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Let's talk financing rates
- Thread starter flashflooder
- Start date
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- Model 3
dbemis
Member
Signed up with Vibe CU. Originally it was 2.75%, plus a .25% discount if you autopay. Noticed they had a new promotion, 0.5% off 'the lowest qualified rate' from what they offer. Asked them if that could apply to mine, and it did! So in the end, 1.99% for 72mo, ~$60k financed
DP: Offered unsecured from Lightstream with 3.69% but could not get them to match rate from CU. Emailed CU preapproval letter with terms spelled out. Lightstream shot me down saying preapproval letter is not official and they need truth in lending document. Called customer service who said will forward to credit, no response after 1 day. Called customer service again on Friday and was told credit team lead shot it down for the same reason. Attached a few more emails to try one more time. If they cant match then will have to go with CU. Maybe it depends who is reviewing and who was able to get them match with preapproval was lucky!
That stinks. They just beat my rate from tower this week. I was worried about the preapproval letter too so I gave them that, a screen shot of my online application with terms, and a screenshot of my secure “congratulations” email exchange with a tower rep (which is the only document I had identifying the actual rate). This did it, no questions asked. Hope this helps, although like you said, could be some rep variance there. Good luck!
Thank you for the information. You are smart saving down the screenshot of the application. I only have an email confirming application submitted (didn't provide to lightstream). I do have emails with the loan officer requesting proof of income etc and an email confirming everything is set (provided to lightstream). Rate was mentioned in the preapproval letter. I will post what they say on Monday, pass or fail. Thanks.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
GAP coverage. LOL.
An unsecured auto loan by its very nature won’t worry about GAP coverage since the assumption is that the borrower is taking the loan and making cash purchase of whatever vehicle they want at whatever price they want.
If the car were totaled and the pay off did not cover the outstanding loan amount doesn’t matter since the buyer would have the monies to make up this difference.
If you are really worried about GAP coverage then inquire with your insurance company they might be able to tack it onto your auto or homeowners policy.
dbemis
Member
You have to 'live, work, worship, or attend school in any county in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.' Or if you are a relative of a Vibe member, or 'Retirees of Michigan Bell, SBC, Ameritech, AT&T, or Western Electric'
@voip-ninja,
Thanks for the “Snarky” opening. Really makes one want to come back for educational information. I’ll figure it out on my own. Thanks.
Ski
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
I’m not trying to be a dick. Getting an unsecured loan pretty much precludes getting gap insurance since there is no lien on a vehicle to insure.
Remember that GAP coverage only covers the difference between the payout if the car is totaled and the lien value on the car.
With unsecured there is no lien value on the car.
If you aren’t putting much down on the car then maybe you should switch to conventional financing and get gap coverage.
Or you could inquire with your auto insurance company as I recommended and see if you can get some kind of total replacement coverage add on that will protect you further in the event you suffer a total loss.
If you qualified for an unsecured loan then you should would hopefully not be financially devastated if the car was a total loss. The insurance company still has to give you fair value for your loss. Even with GAP coverage it only covers up to loan value not value of a replacement vehicle.
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@voip-ninja if I were only able to get a secured loan, should GAP coverage actually be something I should be looking at? Should it be through the CU/bank or in my auto-insurance? Is GAP insurance worth it and how much does it usually cost?
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
Would you be financially devastated if your car were totaled and the pay-off amount from insurance didn't cover 100% of the outstanding loan value on the loan?
If the answer is yes then investigate getting GAP insurance.
If you put a reasonable down payment on your vehicle purchase then normally you shouldn't be in a situation where GAP coverage would do anything for you....
Example 1.
You buy a new $50,000 car and finance at 110% to cover taxes and fees (total loan amount $55,000). A month after taking possession of your new car it is totaled.... because the car is no longer "new" insurance will only pay out $45,000 value for your car, but your loan value is still nearly $55,000 and you will be financially ruined if you can't pay the loan off. You should have GAP insurance (in reality you should have bought less car).
Example 2.
You buy a new $50,000 car and put $8,000 down. You also pay taxes and fees out of pocket. Your total loan amount is $42,000. Same situation as above. Your car is totaled after one month. You get $45,000 from insurance and quickly retire your $42,000 auto loan. You have $3,000 to put towards purchase of a replacement car. Buying GAP insurance in such situation is foolish and a waste of your money.
You maybe put some policy on your auto insurance that helps with "full replacement value" if your car is totaled so that your payout in such cases will cover the full replacement cost of the insured vehicle with another similar brand new vehicle.
If that extra coverage costs $500 a year then you have to do the math on how "worth it" it is to pay the extra money for coverage you might never need... personally I would prefer to "self insure" in such cases and just fork over the extra money if I needed to replace my brand new car that was totaled out.
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Knightshade
Well-Known Member
GAP insurance is like 300-400 bucks. Total. Once. (at least those are the quotes several CUs gave me when I was shopping Model 3 loans recently)
Not sure why you'd pay insurance $500 a year for any sort of similar coverage.
Now- pretty much any insurance is a bad idea cost/benefit wise. Otherwise the insurance company would be losing money. They have entire sections dedicated to figuring out the odds of this stuff and pricing their products so they cost more on average than they will pay out- it's kind of their entire business model.
The question is if their profit margins cost is "worth" the peace of mind the insurance delivers.
Even if a 10k loss like in example one is something you could cover in cash out of pocket, it might be "worth" $350 of for-sure lost GAP cost to not take the risk of a 10k cash loss.
Not sure why you'd pay insurance $500 a year for any sort of similar coverage.
Now- pretty much any insurance is a bad idea cost/benefit wise. Otherwise the insurance company would be losing money. They have entire sections dedicated to figuring out the odds of this stuff and pricing their products so they cost more on average than they will pay out- it's kind of their entire business model.
The question is if their profit margins cost is "worth" the peace of mind the insurance delivers.
Even if a 10k loss like in example one is something you could cover in cash out of pocket, it might be "worth" $350 of for-sure lost GAP cost to not take the risk of a 10k cash loss.
Does anyone have a contact email (specific person) or phone number for Lightstream? I've been approved for an unsecured loan with them, but want to work with someone to do their Rate Beat program. My local CU has me approved for 2.59% for 36mos, but I figured I might as well save the 0.1% and do unsecured too. Seems like most of the other financing options are either unavailable to me or have too many hoops to jump through.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
hurjio
Member
That's such a personal decision, I don't think anyone can make the choice for you without being in your personal situation. There's pros and cons for both.
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