Frustrated by Financing

[othat1prct]

Am I right in thinking that you put down a non-returnable deposit on a car BEFORE getting a finance offer? If so, wow!

Edit: Also 40K miles per annum is a serious mileage. Whatever you save in fuel is going to be peanuts compared to depreciation. The car is going to be more or less worthless in just a handful of years. I hope you've given the residual value, or should I say lack of it, some thought.

Most people who buy Tesla's put the deposit down before knowing financing. They take 30+ days to build so if you get a finance offer when you put the offer down you will end up with a 2nd ding on your credit score and potentially worse offers. They only guarantee the original offers for 30 days so told me not to apply. I realized it was a risk and was annoyed but the OA assured me that I could get the best offers if my credit score was 750+. Thats kind of the point of this thread. Hopefully anyone doing some research may come across this and realize that if you don't have $60k+ car loans in your past you're not getting the offers they claim. The OAs won't tell you that.

Aware that there will be almost no residual value but the 8 year/infinite mile warranty means I have a covered car for 8 years. Even if its worth nothing to me at the end it pans out, I did the math.

 

[othat1prct]

Or a model 3.

I was originally getting a model 3, but with the infinite mile warranty on the X and the free supercharging it is actually cheaper over 8 years to buy the X.

 

[RVD98072]

i guess you are planning to supercharge for all of your charges?

 

[TexLaw]

The lack of a prior, large auto loan may very well have something to do with the offers you've received. However, I'm betting that your cash position and the large (nondischargeable) student loan have a great deal more to do with them looking for the larger down payment. Your FICO score could be 850, but your lack of cash on hand and the large, nondischargeable loan make you a substantially greater risk. Big student loans often freak out underwriters, especially if your cash position is thin. I don't know what your income and income history is, but that also may have something to do with it. Underwriters have become hypersensitive to income, lately.

FICO scores do not take income or assets into account. Your FICO only goes so far when you are financing a $100k depreciable asset. It may get you in the door, but they are going to drill down on the details.

I understand your frustration with the OAs. Salespersons have absolutely no business commenting on or predicting financing terms. They don't know your circumstances or what particular bug might be up an underwriter's butt at any given moment. By the same token, though, one should not put any stock into a salesperson's comments or predictions regarding financing.

 

[Xtek]

Aware that there will be almost no residual value but the 8 year/infinite mile warranty means I have a covered car for 8 years. Even if its worth nothing to me at the end it pans out, I did the math.

FYI that warranty it only for the battery. The normal warranty is 4 years/50k miles.

 

[othat1prct]

FYI that warranty it only for the battery. The normal warranty is 4 years/50k miles.

I know. The battery is the most expensive thing to fix and most likely to fail with thousands of miles

 

[othat1prct]

i guess you are planning to supercharge for all of your charges?

No, but I’m even if I charge 25% of my miles on it over 8 years it’s a considerable amount of savings from paying for it. It was more for the warranty, supercharging was a nice bonus.

 

[othat1prct]

The lack of a prior, large auto loan may very well have something to do with the offers you've received. However, I'm betting that your cash position and the large (nondischargeable) student loan have a great deal more to do with them looking for the larger down payment. Your FICO score could be 850, but your lack of cash on hand and the large, nondischargeable loan make you a substantially greater risk. Big student loans often freak out underwriters, especially if your cash position is thin. I don't know what your income and income history is, but that also may have something to do with it. Underwriters have become hypersensitive to income, lately.

FICO scores do not take income or assets into account. Your FICO only goes so far when you are financing a $100k depreciable asset. It may get you in the door, but they are going to drill down on the details.

I understand your frustration with the OAs. Salespersons have absolutely no business commenting on or predicting financing terms. They don't know your circumstances or what particular bug might be up an underwriter's butt at any given moment. By the same token, though, one should not put any stock into a salesperson's comments or predictions regarding financing.

Yeah my salary is over 250k. I can pull off the down payment I just don’t want to. I don’t like taking from savings. My savings are supposed to be for emergencies. Still waiting on a few other lenders. I will probably do it but annoyed and considering cancelling the whole thing.

Thanks for the response. I wasn’t looking for sympathy, I really just wanted to get this information out there. Before I paid my deposit I did a ton of reading on forums and articles looking for what people’s loan term generally were and didn’t find anything about people having issues getting the good terms and low down payment because of smaller car loans. I only saw people who couldn’t get good terms because they had no car loans. Now this information is out there for anyone who’s reading and might help someone.

 

[Big Earl]

FYI that warranty it only for the battery. The normal warranty is 4 years/50k miles.

*Battery and drive units.

 

[Peteski]

Most people who buy Tesla's put the deposit down before knowing financing. They take 30+ days to build so if you get a finance offer when you put the offer down you will end up with a 2nd ding on your credit score and potentially worse offers. They only guarantee the original offers for 30 days so told me not to apply. I realized it was a risk and was annoyed but the OA assured me that I could get the best offers if my credit score was 750+. Thats kind of the point of this thread. Hopefully anyone doing some research may come across this and realize that if you don't have $60k+ car loans in your past you're not getting the offers they claim. The OAs won't tell you that.

Aware that there will be almost no residual value but the 8 year/infinite mile warranty means I have a covered car for 8 years. Even if its worth nothing to me at the end it pans out, I did the math.

It's a bit different in the UK. Tesla finance locks in the rate when you order the car and they don't take a deposit until your finance application is agreed. So you know what you will be paying before deciding whether or not to go ahead with the deposit.

 

[zxed]

FWIW - via tesla finance, I got 0% for 60 month only - for 72 mo, I had to put down 10% - I've owned several cars in the past, and in all cases., pay them off in 3 years (loans I get are always for max years as long as interest doesnt change). Alliant CU offered 105% LTV with 0% same 1.49%, 72 mo....

 

[MikeQ]

*Battery and drive units.

This isn't a infinite warranty either, right? It's infinite miles OR 8 years.

 

[vandacca]

This isn't a infinite warranty either, right? It's infinite miles OR 8 years.

Yes, that's correct. Infinite miles *OR* 8 years, which ever comes first.

 

[Unpilot]

Tesla offered 0% for 60 months?

 

[alexdav]

Tesla offered 0% for 60 months?

I think they meant 0% down for the lower rate.

 

[kiwiguy]

Agreed, there are way too many factors. I got the 1.49% with 5% down (requested 0%) via Chase.
Largest auto loan I've had is $14K. Have a $550/month lease through Toyota currently.
But I have 2 heavily used credit cards through Chase, so maybe that helped.
My OA told me the optimal time to apply based on expected delivery since.

I think student loans are the issue. If you asked Suzie Orman she would probably tell you to pay off the student loan first unless the interest is < 1%. I'm no financial adviser, I assume your savings are earning no interest, so it may be worth getting a HELOC in case of emergencies, and using cash to pay off debt. Just a thought.

 

[RVD98072]

I think they meant 0% down for the lower rate.

Yeah, that's how I read it too.

If you buy a car that is $100k and let's say that sales tax is 10%,

with a 60 month loan, they let him borrow $110k

with a 72 month loan, they let him borrow $100k.

I was not offered this option when I bought my car so I just went with 72 months thinking that I can always pay more to pay down the principal if I feel like it.

 

[Super_Popular]

Anyone in Portland try Point West Credit Union, they have the lowest rates around.

 

[Unpilot]

I got 1.49 with 10% down financing 87k

 

[othat1prct]

It's a bit different in the UK. Tesla finance locks in the rate when you order the car and they don't take a deposit until your finance application is agreed. So you know what you will be paying before deciding whether or not to go ahead with the deposit.

That would have been nice!