I literally just got a 2021 rogue 4 months ago. Last week it was parked in front of my house and at 2 AM was totaled by someone rear ending it due to them “not being able to see it”. My insurance settlement is $34,642. My payoff is $27,517. I traded in a vehicle and put a down payment because i wanted a lower payment and positive equity at lease end for buyout. Will Nissan give me the overage? I spoke to several of them and I’m getting mixed answers. Some say yes some say no. My insurance says they should refund me as she never heard the opposite from Nissan….
I have no clue what Nissan will do, but putting a down payment doesn’t provide positive equity at lease end. The residual doesn’t change with a down payment, so it does not help you in having positive equity. It just moves money around and increases risk (if you don’t get the difference between insurance settlement and liability with Nissan).
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What does your contract say?
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I just really read the fine print. Anything excess from insurance proceeds will not be refunded to me. I will
Never put money down on a lease again. 
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Some people in these situations have had success in making sure the insurance company only sends a check for the payoff amount, but your mileage may vary.
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Geico says they can only send the full settlement to Nissan due to it being a lease.
Does me having power of attorney on the lease change anything?
Ouch! Sorry this happened to you. From what I understand there is two ways to put money down in a lease.
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Capital cost reduction (cap cost reduction) - this is your typical down payment that lowers the price of the car up front. Likely what you did, only because no one explained to you the difference or the ramifications.
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MSD - security deposits. This type of down payment doesn’t lower the cost of the car but instead is exchanged for a lower “interest rate” and it’s refundable at the end of the lease or in the event of a total loss. It’s program specific. To mean some manufacturers allow for more msd’s and some less. So you may not get as much of a reduction in payment as a cap cost reduction.
I’ve never had a dealer explain any of this to me. Almost as if they prey on customers lack of knowledge about lease details. 
By your next lease, you’ll be a lease killer! And they’ll never get any bs past you again.
The big points in a lease are the negotiated price, lower is better and a negotiated Money Factor (a leases “”interest rate””) I use quotes because it’s more like a rent charge expressed as a % of the total of the car. It behaves similar to an interest rate.
Through edmunds.com forums you can discover the absolute lowest Money factor for any car of any manufacturer in your specific area at a specific time and that arms you like a weapon.
The real problem right now is buying a replacement car is very hard. You’ll want to seriously consider what you do next carefully. Walking into a dealer right this second, unarmed with information, means you’ll get double fleeced on your replacement car.
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MSDs are not available in New York although I see the poster is from MA, no idea if they allow it, state specific.
In certain states you may get a refund of the unused taxes but this is something to ask the claims department of your insurance company ahead of time.
Also, if your car was totaled, are you going through your insurance or the responsible party’s insurance? Perhaps their insurance can send you the check? No idea but something to ask. Usually there is the opposite problem, the insurance pays less.
Just spitballing here but if you bought out the car from Nissan (which would include paying all taxes) could you get the check then? Or does it matter who owned the car at the moment it was totaled? Although this is not a good idea and I would not do it
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NY State doesn’t allow MSDs on leases that originate in NY. Some brands allow out of state deals for NY customers to still include MSDs.
Yea that kind of matters…(no 
)
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Which? I have never found any and all the offers on here exclude NY on the MSDs. I think it matters where the car is registered, maybe if you move a previously registered car from Maryland to New York then
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@aronchi would know better. I think TFS/LFS and maybe IFS is a “no” on out of state MSDs for NY customers, but BMW/Volvo is a yes?
Also audi is a no. Bmw, benz and volvo are yes.
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Ok. I generally stick to Japanese. I would think long and hard about another Volvo. Had a 1998 V that would have something go wrong about once a month. I used to give the counter person in Volvo service XMas gifts! Meanwhile every other car I ever owned (mostly Toyotas, Hondas and a couple of Fords) barely ever saw the inside of the dealership after they were leased or purchased
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I didn’t pay a security deposit but i definitely paid the capital cost reduction. I wish i would’ve known all this prior. I guess you live and learn.
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I went through my insurance but also put a claim with her insurance. Her insurance was way slower Than mine.
I was thinking of getting a Benz now. But now i know not to put anything down. I’m trying to buy a house so i know the monthly car note effects that dramatically. So the car will be on the back burner for now.
Personally, I feel that if I’m looking at a mortgage that’s so close to the maximum allowable DTI that a hundred here or there on my car payment makes a difference on me getting qualified, I’m shopping for way too much house.
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We refinanced our mortgage a couple of years ago. Our profile and credit checked all the boxes and we already had an existing mortgage with this company that was being taken out that we had paid regularly for many years. The nonsense they put us through to get this approved was ridiculous. Especially since our payment would be lower than our then payment. It finally got done but not without a lot of frustration and nonsense. The original mortgage took half as long
Sometimes it is the profile rather than the actual expenses although this is something the OP should become knowledgeable about before they apply and before they lease again
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When I was purchasing my house, my lease didn’t count against debt to income. I was trying to minimize as many monthly obligations as possible and the loan officer let me know the lease had no bearing on DTI.
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