CBPfromTN, let me share my experience with you. I have a trade-in also and after I placed my order I got a pre-inspection value for it from Tesla. My OA advised me that the trade-in value may change and my expected delivery date is late February. I was then later told to get an appraisal from CarMax within 2 weeks of delivery and Tesla will honor the appraisal. Things changed when the DS took over customer affairs, I was told that delivery could be anytime between late February to mid March and I need to be flexible on the timeline, so if I have vacation plan I should change my plan or delay my delivery. I do have travel plan so my delivery is late March now. I was also just told by the DS that I should sell the car myself as Tesla will only try to get an auction bid for the trade-in and will pay me after they receive a bid, not when I pick up my car. I do not like the idea of selling the car myself so I may just take it to CarMax. As for applying for the loan early, I believe there is a window for rate shopping that would not negatively impact your credit score, but if you do loan application and then let it expire and apply again outside the window, you may get dinged on your credit score, but it maybe okay if you have a high enough score. I could be wrong though.