Financing a Tesla - Ultimate Guide

It doesn't matter whether it's a Model 3, Model S, Model X or Model Y – it's obvious that more and more Tesla brand cars can be found on the roads. The electric cars impress with their design, their innovative features and, of course, with the sustainability of an electric vehicle.

Of course, a Tesla has its price and therefore you should consider whether you want to finance your Model Y or 3. In this article we will show you everything you need to know about financing a Tesla. If you prefer to lease your Tesla, then of course we have a guide for you aswell.

1. This is how Tesla financing works
2. How do you finance a Tesla cheaply?
3. Pros and cons of Tesla financing
4. Where can you finance a Tesla Model Y or 3?
5. Tesla financing costs
6. What alternatives are there to Tesla financing?

This is how Tesla financing works

With Tesla financing, you pay off the purchase price of your Model Y or Model 3 in monthly installments. At the end of the term, the vehicle is yours. Tesla itself offers 2 options for this type of Tesla financing. Firstly a so-called “balloon loan” and secondly a classic installment loan.

Balloon loan

With the "balloon loan" you become the owner of your Tesla after you pay an increased final installment at the end of the contract period. In this case, the increased final rate (hence the term "balloon") is determined directly when the contract is concluded. This final rate allows you to enjoy a lower monthly rate during the term. A down payment is also possible, so you can adjust the monthly rate even further down. As soon as you have paid the final installment, you are the owner of the car and can freely dispose of it.

Installment loan

The installment loan offered by Tesla is the classic form of car loan. Your monthly installments remain the same over the entire term, and after paying the last installment, your Tesla Model Y or Model 3 becomes your property.

In contrast to the balloon loan, there is no higher final installment for the installment loan. As a result, the total costs are evenly distributed over the entire term of the financing. With the installment loan, you can also adjust your monthly rate downwards if you make a down payment at the beginning of the term.

How do you finance a Tesla cheaply?

If you want to finance your Tesla as cheaply as possible, it is advisable to obtain comparative offers for financing before purchasing your preferred model.

Tesla works with preferred financing partners and will be happy to send you a financing offer from these partners upon request. However, we strongly recommend that you also ask your house bank or consult one of the numerous loan comparison portals available on the Internet. On Kreditcheck, for example, you can get offers free of charge. This is how you can find the cheapest solution for financing your Tesla.

Of course, financing your Tesla Model Y or Model 3 also has certain advantages and disadvantages, which we would like to explain briefly here.

Advantages:

• You can pay the total amount in installments
• A flexible deposit is possible, which reduces your rates
• In the case of a balloon loan, there is a lower monthly financial burden
• The vehicle becomes your property after the final installment

Disadvantages:

• Financing increases the purchase price of your Tesla due to the interest
• You are only the owner of your electric car after paying the final installment
• Depending on the offer, early full repayment is not possible free of charge

Should I finance my Tesla?

Financing your Tesla Model Y or Model 3 is particularly worthwhile if you really want to keep the car in the end or you want it to become your property. Vehicle financing is also worthwhile if you cannot pay the full purchase price for your Tesla immediately and want to spread the financial burden of the purchase over several years.

If you want to sell your vehicle, you have to take care of it yourself with Tesla financing. Compared to leasing, however, you are not tied to a specific number of kilometers.

At the moment, the prices for used Teslas are very high. This way you can benefit from the high prices yourself if you resell your Model Y or 3. If you intend to do this, then make sure that a free full repayment of your loan is possible. In this way, you can pay off the loan at once when selling.

Where can I finance a Tesla Model Y or 3?

We briefly touched on this point earlier in this article. Here we would like to explain to you again where you can finance your vehicle and what different options there are in this regard.

Directly from Tesla

Tesla offers you several options for financing your car and works together with financing partners. In addition to the "balloon loan" explained above and a classic car loan with constant installments, leasing is also possible as a form of financing. You can find all information about this in our guide to buying a Tesla .

With third-party providers

If you do not agree to the terms of Tesla's financing partner, you can of course obtain a loan offer from one or more third-party providers yourself.

We recommend that you contact your house bank for an offer on the one hand and use one of the comparison portals such as credit check on the other. So you have free comparisons and can choose the cheapest financing offer for the purchase of your Tesla Model Y or 3.

Tesla financing costs

The cost of financing your vehicle depends on various factors. First of all, the question arises as to which type of financing you choose, i.e. the "balloon loan" offered by Tesla or the classic car loan. With the former, you have lower charges during the term, but you have to pay a higher final rate at the end. With the classic installment loan, the costs are distributed evenly over each month. Overall, however, the total load is about the same.

It also makes a big difference whether you want to finance your Tesla Model Y or 3 with or without a down payment. With Tesla, you can set a down payment of any amount you like, and this down payment reduces the remaining amount you have to finance for your car and thus your overall burden for the purchase.

The decision to pay a deposit or not depends on your financial situation. It is clear that a down payment, as mentioned, reduces the amount to be financed, making your Tesla cheaper than financing without it. The down payment reduces the amount on which interest accrues during the financing.

How much does Tesla Model 3 financing cost?

According to the Tesla website, the price for a Tesla Model 3 in the basic configuration is currently 50,970 euros including destination and authority fees. If you make a down payment of 10% (i.e. 5,097 euros), a remaining amount of 45,873 euros remains to be financed. With a mileage of 10,000 km and a term of 48 months, you have to pay a monthly rate of 504 euros and a final payment of 27,012 euros for the balloon loan offered by Tesla. Your total costs for your Model 3 are therefore down payment (5,097 euros) + installments (48 x 504 euros = 24,192 euros) + final payment (27,012 euros) = 56,301 euros, which corresponds to an annual percentage rate of interest of 3.39%.

How much does Tesla Model Y financing cost?

The costs for Tesla Model Y financing are effectively the same as those for Model 3, which means that Tesla or Tesla's financing partner also charges an effective annual interest rate of 3.39% here. Since the Model Y costs 57,970 euros in the basic configuration, there is of course a higher amount to be financed; with a mileage of also 10,000 km and the same term of 48 months, the following total costs result with an assumed down payment of 9,000 euros: Down payment (9,000 euros) + installment payments (48 x 503 euros = 24,144 euros) + final payment (30,582 euros) = 63,726 Euro.

What is the final installment for Tesla financing?

The final installment for your Tesla financing depends on the configuration you choose for your Tesla. In the basic configuration, however, this is 27,012 euros, regardless of any down payment, for example for the Model 3. On the Tesla homepage you can see how high it is in your specific case for your selected configuration, depending on the model selected.

Can I continue to finance a final installment?

If the final rate seems very high to you, there is of course also the option of continuing to finance it. Tesla does not offer this itself, but you can always ask your house bank or another loan provider what financing in the amount of the final installment costs over a period of your choice as a loan, which you then use monthly, for example.

What alternatives are there to Tesla financing?

If you don't want to finance your Tesla with a balloon loan or classic loan, there are other alternatives:

Cash purchase

If you have saved enough to pay for your vehicle when you place your order, you can easily do this with a bank transfer. In this case you are immediately the proud owner of your new Tesla Model Y.

Leasing

Another option offered by Tesla is so-called mileage leasing. You set a desired term and mileage in kilometers per year and pay a monthly leasing rate for your Tesla. At the end of the term, you return your vehicle to Tesla, so in this case you do not become the owner of the car. You can find more information on this in our Tesla Leasing Guide.

Long-term rental

Long-term rental of your Tesla works similar to leasing. The biggest difference is that such a solution is not offered by Tesla, but by appropriately specialized third-party providers. Here, too, you rent a vehicle of your choice for a predetermined period of time. However, other services are often included here.