Correct. I just got done talking to them; you must have a free checking and indicate intent for direct deposit at time off origination. I’m not certain that they have a claw back provision, however. It may be possible to remove the direct deposit later with no penalty, and just have it autopay directly out of the checking account. In that case, you just set up a transfer to your checking account each month and then it pays right out of the account. :-D I’m looking at it from that dimension. A 56k loan for 65 months at 1.74% costs 2721 over the term. The same loan at 2.09 costs 3278 over the term.
I just went through Tesla credit application today and got 2.49% (72mo) from US Bank, emailed Tesla requesting for a lower rate and was pleasantly surprised to receive 1.84% from Chase! The whole process took less than an hour. Total amount 50k 72mo term at 1.84%, both US Bank and Chase ran my TransUnion report, score was about 798 with prior auto history.