At which point did you start looking around for financing and contacting banks?

[yobigd20]

Ok, so I'm P13,306. Obviously in before the price hike increase. I didn't/don't expect to get the Model S until late/end of summer 2013, so I would guess before this whole price hike thing I expected to get an email to finalize my configuration probably somewhere around May. But now it seems from their comments and the email I received from Tesla that once January 1st comes and the price hike takes affect, they will be sending me an email in January and will need to finalize my order within 30 days to lock in my "discount". When should I start looking around at different banks for financing? Before then? Sometime after then? Maybe around June? I have no idea when I should try and get a finance rate "locked-in" somewhere, which is kinda hard to do when you know know exactly when your car will be delivered....

 

[SteveH]

Without a VIN I don't think you'll be able to lock in a rate and regardless most banks won't hold a rate for longer than 90 days. I'd say just sit tight until you get the VIN.

I did go ahead and get preapproved from my credit union without the VIN knowing that the rate would expire before the car arrived. The only reason I did that was to make sure that the fact that it wasn't a known manufacturer wouldn't be a problem. It wasn't and hopefully by the time your car arrives banks and insurers WILL start to see Tesla as a known quantity.

 

[sublimaze1]

This was a nightmare for me. I had a phone call from my Delivery Specialist on October 9th. It was much earlier than the forum stated, but it was a Tesla phone call, so I took it for its value. I applied for a loan that weekend. Then two things occurred: (1) The DS was not clear to me that this was just a "hey, I was looking down the list and saw your number and thought I would call you" contact and (2) Since I had not been on the forums much at that point, I did not realize that it was still two months before I would see a truck with my car. So the bank loan came and expired. Kinda nerved me. So I waited and re-applied on November 10th. Which, just happened to make the time period of the loan expire one day after the car was ready to ship. So vehicle funds today at 10am, and is eligible for a truck at 10:01am. I was able to lock a rate with Chase without a VIN. BTW, it was 2.19% with my prior military service and a premium checking account. BTW/BTW, the premium checking account fees are waived it you are prior military as well ... so you end up getting .50% and .25% discounts with direct debit applied to your lown.

 

[bosgig]

For what it's worth, USAA's loan lock-in period is 45 days.

 

[gen3_in_utah]

And in the other financing thread it was mentioned that Penfed had a 90 day lock period.
Financing options - Page 9

I refinanced my own used car, and I called Penfed and asked, and I was also told the application was good for 90 days.
FWIW, my process with Penfed was perfect. I know it has not been perfect for others.