Tesla loan comparison spreadsheet - auto updates hourly

[T3slaMecca]

Please let me know where I can get a guaranteed 8% return on my investments so I can move some of them there.

There are no guarantees unfortunately, but there are consistently performing index funds: Vanguard - Benchmark Returns (I'm not a financial adviser by any means so take it as a grain of salt)

I actually don't recommend you assume LS will beat all other rates by .1%, it is pretty hit or miss, the only way for sure to get them to do rate beat is to get full documented approval (not pre-approval) from the other bank in writing (with their letterhead and offer details) and then mail or fax it to them.

They have really tightened up their criteria for matching other loans... for example a few people gave up on them matching Allegacy since Allegacy would not provide enough documented proof of loan rate for LS to act on.

I've updated the notes section to reflect this sentiment. Thanks!

 

[RandomNateGuy]

Long time lurker, I just got financing with Aspire Federal Credit Union for 1.99% for a 60 month loan with their green car discount. I didn't see the deal posted on their website, but someone posted about it here. So I applied for the loan and the next day got a call. The rep was super friendly and helped me get the low rate.

 

[matto]

But many of these credit unions are not open to everyone right?

Is the algorithm to call each of them and talk about eligibility? Is there a short list of those with open availability?

 

[T3slaMecca]

Why are shorter loan terms all graded worse (on the color scale) in columns C,D,E? Perhaps color scale should apply only within loan term?

No 24 or 36 terms?

Is this actually being scraped, or does it depend on humans? (Or Mechanical Turks?) Some of the rates do not seem consistent with what's visible online.

I've modified the color scale to apply only within the loan terms. Will add 24/36 terms later tonight (many credit unions don't offer these terms though).

 

[T3slaMecca]

But many of these credit unions are not open to everyone right?

Is the algorithm to call each of them and talk about eligibility? Is there a short list of those with open availability?

Some may not be, but the best approach is to apply for the loan without applying for membership. I got rejected twice by CCU and just applied for their loan and got accepted, a few others experience this with other CUs also.

Please be sure to add helpful notes with your application experience if you can

@RandomNateGuy Thanks for that! I'll add Aspire later tonight!

 

[voip-ninja]

There are no guarantees unfortunately, but there are consistently performing index funds: Vanguard - Benchmark Returns (I'm not a financial adviser by any means so take it as a grain of salt)



I've updated the notes section to reflect this sentiment. Thanks!

There's another way to do it.... two entries for Lightstream, "Lightstream" and "Lightstream Rate Beat". The first one shows Lightstream advertised rate and the 2nd one assumes LS will match another lender with the caveat that this is not guaranteed.

Just a thought.

 

[jsrawa]

But many of these credit unions are not open to everyone right?

Is the algorithm to call each of them and talk about eligibility? Is there a short list of those with open availability?

Yeah, I appreciate the OP sharing because this is great but many of these have geographical/employment/etc requirements which really limit what may be actually be available to you.

 

[voip-ninja]

Yeah, I appreciate the OP sharing because this is great but many of these have geographical/employment/etc requirements which really limit what may be actually be available to you.

Depends on how many hoops one is willing to jump through to join some of them. Some (Pen Fed) are definitely closed to anyone who doesn't meet strict criteria.

Others are fairly strict but perhaps have some avenue for joining.... someone recently posted about one where you might be able to join by going and formally joining the local historical society, sending them a check, then going back to the CU and trying to become a member.

I don't think the typical consumer will spend more than an hour trying to join a CU to save a few bucks, but for those who view it as a challenge those options still appear to be open for many of the lower rate CUs out there.

 

[C141medic]

Depends on how many hoops one is willing to jump through to join some of them. Some (Pen Fed) are definitely closed to anyone who doesn't meet strict criteria.

Others are fairly strict but perhaps have some avenue for joining.... someone recently posted about one where you might be able to join by going and formally joining the local historical society, sending them a check, then going back to the CU and trying to become a member.

I don't think the typical consumer will spend more than an hour trying to join a CU to save a few bucks, but for those who view it as a challenge those options still appear to be open for many of the lower rate CUs out there.

True, definitely depends on how many hoops one wants to go through to join. However, in my opinion it’s worth a few hours of my time for huge savings. Look at below example:

60 mos at 1.99% = $1051
60 mos at 4% = $1104.99
Difference over length of loan $3,239.4

I shopped around and was able to obtain a 1.99 rate. The money I saved will go towards my PPF.

 

[lairdb]

Can you tell me which? I'll get it fixed.

LightStream is the one that jumped out at me, which you explained elsewhere as an exception.

@lairdb also most people are interested in decreasing their monthly payments, so usually longer terms are better for most, but not for everyone.

That’s terrible... people should look at how to pay as little interest as possible rather than looking at monthly payments only.
No wonder “everyone” in America is in debt.

What @ebmcs03 said. No-one who has to worry about the specific monthly payment amount should be financing a car this expensive*; if you're buying a depreciating asset this substantial, it should be a matter of "I could pay cash, but financing might be a better deal; let's do the math."

(*As and when the SR pricepoint becomes available, and given a maintenance cost history that doesn't exist yet, and given low electricity rates in some areas, it may be barely possible to make an actual economic argument for buying a new SR 3. Until then, there's no economic argument for it.)

Sometimes it may not be, because some people rather have more cash on hand to invest which can have better returns versus paying 2.5% APR. So if you have 50k that you can invest with that has 8% annual returns, it may be better to have 50k to invest so you effectively earn 5.5% rather than 0%.

Agreed -- but if that's your situation, then the monthly payment doesn't really matter to you; all the info you need is in the APR/APY vs. your personal prediction of interest rates and rates of return.

 

[lairdb]

Quite a few of the columns are the same (or should be) for every instance of that particular institution (links, notes, etc.) Maybe the data that's the same should be on a different sheet that's a list of the institutions?

Someone would have to make a judgement call, institution by institution, but a join-ability score might be interesting. Just high/medium/low, maybe? (Examples: High: Xceed: anyone can join Heal the Bay; Medium: Logix: res of many states; Low: LAFCU: LA County.)

 

[T3slaMecca]

There's another way to do it.... two entries for Lightstream, "Lightstream" and "Lightstream Rate Beat". The first one shows Lightstream advertised rate and the 2nd one assumes LS will match another lender with the caveat that this is not guaranteed.

Just a thought.

Lightstream's normal rate isn't very competitive so I think it's better to leave it off and just have their rate beat for now.

@Chips I've just added Launch FCU

@RandomNateGuy Just added Aspire FCU

@lairdb Just added 36 months.. not too many 24 months available so I've decided to leave it off for now.

Future updates: I'll have a Requirements column.. would anyone like to help me contact each FCU to see if anyone from anywhere can get their auto loans?

Requirements column will have Easy Medium Hard ratings.

 

[T3slaMecca]

Yeah, I appreciate the OP sharing because this is great but many of these have geographical/employment/etc requirements which really limit what may be actually be available to you.

@matto @jsrawa

I'll have a column that will indicate if it's easy/medium/hard to get the loan for each CU.

 

[C141medic]

Mods, any possibility of this thread posted as a sticky? Lot of useful information for prospective purchasers. Thanks.

 

[jsrawa]

@matto @jsrawa

I'll have a column that will indicate if it's easy/medium/hard to get the loan for each CU.

That would be great, I look forward to it!

 

[voip-ninja]

Message sent to mods asking them to sticky this very helpful thread.

 

[T3slaMecca]

I've added Loan/Join Difficulty column.

But will need everyone's help filling it out.

Available selections: Easy, Medium, Strict

Easy - Any US Resident can join, even if they have to donate to an org to get the loan/join.

Medium - You have to jump through some hoops, example for Lightstream, you must provide another loan approval for them to rate beat.

Strict - You must belong to a certain group or location to get the loan/join.

I've provided an extended info sheet for each CU if anyone has additional info.

Tesla Loan Comparison Spreadsheet - Auto Update Rates

I'd like to create a template email to send to each CU. The best way is to have people report their success/failure by applying directly to the loan (no need to apply for membership).

The template can go something like(Please modify to maximize success, I believe it should be concise):

Hi,

For the auto loans, can any US resident apply for it or are there requirements?
If there are requirements, what are they?

Some credit unions don't require membership for the auto loans so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks,
XXXXX​

 

[usofrob]

This is also a pretty good resource:
Lowest new car Loan Rates For All Michigan Credit Unions

You can select your state. But I was having trouble finding good information about local credit unions.
Also this one: Michigan Credit Union Directory (September 2018)

 

[Qzic]

This is also a pretty good resource:
Lowest new car Loan Rates For All Michigan Credit Unions

That could have been a great resource, but of the 5 credit unions I checked, the rates on that resource were all out of date and the current rates were much higher.

 

[T3slaMecca]

@usofrob thanks for this! too bad the rates aren't updated but is a great resource to search for new CUs that may have low rates