If they can find a bank that will run this kind of program and the first 30 days are interest free, meaning, if you pay the bill in full there is no interest charge, this will be the best way to go. You could conceivably finance the entire 6 or 7 K over 3 or 4 years or longer at no interest regardless the rate. (free money)
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Elio Buyer Financing Options Discussion
- Thread starter Gavin
- Start date
If they can find a bank that will run this kind of program and the first 30 days are interest free, meaning, if you pay the bill in full there is no interest charge, this will be the best way to go. You could conceivably finance the entire 6 or 7 K over 3 or 4 years or longer at no interest regardless the rate. (free money)
Jerry Greif
Elio Addict
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Let’s do all the math with current rates and prices. Current price advertised for an Elio is $6800.00, in Iowa tax is (5%), $340.00 on this vehicle, title fee is $30.00, license, is $68.00 per year (if licensed as a car), Grand total is $7238.00 to get your Elio on the road.
Currently at a local Credit Union you can borrow money for a new car or motorcycle for 2.29% for a term of 66 months, that makes a monthly payment of $117.00 on the total of $7238.00.
Now the better stuff, if you drive 15,000 miles per year and get 50 MPG compared to a 20 MPG vehicle (I am comparing this to my Colorado) you will save 450 gallons of gas per year, at today’s rate of $3.19 you save $1435.50 per year, $119.62 per month on gas.
Savings per month = $119.62, payment per month = $117.00.
Sounds too good to be true, this car is better than FREE. You save $2.62 per month and drive a new car.
Everyone in the United States should be all in on this. I would bet that Dave Ramsey the great Financial Guru would be all in on this even though he says that you should never buy a new car. It’s a no brainer you can’t go wrong.
Currently at a local Credit Union you can borrow money for a new car or motorcycle for 2.29% for a term of 66 months, that makes a monthly payment of $117.00 on the total of $7238.00.
Now the better stuff, if you drive 15,000 miles per year and get 50 MPG compared to a 20 MPG vehicle (I am comparing this to my Colorado) you will save 450 gallons of gas per year, at today’s rate of $3.19 you save $1435.50 per year, $119.62 per month on gas.
Savings per month = $119.62, payment per month = $117.00.
Sounds too good to be true, this car is better than FREE. You save $2.62 per month and drive a new car.
Everyone in the United States should be all in on this. I would bet that Dave Ramsey the great Financial Guru would be all in on this even though he says that you should never buy a new car. It’s a no brainer you can’t go wrong.
JN2Wheels
Elio Enthusiast
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Great analysis, Jerry! Also significant would be the insurance and maintenance expenses saved. And I would hope a good portion of those 15,000 miles are nearer the 84 mpg, potentially bumping up your conservative average. Also, if this is a direct replacement, factoring the sale of the vehicle underlines the no-brainer status!
JP
Elio Addict
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- Feb 18, 2014
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I've never financed a car before but such a cheap car payment will help build credit so why not? I just hope they do not limit the down payment because as much as I love the Elio, I don't feel like paying for it for 5 years either. I'm really interested in this Elio gas payment credit card. I'll be on the lookout for more details as they are released.
I got a little bit more information in an email exchange
Hey Joshua!
Thanks for getting back to us.
Elio Motors will be offering many different financing options as we come to production time next year. Financing is an extremely exciting area for us. One option that we will be taking advantage of will work as follows:
1. Elio customer determines their vehicle of choice.
2. Elio customer receives a credit card that holds the balance of the vehicle’s cost ($6800+cost of options (upgrades?)+taxes+delivery fee)+$300 room of credit card for gas charges.
3. Elio customer MUST purchase gas using this card (we are working out now how this will be monitored, penalties for not using the card, minimum monthly charge requirements etc.).
4. Each gas charge will be charged to the Elio owner at 3 times their gas purchase, i.e. a $25 gas charge = $75. The difference of $50 will go towards paying down the vehicle’s balance. This $50 (less interest charges from the credit card company) will go toward paying down the balance on the vehicle.
NOTES: card can only be used for gas, there will be a minimum amount that needs to be charged monthly (amount and the “minimum amount” have not yet been determined). Elio Motors is striving towards working with a bank that accepts a wide range of credit worthiness potential customers.
Best,
The Elio Team
=========================
So, while it appears there will be an interest rate, it seems possible that the interest rate will apply only to the gas payments and not the entire balance. I could be interpreting that wrong through.
Hey Joshua!
Thanks for getting back to us.
Elio Motors will be offering many different financing options as we come to production time next year. Financing is an extremely exciting area for us. One option that we will be taking advantage of will work as follows:
1. Elio customer determines their vehicle of choice.
2. Elio customer receives a credit card that holds the balance of the vehicle’s cost ($6800+cost of options (upgrades?)+taxes+delivery fee)+$300 room of credit card for gas charges.
3. Elio customer MUST purchase gas using this card (we are working out now how this will be monitored, penalties for not using the card, minimum monthly charge requirements etc.).
4. Each gas charge will be charged to the Elio owner at 3 times their gas purchase, i.e. a $25 gas charge = $75. The difference of $50 will go towards paying down the vehicle’s balance. This $50 (less interest charges from the credit card company) will go toward paying down the balance on the vehicle.
NOTES: card can only be used for gas, there will be a minimum amount that needs to be charged monthly (amount and the “minimum amount” have not yet been determined). Elio Motors is striving towards working with a bank that accepts a wide range of credit worthiness potential customers.
Best,
The Elio Team
=========================
So, while it appears there will be an interest rate, it seems possible that the interest rate will apply only to the gas payments and not the entire balance. I could be interpreting that wrong through.
Cali Chris
Elio Addict
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- Feb 10, 2014
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I would guess that there will be an interest charged on the outstanding balance of the vehicle. The bank is not going to loan money for free or just the interest of the fuel purchase. I see this as a last resort option. Financing on a traditional loan will yield a lower total purchase price and finally cash is king.
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Agreed. I wasn't going this route anyway, but I figured it was a useful question since this was such an unusual financing option.
Cali Chris
Elio Addict
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I'm curious too. It seems attractive because of the ability to buy a car without paying more than you are currently paying for gas. In the end I'm guessing you could have purchased two Elio's for the total amount paid.
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