wish the circumstances were different but I suppose I'm the first person with two 3IS's which can't be so bad, right?

JDR76

That's awesome! I'm glad you're able to get resolution and a replacement car so (relatively) quickly, though I'm sure it has felt like a longer wait for you than for us.