Can anyone beat 3.19% financing for 84-month term?

[dano-oly]

I know there are a number of threads floating around on interest rates. It appears the institutions that had really low numbers as recently as a few months ago (e.g. DCU, EFCU) now have reduced loan amounts or terms. My local CU is offering 3.19%. Anyone find better recently?

 

[BostonS85D]

I just used Digital Federal Credit Union - 65 months at 1.24%. They may have longer terms; I just didn't ask.

 

[Damiano]

Check out Alliant credit Union. They do a lot of Teslas. I'm not sure about current rate, but they gave me 1.74% on an 84 month a while back.

 

[siteexperts]

I also used Digital Federal for 1.24 for 65 months (longest term for that rate). Very easy process.

 

[NuclearPowered]

Digital gave me 1.74% at 72mon.

 

[bluenation]

...are u really sure you want a 7 yr finance?

just curious, how do you rationalize that? ( i hope i dont come off as rude, just genuinely interested )

 

[njaard]

60mo, 1.99% at First Tech FCU, my CU for >5 years and I'm a fanboy of theirs similar to how I am of Tesla.

 

[deonb]

...are u really sure you want a 7 yr finance?

just curious, how do you rationalize that? ( i hope i dont come off as rude, just genuinely interested )

If the interest rate is sufficiently low, it's better to take a loan out as far out as possible and invest the rest. e.g. At Damiano's 1.74%, even if you have 100% cash available, it's better getting the 84 month loan if you can.

Not sure about 3.19%, but if you're risk tolerant then an offset investment via LendingClub will still work out better.

60mo, 1.99% at First Tech FCU, my CU for >5 years and I'm a fanboy of theirs similar to how I am of Tesla.

Agree with you on First Tech CU. They're awesome. They took a bit of a customer service hit a while ago with the Addison merge, but things seem to have worked themselves out again.

 

[Glitch]

7 year finance damn! Seems that people did not learn from the crisis.

 

[RyanT]

Signed a 1.74% 84 month at Point West Credit Union in Portland 2 weeks ago. Sure, I could have went shorter and put much more down but I'd rather invest the money and/or have it on hand personally. It'd be a different story if it was over 3.5%. If you have a mortgage @ over 4% you'd be better off paying that down than getting a shorter loan.

 

[deonb]

7 year finance damn! Seems that people did not learn from the crisis.

These aren't adjustable rate loans, nor on offer to subprime customers. Very different situation.

At 1.74% the rate is so low that even if you can't invest it or offset it higher (which you should easily be able to do), it's lower than expected inflation, so just time value of money would cause the longer period to be better.

Of course, if you can't afford the car at 5 year, and can only afford it at 7 year, it's a very different story, but you're not going to get a 1.74% rate if you're that close.

It'd be a different story if it was over 3.5%. If you have a mortgage @ over 4% you'd be better off paying that down than getting a shorter loan.

Just keep in mind mortgage interest is pre-tax.

So if you're at e.g. at 39% tax bracket, your car loan has to be at < 2.87% for it to be better to pay off the Mortgage instead.

But yes, the principle applies. If you have a 4% mortgage, you're better off taking a 7 year loan at 1.74% and putting additional money towards the mortgage or investments.