How did you finance your new Tesla?

Sound, thanks again Jog501. Annoying they don't give that option online. Will email them.

People should consider also that like for like interest rates on HP and PCP will work out more expensive on pcp as a big lump of the borrowed money is being slung out to the end of the term before being repaid

Pcp really needs super low interest to be attractive.

Simply not true. You pay the interest on the amount you borrow, not the total price of the car. You can pay off the ballon, hand the car back, sell it yourself or trade it in for a newer model at the end of the term. You can pay the balloon off at the end with your own cash so total interest paid is a lot less than HP or refinance a portion of it, again in this case you've paid less interest than with HP as long your refinance rate isn't much worse than the HP rate offered. PCP also gives you guaranteed protection against depreciation.

explained well here

Would love one, but don't have the cash for one and don't take loans for cars. So leaf it is for the foreseeable. I'll be happy with a lift in my friends one, which is probably financed through a loan of some sort.

Funny, was just discussing this with someone in work, and they laughed at the idea of not buying things with money you don't have. They couldn't believe that I had never had a car loan. I guess I've been lucky enough to be able to afford an average (or maybe below average) car from my own money without too much difficulty and having a fancier one wasn't high enough of a priority to pay the interest on a loan to get a better one. Not sure where I got this from but I've never done it (apart from the house) and might be in the minority but just think it's not for me.

And my last engagement with the post office was many many years ago.

I guess the economy needs people to keep borrowing to buy shiny new things but I'd rather not have any additional financial yokes around my neck. The mortgage is enough of a burden ;-) I figure if I can't afford it then a loan / finance etc is just making it seem more affordable but in reality it's still out of my financial league. So I'll do without.

Anyway, dragging this way OT, sorry OP.

Each to their own, and if finance makes sense to you to get your butt into a fancy leather fart on demand seat with almost autonomous driving and ludicrous acceleration for a standard production car then go for it. I genuinely hope it brings you great joy.

Anyway, back to the 80s with me and my finance free cars.

To reiterate, you only pay interest on the borrowed amount not the total amount. Handing back the car, trading it in or paying cash to pay the balloon incur no interest cost.

If you save and invest the difference between the monthly repayments (HP vs PCP) you could effectively have a good potion of the balloon ready to go anyway at the end of the term while also having the safety net of that cash during that term. The interest savings are stark if you do anything but borrow the whole amount of the balloon which someone on PCP would rarely ever do anyway and would be a terrible decision. All that said, as someone mentioned above the best option for anyone would be to put their money to work and not throw it on a depreciating asset like a car!

People don’t understand that you borrow the full price of the car less the “deposit”. The interest is calculated upfront on the full borrowed sum and hidden in the monthly payment. Monthly payment only covers smth like 40% of the borrow sum (max 30% deposit, min 30% balloon. ID plan for ID.3s had GMFV of 50% = no equity in the car free 3 years). Ballon payment generates a fair bit of interest as it’s borrowed for all 3 years. How the car dealers calculate the PCP interest I don’t know as I was never really been able to match it using online calculators. People just look at the monthly sum and overlook the total interest charged. On PCP it could be eye an watering sum and could be bigger than an HP on a much higher interest rate.

That sounds way too complicated.... I think I'll just pay cash 💲 💵.

Can the car be paid for early or is it all due in one lump sum just prior to collection ?

I'm the same, I'm in the it might not be brand new, but its new to me category. My car gets me from A to B and I'm more than happy with that.

But I'm surprised PCP is still a thing, I remember a while ago there was talk of getting rid of it.

LOL, why is that? You still pay 3% interest. That's thousands of euro over the life of the loan. I'd rather keep that and invest it in something that will give me a decent return. Like solar PV systems.

Does Tesla / AIB Finance care if lets say the final payment comes out of wife's account (deposit and all payments made from my account), do they have to declare it somewhere, is there more paperwork if that happens?

I'm keeping options open regarding buying for cash or financing about 50/60% with AIB finance. As of today buying for cash is a possibility and I will keep saving in the meantime and see where I am at financially come delivery time. I ticked the box for finance on my order but havent heard anything yet - I presume it will be closer to the time the car will be delivered?