Stolen Car: Need help for new down payment

Hello friends, family, neighbors, followers and beyond. My name is Lexi aka @ch3m1st and a few weeks ago my car, the “Ch3m1st”-mobile was stolen overnight across the street from my photo studio in Bayonne, NJ.

It’s been a difficult time navigating the process of what to do when no one in my inner circle has experienced this kind of shock & violation before.

Now before you ask the obvious: “Don’t you have insurance?” I’ll answer: yes. But as I’ve come to learn the devil is in the details. I had comprehensive coverage on my car, the catch turned out to be because it was leased, it technically wasn’t MY car. So my insurance, who generously determined an amount greater than my buyout amount, is forced to give the entire sum to the leasing company. Essentially the lease co gets to pocket the $5,000+ difference in my insurance payout and the lease buyout amount that I would otherwise be entitled to if I owned it.

That $5K sucker punch is the icing on the cake in the challenge of getting a new vehicle. I’m safe from any further obligation or payments for the next few years on a car I don’t have anymore, but I’m stuck without a vehicle of my own, and more importantly don’t have the funds to get a new one.

The ch3m1st-mobile 3.0 Honda was not even a year old, and I am just now making my final credit card payment of the “down” payment I financed less than a year ago, all while I kept up with monthly payments. I hadn’t expected to make a new car purchase until 2025 at the earliest so I hadn’t had time to save up.

Hopefully that’s where you come in.

I’m looking into financing a new vehicle since I've been so screwed over by leasing. Historically typically put “down” taxes and fees, which range about $3000 to $5000 on vehicles I’m considering. To get monthly payments close to where I was leasing in this crazy car market, I will need to put more down. Any contribution towards this go fund me would help me get to where I need to go, literally.

For the past 3 weeks I’ve balanced public transit, carpooling, ride share apps, borrowing family vehicles, and occasionally turning down projects because I couldn’t get to it. I’ve had a car of my own for 14 years. A car is not a luxury for me and I know I need to replace it soon.

It’s unlike me to ask for a handout, and I debated going live with this. But I need to act. Perhaps we can call it a deposit on a future photo shoot instead of a charity?

Thank you if you’ve made it this far, and an enormous thank you if you decide to contribute.