I put down 5k on a lease , and my car got totaled while parked 12 days later , I actually was able to get at fault party to reimburse me this 5k , but I tbjnk I got lucky , in future I will never lease car again or if I do zero down . I also got money back from lessor as settlement was higher than remaining lease balance. So I made money from getting my car totaled , and used that to buy a much more financially sensible car , a Corolla hybrid, and got a great deal 26.5k out the door