TL;DR
- As of March 29, 1.74% for EVs and 1.99% for non-EVs with Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU)
- Same great rates for new car loan and refi
- Easy to become a member with a one time $10 donation (or more)
- Best rates if you’re willing to move your direct deposit over to them
- Referral bonus usually available for the checking account – System upgrade in progress
- 6.17% savings account on balance of up to $1000
After waiting for MONTHS, delivery day was approaching for our Tesla Model Y! Interested in taking advantage of low cost financing, the Tesla forums pointed me in the direction “DCU” or as i would soon learn, Digital Federal Credit Union.
The rates seems too good to be true (1.24% APR when I applied, right before a Fed rate rise. Currently 1.74%), but all the reviews seemed positive!
Signing up for the account was easy. You make the donation to qualify as a member during the application and there was a spot to enter the referral code. However, once set up, i had several questions that you may have too:
| My current status is Member, how will i make sure I get the fully discounted rated when my Direct Deposit hasn’t happened yet? | When applying via the agent on the phone, I told them I had moved by payroll direct deposit over and they gave me the lowest rate. Your membership status will change at month end after you’ve made a deposit |
| Should i apply online or via phone? | Phone! The agent advised that the phone would offer a real time decision and would be faster than online |
| How will Tesla receive the funds? | DCU does not send funds via ACH. They will mail Tesla a check. I had no issues with the process. Same day, DCU sent me a scan of the check + overnight Fedex tracking number. Within a few days, the online account showed Tesla receiving payment. i called and reconfirmed! |
I called in and had a helpful agent process my loan application. Ironically, she said that decisions via phone were potentially instantaneous, but online could take a couple days.
After approval, i was asked to email the purchase agreement to a processing mailbox and expect a turnaround time of upto 1 day. The timeline is below
As of Mar 19, 2022 rates are 1.74% for EV + 1.99% for non-EV. When I applied, rates for tesla are 1.24% and non-EVs are 1.49%!
Timeline
- March 13, 2022
- Applied online
- Qualified as a member by making a one time $10 donation
- Standard online banking set up
- March 14, 2022
- 1128am – 30 min call including hold time, application and approval
- 1201pm – email to the processing box
- 1221pm – automated reply back requesting the purchase order
- 1243pm – call back advising i needed the Motor Vehicle PUrchase Agreement uploaded
- 1248pm – call tesla. Learned i needed to select finance from 3rd party. I set it up and waited for the MVPA to auto generate
- 115pm – uploaded the MVPA to DCU portal
- March 16 – no contact
- March 17 – I called DCU. in 15 minutes, my loan was processed with the following worth knowing:
- 1.24% APR for the loan! 1.99% headline rate with
- 0.50% for having my direct deposit with DCU
- EXTRA 0.25% discount for EV
- ability to choose repayment date
- no repayments for up to 60 days
- 1.24% APR for the loan! 1.99% headline rate with
- March 25 – Delivery day in Plano, TX
- Scheduled for 4PM but showed up at 330pm
- Drive up and find you car
- Pair your phone, unlock car, and drive away!
- Tesla folks were super helpful in explaining things and help file a repair ticket
- Full coverage for first 100 miles, so no pressure to find everything on site
- March 29 – Moved $1000 to the savings account as it has a 6.15% APR interest rate!
Overall, a great experience with DCU. The account has synched well with Mint, but Personal Capital is struggling. I’m sure it will work out.
Referral program was historically $20. Send me a note if you want to see if it’s working!
