Alliant Credit Union 1.49% for 72 months

[tinc]

Alright Tesla Fam, here is a breakdown of what to expect with Tech CU for those that qualify.

If you go on their website and fill out the Tesla application, here are some surprises that I found. Make sure you click under the Tesla section.

Under the length of time/ amount of months, there isn't an option for 60 months, only 48, 66, 72.

If you want 60 months, you have to call in about an hour after you've submitted the online application and let them know that you want 60 months and not 66 months. 66 months puts you in the 1.74% rate, 60 months can put you in the 1.49% rate, depending on the borrowed amount.

They will want the usual documents.
1. Tax returns
2. Copy of Driver's License
3. Car Insurance Declaration page for the current month
4. Utility Bill with the same address as your application with your name (could be internet/ cable bill, has to be the current month, no exceptions)
5. current pay stub
6. Final Purchase agreement from Tesla
7. Affiliation with - Financial Fitness Association, it's only $8 bucks (via Paypal) to join and you get useful tips/ articles on managing your finances in order to open a Tech CU account. Might take up to 24 hours for it to register.
8. Apply for TechCU membership. During the process, it will ask you for your bank info to transfer some money in to the savings and checking account, I would advise everyone interested in the GAP coverage to transfer $400 in to the checking account.

You will want to call them to follow up as they will only call if necessary. TechCU offer GAP coverage as I found out that my car insurance company does not offer GAP (Geico). Purchase the GAP separately, don't have them add it to the loan if your insurance doesn't offer GAP like my company. If your insurance company offers GAP then I would go with your insurance company in the event there was ever a claim. It would be less of a hassle dealing with one company instead of two.

These are the steps that I had to go through to get the loan approved.

Hoping that everyone that needs funding gets it at the best rate possible.

Cheers!

 

[ckwong]

Did you use this Tech CU Tesla loan application? Tech CU - Online Loan Application Center

This is great, I too have to apply soon and was checking this post if anybody has applied recently. Thanks for the data point Dr Doom and thank you MasterT!

 

[Dr Doom]

Alright Tesla Fam, here is a breakdown of what to expect with Tech CU for those that qualify.

If you go on their website and fill out the Tesla application, here are some surprises that I found. Make sure you click under the Tesla section.

Under the length of time/ amount of months, there isn't an option for 60 months, only 48, 66, 72.

If you want 60 months, you have to call in about an hour after you've submitted the online application and let them know that you want 60 months and not 66 months. 66 months puts you in the 1.74% rate, 60 months can put you in the 1.49% rate, depending on the borrowed amount.

They will want the usual documents.
1. Tax returns
2. Copy of Driver's License
3. Car Insurance Declaration page for the current month
4. Utility Bill with the same address as your application with your name (could be internet/ cable bill, has to be the current month, no exceptions)
5. current pay stub
6. Final Purchase agreement from Tesla
7. Affiliation with - Financial Fitness Association, it's only $8 bucks (via Paypal) to join and you get useful tips/ articles on managing your finances in order to open a Tech CU account. Might take up to 24 hours for it to register.
8. Apply for TechCU membership. During the process, it will ask you for your bank info to transfer some money in to the savings and checking account, I would advise everyone interested in the GAP coverage to transfer $400 in to the checking account.

You will want to call them to follow up as they will only call if necessary. TechCU offer GAP coverage as I found out that my car insurance company does not offer GAP (Geico). Purchase the GAP separately, don't have them add it to the loan if your insurance doesn't offer GAP like my company. If your insurance company offers GAP then I would go with your insurance company in the event there was ever a claim. It would be less of a hassle dealing with one company instead of two.

These are the steps that I had to go through to get the loan approved.

Hoping that everyone that needs funding gets it at the best rate possible.

Cheers!

thanks for this post. I didn't realize that the interest rate would be even lower if I decrease my rate to 60 months. I thought banks would want to make more interest and increase their rate if the loan is a shorter loan.

What does GAP coverage mean? Thanks again for the help!

 

[ABC2D]

thanks for this post. I didn't realize that the interest rate would be even lower if I decrease my rate to 60 months. I thought banks would want to make more interest and increase their rate if the loan is a shorter loan.

What does GAP coverage mean? Thanks again for the help!

"Gap insurance is an optional insurance coverage for newer cars that can be added to your collision insurance policy. It may pay the difference between the balance of a lease or loan due on a vehicle and what your insurance company pays if the car is considered a covered total loss."

Basically boils down to this: car is totaled, insurance pays you $X but you owe to the bank $Y (X<Y) - the GAP covers from X to Y.

 

[Shopi01]

Alright Tesla Fam, here is a breakdown of what to expect with Tech CU for those that qualify.

If you go on their website and fill out the Tesla application, here are some surprises that I found. Make sure you click under the Tesla section.

Under the length of time/ amount of months, there isn't an option for 60 months, only 48, 66, 72.

If you want 60 months, you have to call in about an hour after you've submitted the online application and let them know that you want 60 months and not 66 months. 66 months puts you in the 1.74% rate, 60 months can put you in the 1.49% rate, depending on the borrowed amount.

They will want the usual documents.
1. Tax returns
2. Copy of Driver's License
3. Car Insurance Declaration page for the current month
4. Utility Bill with the same address as your application with your name (could be internet/ cable bill, has to be the current month, no exceptions)
5. current pay stub
6. Final Purchase agreement from Tesla
7. Affiliation with - Financial Fitness Association, it's only $8 bucks (via Paypal) to join and you get useful tips/ articles on managing your finances in order to open a Tech CU account. Might take up to 24 hours for it to register.
8. Apply for TechCU membership. During the process, it will ask you for your bank info to transfer some money in to the savings and checking account, I would advise everyone interested in the GAP coverage to transfer $400 in to the checking account.

You will want to call them to follow up as they will only call if necessary. TechCU offer GAP coverage as I found out that my car insurance company does not offer GAP (Geico). Purchase the GAP separately, don't have them add it to the loan if your insurance doesn't offer GAP like my company. If your insurance company offers GAP then I would go with your insurance company in the event there was ever a claim. It would be less of a hassle dealing with one company instead of two.

These are the steps that I had to go through to get the loan approved.

Hoping that everyone that needs funding gets it at the best rate possible.

Cheers!

How much was their required down payment? I'm going for a second X and Alliant finances up to 105% of value @ 2.49% for 72mo

 

[ABC2D]

How much was their required down payment? I'm going for a second X and Alliant finances up to 105% of value @ 2.49% for 72mo

Tech CU finances 100% of the car cost, no taxes, no fees.

 

[tinc]

Dimitar, I don't know what the required down payment is but my down payment is a much higher amount than the typical borrower.

Dr. Doom, you should check with your insurance company and see if they offer GAP coverage. Small price to pay for peace of mind.
If you get into an accident and the car is totaled, let's say you're in year 3 of your loan, you owe about 85k on the loan, but the insurance company only values the car at 70k and pays only 70k for the total loss, you still owe the 15k to the bank. So the GAP coverage is supposed to cover the 15k. I've done some research on this, it's debatable if it's worth it or not but I find it inexpensive compared to paying out 15k if I was ever in this situation.

 

[flummoxed]

We went with TechCU as well: [email protected]%. I can confirm that they do offer 100% financing, excluding TTL.

The process was fairly straightforward although there were hiccups with the paperwork at times which added some delay (saying they did not receive something even though we sent it to them multiple times).

My wife applied as the sole borrower and she has an 800+ credit score and some student loan debt.

We bought GAP coverage through Ameriprise/Costco, which was less than 30 bucks a year on the 100D.

We are picking up in a few hours!! WOO!

 

[Jrogville]

I just found out that my credit union, which typically does not have the lowest rates, considers any car no older that 2 years old (in other words 2016) and less that 30,000 miles, eligible for new car rates. Has anyone heard if Tesla Lending has a similar policy for its newer CPO cars?

 

[Dr Doom]

Dimitar, I don't know what the required down payment is but my down payment is a much higher amount than the typical borrower.

Dr. Doom, you should check with your insurance company and see if they offer GAP coverage. Small price to pay for peace of mind.
If you get into an accident and the car is totaled, let's say you're in year 3 of your loan, you owe about 85k on the loan, but the insurance company only values the car at 70k and pays only 70k for the total loss, you still owe the 15k to the bank. So the GAP coverage is supposed to cover the 15k. I've done some research on this, it's debatable if it's worth it or not but I find it inexpensive compared to paying out 15k if I was ever in this situation.

thanks! will definitely do. I think it makes sense to have gap coverage. especially in an expensive vehicle like the MX. Insurers have no clue how to really value the car. It's all over the map right now

 

[jason1466]

Not for everyone, but I just landed a new inventory 2017 MX yesterday and went with Unify (merged with former Western FCU, both mentioned way up thread as I recall). They did 100% financing including tax, 36 months @ 0.74%. It is actually 0.99%, but easy to get the 0.25% discount if you open and maintain a free checking account with 2K balance to avoid monthly fee, then set up a recurring ACH or direct deposit, and set up automatic car payments from the checking account. Anyone can join, and surprisingly they had a local branch 5 minutes from my work, so paperwork was done in person in 30 minutes. They have fairly competitive longer term rates too...

 

[Dr Doom]

Not for everyone, but I just landed a new inventory 2017 MX yesterday and went with Unify (merged with former Western FCU, both mentioned way up thread as I recall). They did 100% financing including tax, 36 months @ 0.74%. It is actually 0.99%, but easy to get the 0.25% discount if you open and maintain a free checking account with 2K balance to avoid monthly fee, then set up a recurring ACH or direct deposit, and set up automatic car payments from the checking account. Anyone can join, and surprisingly they had a local branch 5 minutes from my work, so paperwork was done in person in 30 minutes. They have fairly competitive longer term rates too...

View attachment 220804

great that you were able to get this rate but I don't think many tesla buyers will be doing a 36 months loan. I did a 48 months loan for my audi q5 but with the mx- I am definitely wanting to get a longer loan.

 

[Jrogville]

Not for everyone, but I just landed a new inventory 2017 MX yesterday and went with Unify (merged with former Western FCU, both mentioned way up thread as I recall). They did 100% financing including tax, 36 months @ 0.74%. It is actually 0.99%, but easy to get the 0.25% discount if you open and maintain a free checking account with 2K balance to avoid monthly fee, then set up a recurring ACH or direct deposit, and set up automatic car payments from the checking account. Anyone can join, and surprisingly they had a local branch 5 minutes from my work, so paperwork was done in person in 30 minutes. They have fairly competitive longer term rates too...

View attachment 220804

This is great information, Jason. I'm considering a June 2016 CPO X with only about 5k miles. The 0.74% for 36 months is what I'm interested in, but with a big downpayment. I'm trying to see if I can get them to accept this car for the new car rates. If not, I'll go with my local credit union. They give you the new car rates for a 2016, but with them it would be 1.75% for 36 months or 1.99% for 48 months. We'll see what happens.

 

[Shopi01]

Dimitar, I don't know what the required down payment is but my down payment is a much higher amount than the typical borrower.

Dr. Doom, you should check with your insurance company and see if they offer GAP coverage. Small price to pay for peace of mind.
If you get into an accident and the car is totaled, let's say you're in year 3 of your loan, you owe about 85k on the loan, but the insurance company only values the car at 70k and pays only 70k for the total loss, you still owe the 15k to the bank. So the GAP coverage is supposed to cover the 15k. I've done some research on this, it's debatable if it's worth it or not but I find it inexpensive compared to paying out 15k if I was ever in this situation.

Tinc, I strongly second you on the GAP. We got in a "small" one car accident that I thought was minor. Our MX 90D ended up being total loss. If not for GAP through insurance company ($50 6mo premium) we would have gotten $92K from insurance and be upside down on loan.

 

[Jrogville]

I haven't used GAP before, but does it make sense if you're doing a substantial down payment to pay less interest and lower your payments? If you're never upside down, you'll never get a benefit, will you?

 

[tinc]

I haven't used GAP before, but does it make sense if you're doing a substantial down payment to pay less interest and lower your payments? If you're never upside down, you'll never get a benefit, will you?

I think everyone has their own situation where GAP might or might not be needed. For me, I believe that this coverage (GAP is not insurance btw), protects me in the event that I could be upside down on a loan. GAP coverage is a small price to pay compared to the thousands of dollars that you could be on the hook for. Insurance companies will always try to pay less if they can and this is where lawyers could come in but then you'll be on the hook for lawyer fees as well if you were to go that route which will end up costing even more time, money and stress.

The money that a GAP covers outweighs the money you could be on the hook for if you were to ever be in an accident and the insurance company lowballs you. I still think that with electric cars (especially Teslas), the appraisers have not accurately assess the worth of Teslas because they are comparing it with ICE cars, different components and the fact that only Tesla or Tesla appointed shops can fix our cars, the value should always be higher.

 

[ccutrer]

I think everyone has their own situation where GAP might or might not be needed. For me, I believe that this coverage (GAP is not insurance btw), protects me in the event that I could be upside down on a loan. GAP coverage is a small price to pay compared to the thousands of dollars that you could be on the hook for. Insurance companies will always try to pay less if they can and this is where lawyers could come in but then you'll be on the hook for lawyer fees as well if you were to go that route which will end up costing even more time, money and stress.

The money that a GAP covers outweighs the money you could be on the hook for if you were to ever be in an accident and the insurance company lowballs you. I still think that with electric cars (especially Teslas), the appraisers have not accurately assess the worth of Teslas because they are comparing it with ICE cars, different components and the fact that only Tesla or Tesla appointed shops can fix our cars, the value should always be higher.

We're straying off topic, but I can definitely confirm this. I was recently hit in my Model X, causing "minor" damage to a FWD, a wheel, and the plastic trim pieces around the wheel well. The insurance adjuster was open with me that Teslas are difficult, because the software they use does not really support estimating for them. Then the fact that there's only one certified body shop in my state, which the insurance company and the body shop have been having disagreements about fair rates for aluminum work. Then I get the estimate from the body shop, which uses different software that does actually support Tesla (don't get me started on why the insurance company and the body shop aren't using the same estimating software...). The "real" estimate is more than 2x the estimate from the insurance adjuster. I'm still waiting for parts to come in (luckily the car is still fully drivable! - in fact, before I got the estimates, I was contemplating how much it would have to be for me to just live with a dent and run with the money; the huge disparity quickly settled that that I'm getting it fixed!), but hopefully this doesn't become a huge headache trying to get insurance to pay up.

tl;dr: yes, I keep hearing that Teslas are unique in the world of repairs, for several reasons: aluminum, scarcity of parts, and completely different body design because of the EV drivetrain.

 

[Solargrapes]

I haven't used GAP before, but does it make sense if you're doing a substantial down payment to pay less interest and lower your payments? If you're never upside down, you'll never get a benefit, will you?

I agree totally. Financing 100+ % on a rapidly depreciating asset like a car is so 2008 real estate.

 

[flar]

I haven't used GAP before, but does it make sense if you're doing a substantial down payment to pay less interest and lower your payments? If you're never upside down, you'll never get a benefit, will you?

I think everyone has their own situation where GAP might or might not be needed. For me, I believe that this coverage (GAP is not insurance btw), protects me in the event that I could be upside down on a loan. GAP coverage is a small price to pay compared to the thousands of dollars that you could be on the hook for. Insurance companies will always try to pay less if they can and this is where lawyers could come in but then you'll be on the hook for lawyer fees as well if you were to go that route which will end up costing even more time, money and stress.

The money that a GAP covers outweighs the money you could be on the hook for if you were to ever be in an accident and the insurance company lowballs you. I still think that with electric cars (especially Teslas), the appraisers have not accurately assess the worth of Teslas because they are comparing it with ICE cars, different components and the fact that only Tesla or Tesla appointed shops can fix our cars, the value should always be higher.

I think the question is more "does it do anything at all if you have a large down payment on a loan (not a lease)" and my understanding is that it does not. You have to be in a position where the amount owed is larger than the value of the car and with a large enough down payment the car's value will always be more than the remaining loan amount, no?

I put down about 40% to keep my monthly payments manageable - realizing I could have instead used the down payment money to offset the payments, but I didn't want to have to deal with anything more than an automatic payment from my direct deposit account in an amount that I could live with month to month for the term of the loan. It's unlikely that my car's value will be less than my loan amount even if I was to have gotten into an accident on the way home from the factory at that rate, no? If so, then the GAP insurance would never pay a dime anyway.

Or, am I misunderstanding what GAP insurance is?

 

[ABC2D]

I think you got it right