question re: loan amount, financing

[sweetneet]

apologize for the dumb question, but i've never financed a car before (paid cash)...also i am in Texas so i cannot finance through Tesla.

i finally have a VIN and now need to provide my loan amount & institution. I am planning to check a few credit unions. i want to do $20k down and get a loan for the remaining amount (~$30k). Though - at this stage, how do i even know what the final loan amount is going to be? I have the total cost of the car + destination fee but then apparently taxes and fees etc will be finalized closer to delivery date. Also, i accepted the trade-in offer for my current car so that will be subtracted (and i'm assuming the tax will be based on the total with that subtracted).

thanks in advance for any advice anyone can provide.

 

[Sean1]

Let your rep know what additional down payment you plan to put down. He/She/Tesla will prepare the MVPA (motor vehicle purchase agreement) stating your deposit, your planned additional down payment and all the #s including the due balance will be itemized along with your VIN # and signed by a Tesla manager. Once you receive that MVPA (8-10 pages long), sign it and take it to your financial institution and they will process the proper balance for your loan and send the check to Tesla directly upon approval. Have your remaining downpayment due at delivery ready via certified check.

 

[cucubits]

Whoa, wait a minute. I am in Texas too (dfw) and was planning on financing through Tesla. Why is this not possible here? Are you sure?

 

[Colozeus]

Whoa, wait a minute. I am in Texas too (dfw) and was planning on financing through Tesla. Why is this not possible here? Are you sure?

Basically due to stupid laws that were passed and lobbied for by the auto industry. Yes, it's true. i used alliant credit union. they gave me the best rate in texas and have done millions in loans for tesla owners. they know the uniqueness involved with tesla and the state of texas.

 

[cucubits]

Basically due to stupid laws that were passed and lobbied for by the auto industry. Yes, it's true. i used alliant credit union. they gave me the best rate in texas and have done millions in loans for tesla owners. they know the uniqueness involved with tesla and the state of texas.

Thank you! I'll check them out when the time comes. I'm still undecided between a new 3 or a used S.

 

[sweetneet]

Let your rep know what additional down payment you plan to put down. He/She/Tesla will prepare the MVPA (motor vehicle purchase agreement) stating your deposit, your planned additional down payment and all the #s including the due balance will be itemized along with your VIN # and signed by a Tesla manager. Once you receive that MVPA (8-10 pages long), sign it and take it to your financial institution and they will process the proper balance for your loan and send the check to Tesla directly upon approval. Have your remaining downpayment due at delivery ready via certified check.

thanks. i just asked Tesla delivery specialist about this. Though i'm now reading posts from folks who didn't get their MVPA until few days before delivery, including some whose were so late they weren't ready in time (eek). i guess i'm just confused as to what i am supposed to take to credit union to get loan approved if i already don't have the total amount. or does the credit union approve financing for a max amount?

i am confused bc delivery specialist was asking for me to provide loan amount and financial institution info to generate the document, but i am like, how do i get that, if i don't have the total loan amount? does that make sense? i don't think i'm even at the stage of getting MVPA yet. i am still wanting to shop around different credit unions and see who has best rates. but how do i that if i don't have the amount (i have an estimate, but is that good enough?).

i feel like i'm missing something obvious... i swear i'm not a dumb person (just an engineer who doesn't do a lot of a financing-lol).

also, i still can't see my VIN yet in my tesla account. once i get the loan approved by a credit union and i provide this info to tesla will it be released to me somehow?

thanks all

 

[KerryOH]

Thank you! I'll check them out when the time comes. I'm still undecided between a new 3 or a used S.

I also used Alliant as Tesla can’t finance in Delaware. Highly recommend them.

 

[mybeans]

I'm at the same point as you, also an engineer, and was also trying to figure out how to get the purchase order my CU asked for (Thanks Sean1 for explaining). It was a bit confusing. I applied for financing with the specific amount in mind, and will pay the rest cash. I know about what that down payment will be, but Tesla can update it and it won't disturb the process. Unless you are dead set on financing 100% I recommend just fixing your loan amount now and then you can proceed with all documentation. Now I'm just waiting for that MVPA.

 

[sweetneet]

I'm at the same point as you, also an engineer, and was also trying to figure out how to get the purchase order my CU asked for (Thanks Sean1 for explaining). It was a bit confusing. I applied for financing with the specific amount in mind, and will pay the rest cash. I know about what that down payment will be, but Tesla can update it and it won't disturb the process. Unless you are dead set on financing 100% I recommend just fixing your loan amount now and then you can proceed with all documentation. Now I'm just waiting for that MVPA.

thanks that is good point and i was thinknig of the same thing (e.g. asking CU for loan of $30k, then when i get the actual total amount from MVPA i will just pay a bit extra or whatever on downpayment (e.g. if it ends up being $21k or whatever instead of $20k that is fine).

 

[jjrandorin]

thanks. i just asked Tesla delivery specialist about this. Though i'm now reading posts from folks who didn't get their MVPA until few days before delivery, including some whose were so late they weren't ready in time (eek). i guess i'm just confused as to what i am supposed to take to credit union to get loan approved if i already don't have the total amount. or does the credit union approve financing for a max amount?

i am confused bc delivery specialist was asking for me to provide loan amount and financial institution info to generate the document, but i am like, how do i get that, if i don't have the total loan amount? does that make sense? i don't think i'm even at the stage of getting MVPA yet. i am still wanting to shop around different credit unions and see who has best rates. but how do i that if i don't have the amount (i have an estimate, but is that good enough?).

i feel like i'm missing something obvious... i swear i'm not a dumb person (just an engineer who doesn't do a lot of a financing-lol).

also, i still can't see my VIN yet in my tesla account. once i get the loan approved by a credit union and i provide this info to tesla will it be released to me somehow?

thanks all

The way I did it was, I applied at my credit union (navy federal credit union) for an "Up to" amount. I got approved, with the interest rate etc and ended up with a bank check (basically a blank check from navy federal drawn on their own account, not mine, with a spot for a VIN number). They gave me paperwork with a "not to exceed" amount, but from the perspective of a dealership, its "cash".

It also did not say "up to XX,XXX" on it, because the way its supposed to be used is you can write a check to the dealership for an amount you agree on, without a dealership knowing exactly how much you "have available", to help protect you from dealership add ons.

Anyway, tesla doesnt operate like that, with add ons and such, so it was easy. I also had time to decide how much I wanted to put down. When I did the online application, it asked me how much I was asking for, and I asked for 60k (if i remember correctly).. because I was getting a model 3 performance and was sure I was going to put at least enough down to make up the difference between the 60k and what it ended up costing.

Anyway, I ended up putting a lot more down than that difference.. I only financed about 30k and my car was 78k after everything was figured out. In my case, they didnt do the Motor vehicle purchase agreement (MVPA) until about 5 days before I was scheduled for delivery, and it was basically just two forms of payment (cashiers check from me for my down payment, and bank check filled out by me but drawn on my credit union for the amount financed).

Each credit union / bank is different, but you likely just need to get approved for a total but tell your bank you will have the final numbers when picking up the car and ask them how they handle it. I would imagine its a bank check.

 

[daftskunk]

Not sure where you are in TX, but I'm in ATX and just got 3.25% from Austin Telco FCU (60 months). With the Fed widely expected to lower interest rates tomorrow, there's a decent chance (I assume) that car loan rates will be positively impacted.

 

[cucubits]

Not sure where you are in TX, but I'm in ATX and just got 3.25% from Austin Telco FCU (60 months). With the Fed widely expected to lower interest rates tomorrow, there's a decent chance (I assume) that car loan rates will be positively impacted.

Great to hear that. I'm in DFW and if I get it under 4% for 60 months, I'll be happy.

Currently finishing up payments at VW-Credit at 4.9%. I hate dealers so much, even if it's mostly my fault for accepting...

 

[BrockDawk]

Let your rep know what additional down payment you plan to put down. He/She/Tesla will prepare the MVPA (motor vehicle purchase agreement) stating your deposit, your planned additional down payment and all the #s including the due balance will be itemized along with your VIN # and signed by a Tesla manager. Once you receive that MVPA (8-10 pages long), sign it and take it to your financial institution and they will process the proper balance for your loan and send the check to Tesla directly upon approval. Have your remaining downpayment due at delivery ready via certified check.

Only problem I had with this and my credit union was that Tesla did not include the state tax. I just had my credit union get in touch with Tesla and they took care of it apparently. I pick up Saturday. Not too bad but they still have some work to do in the ordering dept.

 

[mybeans]

When does the MVPA show up? My credit union isn't open on weekends, and my pickup day is Sunday. If the MVPA doesn't come today I'm not sure if I can pick up my car or not. I won't be able to bring the check in myself, which was my plan. I'm not sure what's going on now.

 

[jjrandorin]

When does the MVPA show up? My credit union isn't open on weekends, and my pickup day is Sunday. If the MVPA doesn't come today I'm not sure if I can pick up my car or not. I won't be able to bring the check in myself, which was my plan. I'm not sure what's going on now.

It should be there now if your pickup is supposed to be sunday. contact your delivery person (the person who contacted you) or try calling tesla (sitting on hold) and trying to get to delivery customer support

 

[sweetneet]

I got my MVPA pretty quickly (more than a week before delivery)- I was shocked

In my case my credit union needed MVPA and also some document for title guarantee

 

[mybeans]

They're having some issue where their system is waiting for lien payoff on my trade in, except I've owned it for 12 years, haven't had a lien on it in 7, and they have my title which shows its mine

 

[cucubits]

Alright! The time has almost come

Let me just run this by you guys to make sure I got it right.

The plan is a LR AWD (~50k) for which I will put down $10k + $2.5k from when placing the order so I'd need a loan of about $40k from Aliant CU.

- when do I contact Aliant? (wait for the MVPA or before even placing the order)? Do I need to start pushing Tesla for the MVPA as soon as they make contact with me or it's something which is done automatically?
- what loan amount do ask from Aliant? Do I tell them the total value of the car (best guess before anything from Tesla) and mention my downpayment plan or just ask for $40k and plan to cover anything above? What about the sales tax? Do I calculate it myself and add it up to the load amount?


I know this may all be very simple to some but I've only had leases before which were basically walk in the dealership and leave with the car...

 

[acarney]

Alright! The time has almost come

Let me just run this by you guys to make sure I got it right.

The plan is a LR AWD (~50k) for which I will put down $10k + $2.5k from when placing the order so I'd need a loan of about $40k from Aliant CU.

- when do I contact Aliant? (wait for the MVPA or before even placing the order)? Do I need to start pushing Tesla for the MVPA as soon as they make contact with me or it's something which is done automatically?
- what loan amount do ask from Aliant? Do I tell them the total value of the car (best guess before anything from Tesla) and mention my downpayment plan or just ask for $40k and plan to cover anything above? What about the sales tax? Do I calculate it myself and add it up to the load amount?


I know this may all be very simple to some but I've only had leases before which were basically walk in the dealership and leave with the car...

I was told by Tesla that finance agreements with CU's are usually good for 30 days, so you can start a little before delivery. However, the two credit unions I've talked to both said it was good for 60 days and could be renewed pretty easy with just updates with latest pay stub etc. I explained the situation to my credit union and they said they would pre-approve me and then convert it to a loan as soon as I could email them the purchase agreement and MSRP spec sheet. I figure I'll do that as soon as Tesla contacts me to setup a delivery date.

Side question, does anyone know if the extra down payment I make (past the online required $2500) can be charged to a credit card? Or must it be wired to Tesla or a certified check mailed to them?

 

[PURE NRG]

Check how long your approval lasts with your CU. Like acarney says, it’s usually 30-60 days. If you do it too early, your approval will expire and you’ll take another credit hit to run another approval. A credit union can usually get approval same day, so no need to rush until you have a scheduled delivery window.

Tesla will only allow the 2500 deposit on credit cards, everything else must be cash or a bank check/transfer.