Should I put down MSDs or not?

Ask the Hackrs
1

Went to a couple of dealerships and they’re all telling me not to put down security due to it not making sense as the “promo”s are over and despite maxing out the MSDs - the interest is so low that it makes no sense to put security down when you can invest the same money elsewhere.

Is this true? Is anyone hearing the same?

2

What brand, what is the mf, and how much do MSDs reduce it, these are the questions to create a cost vs benefit analysis.

Sometimes dealers will say this as MSDs are something they are unfamiliar / just don’t want to do.

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3

There’s no reason to have this conversation with dealers. You should know what the mf is on the cars you’re looking at before talking to dealers and work out what the savings and return is to judge for yourself.

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4

Ask them for numbers and make a decision yourself. Don’t let random people tell you what does and does’t make sense.

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5

That said, BMW msds, for example, are worthless right now.

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6

How do I find out what the details are before I arrive? I thought I had to ask in person and etc.

7

BMW was one and Audi was another

they didn’t mention what the factors were though

8

You can always call and ask for mf and effect of msd on it.

9

Talking numbers with the dealer is for finding someone to do your deal. You should work out what that is ahead of time.

We always recommend the following method before you ever contact a dealership. If you do all of the work up front, you’ll have a stress free dealer experience and set yourself for success.

  1. Read Leasing 101 (EDITORIAL | LEASEHACKR) to understand how to calculate a lease payment and the variables. Monthly payment is an output, not an input!! While you’re at it, be sure to watch the LH video (How to Use Leasehackr - YouTube) to brush up on how to most efficiently use the resources here.
  2. Pick a specific vehicle that you want to target
  3. Gather the current MF, RV and incentives from the LH Calculator - Lease Program Query or Edmunds forums for your zip code
  4. Research the LH marketplace and other deals that have been made recently on your vehicle - what was their pre-incentive discount? How did their lease terms differ?
  5. Plug your numbers into the LH calculator (CALCULATOR | LEASEHACKR), and use a pre-incentive discount similar to what you have seen
  6. Create a target deal, this is what you’re trying to negotiate to. You can try different terms, selling price discount, etc. and see how your monthly payment is affected. It is also possible that different trims of your vehicle may have different MF and RV (i.e. this is very common with GM), so make sure that you look into that. Come up with a set of inputs that give you the output that you want - your desired monthly payment.

With a target price determined, you now have a deal to pursue and compare dealer offers against. More importantly, you have a solid foundation to work from.

Specifically to MSDs, the LH calculator will let you select how many you want to apply and what the appropriate effect is, dependent on brand.

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10

You’re likely to get the run around doing this, only to be told something like “well, it’s not really worth doing them, because if you put the money down upfront instead, it’ll lower your payment way more.”

Assuming the person you get on the phone even knows what MSDs are. I’ve had several interactions with dealers where I’ve had to insist on MSDs and walk them through the math to show why it makes sense.

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11

Thank you so much!

12

Just happened - I called back the dealer just to see if they’d even be willing to provide me with the info and gave me the runaround

13

I did not know that calc knows exact effect of MSDs, and that’s available to all.

14

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