I’ve been through several leases and never heard of MSDs, is this a regional practice? And are they truly refundable from your experience? Because my experience has been that dealerships are very nit picky about every little thing when you return the car to them, which would make getting the refund very hard.
MSD are refunded minus any excess wear and tear. Which you would owe regardless of MSD or not.
Dealers generally aren’t the ones accessing the damages. Leasing companies use a 3rd party.
Whoever they use, they have been pretty tough in the past
Depends on the brand… they all have their standards. But regardless of MSD you would still receive a bill for excess wear.
Right I get that. Never heard any dealership incorporate MSD around me in NJ.
A lot of dealers don’t do them because even themselves don’t understand them. For example I am the only person at my store that offers MSD. If you ask anyone else here at my store they will look at you weird. 
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Regardless of their ignorance, if the manufacturer/financial institution offers MSDs as a product or service, is the dealer not obligated to offer it?
If I go into a McDonalds and ask for a quarter-pounder without cheese, would it be acceptable for the manager to say “sorry we don’t offer that here?” Just because their employees do not know how to deviate from the regular procedure?
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Dealers in NJ certainly know about them and how they work. Ray Catena Lexus of Monmouth offered them to me in 2015 without me even asking about them. There have been dozens of leases here in the Garden State with MSDs at different dealers.
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I can only speak about my experience with BMW leases. Multiple security deposits are refundable. Counted against the MSDs at lease end are:
- excess mileage
- excess wear and tear (BMW is reasonable with charges, they want you back for the next one)
- disposition fee $350, which is waived if you start a new contract with BMW FS
Three weeks after my BMW was turned in to the dealership I received a check in the mail for the full amount of the MSDs.
There are many dealers in NJ who support MSD.
North Brunswick Toyota, Manasquan Volvo are just a few examples.
The MSD is kept by the finance company so it isn’t up to the dealer to refund.
And yes I don’t think McDs has to sell every single item on the menu, you see the disclosure “at participating locations”. So just because the finance company does MSDs the dealer doesn’t need to use them. Remember the “we can refuse service to anyone”.
What will happen to MSD if the car gets into a crash and total loss?
Please search to find answers to questions that have been asked many times over.
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Set the MSDs aside for a minute… the lease agreement will spell out your obligations in case of a total loss. Most include GAP coverage or a GAP waiver (TFS is an exception), and you’ll an obviously have insurance coverage.
As long as you satisfy those obligations you get the MSDs back.
Not at all. I will not do a care by volvo lease even though it is offered. You can go to another store for that.
That was a post from Dec of 2018 you replied to….
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I really need to get more than 5 hours of sleep
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Holy Time Machine Batman!