Ordering process: when to submit tesla finance application

[ejkcy25]

Hello!

New to the forum & tried searching and looking through current posts similar to my question for clarification but still confused so hoping someone can help (Communication with advisor is taking very long waiting for a response).

I ordered my MY (hehe) and I chose my delivery location & finished the registration & trade in section as well (shortly after ordering). I have check marks next to all 3 parts.

My questions are:
1) the estimated delivery time listed on Tesla’s main page before ordering, does that start after ordering and putting the $100 deposit down? Or does it start after I finish all 4 sections (delivery location, registration, trade-in, and payment)?

2) I know that i am getting a loan through Tesla for the remaining amount after my trade in and extra payment down, but i am afraid of submitting my loan application right now because of the estimated delivery timeline (don’t want to submit it, have it expire, and do it again for another credit pull).

3) Is not completing the payment section delaying me from getting matched for a VIN?

 

[hurleyguy]

I ordered mine and did pretty much the same steps as you. I did not proceed into anything financial as I didn’t want to submit credit app for the same reason you stated. About 5 days later my advisor reached out and told me I needed to complete the financial steps to move things along. He has always been quick to respond luckily. I have a timeline I hope to receive the car in and he knew that, as the lease is coming up on my ICE. I didn’t know I was hindering the process so I appreciated this (assuming he is accurate)

I chose Tesla Financing and dialed in my numbers and proceeded. Next screen is a review where you dial in the numbers again then have to submit the credit application after that. I explicitly asked my advisor if I needed to submit my application now and he said yes. I inquired if it takes longer than 30 days to get the car (which is pretty clearly expected) I don’t want to do another credit pull and he said because I am choosing Tesla financing I am locked in. I double checked asking again and he confidently said I won’t need another approval/pull. This confused me but the whole Tesla experience is different.

It has been a little over 2 weeks now so still waiting to see how this plays out. I figured I would share my experience and what I was told. I am interested to hear what others have to say about this as well.

 

[M0del Yada]

Here's my perception and not necessarily the exact way you will experience it. Tesla seems to do what they want, when they want...and it always benefits them, not you.

Order placed 6/18 and completed all steps BUT the finance application. Was matched to two different VINs between then and 6/29. They both showed in my account page. Each time, Tesla in California called & text me to have me complete finance application. I asked to be unmatched from them as they were both extremely low VINs and I was not in hurry to accept a reject or extremely problematic VIN.

All of July... Crickets. Nothing, no call texts or emails. No update to my account online.

On 8/6 I completed the finance application thinking this would help me. Approval showed in my account within a couple minutes. On 8/7 my local sales advisor contacted me and said I was matched to a VIN that was just built yesterday (the day I completed finance application). Was this a coincidence? Possibly...

Also, this VIN has yet to appear on my account page or source code. However all my documents have it listed.

To me here's my conclusion... End of Q2 they were matching VINs to everyone and anyone regardless of how far along your account status. Once that rush was over, they went back to prioritize those that have completed all the steps including payment method.

 

[ejkcy25]

I ordered mine and did pretty much the same steps as you. I did not proceed into anything financial as I didn’t want to submit credit app for the same reason you stated. About 5 days later my advisor reached out and told me I needed to complete the financial steps to move things along. He has always been quick to respond luckily. I have a timeline I hope to receive the car in and he knew that, as the lease is coming up on my ICE. I didn’t know I was hindering the process so I appreciated this (assuming he is accurate)

I chose Tesla Financing and dialed in my numbers and proceeded. Next screen is a review where you dial in the numbers again then have to submit the credit application after that. I explicitly asked my advisor if I needed to submit my application now and he said yes. I inquired if it takes longer than 30 days to get the car (which is pretty clearly expected) I don’t want to do another credit pull and he said because I am choosing Tesla financing I am locked in. I double checked asking again and he confidently said I won’t need another approval/pull. This confused me but the whole Tesla experience is different.

It has been a little over 2 weeks now so still waiting to see how this plays out. I figured I would share my experience and what I was told. I am interested to hear what others have to say about this as well.

I ordered mine and did pretty much the same steps as you. I did not proceed into anything financial as I didn’t want to submit credit app for the same reason you stated. About 5 days later my advisor reached out and told me I needed to complete the financial steps to move things along. He has always been quick to respond luckily. I have a timeline I hope to receive the car in and he knew that, as the lease is coming up on my ICE. I didn’t know I was hindering the process so I appreciated this (assuming he is accurate)

I chose Tesla Financing and dialed in my numbers and proceeded. Next screen is a review where you dial in the numbers again then have to submit the credit application after that. I explicitly asked my advisor if I needed to submit my application now and he said yes. I inquired if it takes longer than 30 days to get the car (which is pretty clearly expected) I don’t want to do another credit pull and he said because I am choosing Tesla financing I am locked in. I double checked asking again and he confidently said I won’t need another approval/pull. This confused me but the whole Tesla experience is different.

It has been a little over 2 weeks now so still waiting to see how this plays out. I figured I would share my experience and what I was told. I am interested to hear what others have to say about this as well.

Thank you for your response! I appreciate you sharing your experience. Hopefully I can get a response sometime soon as well.

 

[ejkcy25]

Here's my perception and not necessarily the exact way you will experience it. Tesla seems to do what they want, when they want...and it always benefits them, not you.

Order placed 6/18 and completed all steps BUT the finance application. Was matched to two different VINs between then and 6/29. They both showed in my account page. Each time, Tesla in California called & text me to have me complete finance application. I asked to be unmatched from them as they were both extremely low VINs and I was not in hurry to accept a reject or extremely problematic VIN.

All of July... Crickets. Nothing, no call texts or emails. No update to my account online.

On 8/6 I completed the finance application thinking this would help me. Approval showed in my account within a couple minutes. On 8/7 my local sales advisor contacted me and said I was matched to a VIN that was just built yesterday (the day I completed finance application). Was this a coincidence? Possibly...

Also, this VIN has yet to appear on my account page or source code. However all my documents have it listed.

To me here's my conclusion... End of Q2 they were matching VINs to everyone and anyone regardless of how far along your account status. Once that rush was over, they went back to prioritize those that have completed all the steps including payment method.

Thank you for sharing! I might wait another week or so to see if I hear anything, if not, I’ll probably try submitting the payment method to see if I get a response.

 

[chenner]

This is the text message I received from my Tesla rep after placing my order:

Congrats on your Model Y order! Hold off on applying for financing until you receive a VIN number since the applications are only valid for 30 days. Right now you don't need to do anything in your account, you are set until you get a VIN.

I also received an email from her a week later:

I wanted to reach out and let you know I have selected your payment method as "cash" simply to trigger a VIN assignment for you as quickly as possible. Once the VIN is assigned, we will re-open your payment option for you to complete your credit application.

After receiving that email and her changing the payment method to cash (even though that's what I had already indicated in my account online) it triggered a "submit" button for me which brought me to the next step of submitting my insurance info.

Hope that helps.

 

[ejkcy25]

This is the text message I received from my Tesla rep after placing my order:

Congrats on your Model Y order! Hold off on applying for financing until you receive a VIN number since the applications are only valid for 30 days. Right now you don't need to do anything in your account, you are set until you get a VIN.

I also received an email from her a week later:

I wanted to reach out and let you know I have selected your payment method as "cash" simply to trigger a VIN assignment for you as quickly as possible. Once the VIN is assigned, we will re-open your payment option for you to complete your credit application.

After receiving that email and her changing the payment method to cash (even though that's what I had already indicated in my account online) it triggered a "submit" button for me which brought me to the next step of submitting my insurance info.

Hope that helps.

Yes, a lot, thank you!

 

[kickenandbrian]

My Tesla financing is valid for 60 days.

 

[hurleyguy]

This is the text message I received from my Tesla rep after placing my order:

Congrats on your Model Y order! Hold off on applying for financing until you receive a VIN number since the applications are only valid for 30 days. Right now you don't need to do anything in your account, you are set until you get a VIN.

I also received an email from her a week later:

I wanted to reach out and let you know I have selected your payment method as "cash" simply to trigger a VIN assignment for you as quickly as possible. Once the VIN is assigned, we will re-open your payment option for you to complete your credit application.

After receiving that email and her changing the payment method to cash (even though that's what I had already indicated in my account online) it triggered a "submit" button for me which brought me to the next step of submitting my insurance info.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing this. Sounds like your rep was really on point and informative. Seems to line up with mine, except he didn't offer to use the Cash option and switch it later. Hopefully I get the car quick enough to not require another pull. Will certainly have some words with my rep if that happens, though not sure what I can accomplish should that happen.

 

[mam693]

I ordered on 8/8. My Tesla rep also informed me that I had to complete the financing section, including a credit check. I expressed my concern of possibly needing to do two hard checks, but he was confident that I'd have my Model Y before the check expired. Lets hope he was right!

 

[kickenandbrian]

I was told my order would not progress until everything including financing was complete. Odd that some financing expires after 30 days and the delivery window is longer than that but you cannot progress without that. I guess the cash option and change later allows this to be circumvented.

 

[isaiasrosas212]

31 days so far for me and application hasn’t expired.

 

[NY_Rob]

I also received an email from her a week later:

I wanted to reach out and let you know I have selected your payment method as "cash" simply to trigger a VIN assignment for you as quickly as possible. Once the VIN is assigned, we will re-open your payment option for you to complete your credit application.

Exactly what my SA told me as well, and I am at the "Submit Insurance info" page now...
I plan to put down some cash and finance the rest via Tesla.

 

[ejkcy25]

Update: submitted my Tesla loan application Saturday and received approval Monday afternoon. My advisor got in contact with me finally after i clicked agree to my loan lol
Was told it would be valid for 60 days and was confident that I wouldn’t have to reapply for another loan. Fingers crossed!

 

[NY_Rob]

There is no pre-payment/early payoff penalty on Tesla loans correct?

 

[kickenandbrian]

There is no pre-payment/early payoff penalty on Tesla loans correct?

Correct

 

[NY_Rob]

^ Thank you....

 

[hurleyguy]

There is no pre-payment/early payoff penalty on Tesla loans correct?

Correct

Is this not controlled by the Bank Tesla connects you to? Or does Tesla have something special in place to not have a penalty?
For example, searching online I found the following for US Bank
"Prepayment penalty fee:
If you need to close your U.S. Bank auto loan within the first year, you’ll be on the hook for additional fees. U.S. Bank charges a prepayment penalty fee of 1% of the original loan amount, with a minimum charge of $50 and a maximum of $100."

 

[NY_Rob]

^ Well that is certainly something to inquire about at loan time once a lender is chosen.

 

[kickenandbrian]

I did Tesla financing and here is a quote from mine:

“There are no loan origination fees or pre-payment penalties associated with this loan offer.“

Perhaps it is variable depending on who Tesla uses - mine is US Bank.