conversation: User (canwesoakthisin): "On June 12 I was rear ended by a dump truck at a red lighting and it totaled my car, which is a lease. The insurance adjuster deemed it a total loss so they aren't going to fix it. Now I am unsure how to proceed, what questions to ask my dealer and insurance company, and what is owed to me/I owe. I have a $1000 deductible but with a total loss I do not know if I am responsible for that. coincidentally the next day my dealer called me to tell me\nI may have some equity on my car (lease is almost up and he had not yet been informed the car was in an accident). Now I do not know what questions to ask my dealer and insurance company about money. Am I just put of the payments I made for the last 2.5 years without any financial help? "
  Self: "You leased the car, so you were out the payments from the very beginning, leasing doesn't build any equity in the car. The dealer was just trying to persuade you into another lease. Hopefully the totaled insurance payout minus your deductible is more than the buyout for the lease, otherwise you'll owe the difference back to the owner of the vehicle."
  