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Navy Federal new car rates are over 1% less than USAA right now so hoped you considered more than just the awesome .5% off whatever bad rate they offered in your sweet deal. You might also compare insurance rates as you can certainly do better than USAA. I pay less than you for all of my cars combined (about $125K worth of vehicles) and bet I got better coverage ($50 deductible, etc.) Every loan/insurance sales person makes it sound like they have a great deal but you need to make direct comparisons.

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4 hours ago, LumberjackAxe said:

For a point of reference with respect to Teslas and USAA:

I financed through USAA, since they offered a .5% lower rate if you checked the box for "auto pay" and I also have insurance through them. I live in the Sierra Nevada, have a $500 deductible, and pay $144 per month ($867 for six months).

We have a unique driving situation and put on a ton of miles per month, so we had to get a Tesla for the range. Since we're in the mountains, we needed AWD, but the Model 3 uses an electrical resistance heater so we paid a little more for the Model Y, which uses a far more efficient heat pump.

I cannot believe how amazing an electric car is, not to mention we're actually saving money by driving this instead of paying for gas, even including my loan payment.

If you're just looking for a daily commuter and don't need 300 miles of range, then there are better cars out there. Autopilot is cool but I'd be totally fine driving a cheaper car without it.

Those $ figures mentioned were only for your Tesla? Or your other vehicles as well?

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6 hours ago, LumberjackAxe said:

I cannot believe how amazing an electric car is, not to mention we're actually saving money by driving this instead of paying for gas, even including my loan payment.

Outstanding! It's off topic, but I never miss the opportunity to plug how much I love my EV (pun intended 😅). We do insure with USAA currently but that'll change here shortly.

We've had a VW ID.4 since February and put 8,181 miles on it (my daily commute is ~65 miles plus all family driving). That took 2,912 kWh of electricity to power, we averaging 2.8 mi/kWh, and in total that cost $257 with my at-home Level 2 charger where we plug in most nights.

The vehicle it replaced took regular gas (now priced $4.25 around me) and got 35 mpg. To drive 8,181 miles at that price & efficiency, it would have taken 234 gallons of gas and cost $933, i.e. 3.8x more expensive cost-per-mile than the fuel for the EV.

And the ID.4 (even the AWD version that's Teslaish-fast) is under $40K once I realize my EV tax credit next Jan when I file, is a typical crossover family SUV that seats 5 comfortably, tows my kayak, and it's a near perfect daily driver.

Literally YMMV, but I highly recommend EVs for daily driving needs for the vast majority of people even at current prices & technology; the numbers don't lie.

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13 minutes ago, nsplayr said:

Outstanding! It's off topic, but I never miss the opportunity to plug how much I love my EV (pun intended 😅). We do insure with USAA currently but that'll change here shortly.

We've had a VW ID.4 since February and put 8,181 miles on it (my daily commute is ~65 miles plus all family driving). That took 2,912 kWh of electricity to power, we averaging 2.8 mi/kWh, and in total that cost $257 with my at-home Level 2 charger where we plug in most nights.

The vehicle it replaced took regular gas (now priced $4.25 around me) and got 35 mpg. To drive 8,181 miles at that price & efficiency, it would have taken 234 gallons of gas and cost $933, i.e. 3.8x more expensive cost-per-mile than the fuel for the EV.

And the ID.4 (even the AWD version that's Teslaish-fast) is under $40K once I realize my EV tax credit next Jan when I file, is a typical crossover family SUV that seats 5 comfortably, tows my kayak, and it's a near perfect daily driver.

Literally YMMV, but I highly recommend EVs for daily driving needs for the vast majority of people even at current prices & technology; the numbers don't lie.

How much did it cost to get the level 2 charger installed? 

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2 minutes ago, pawnman said:

How much did it cost to get the level 2 charger installed? 

I paid $950 for the installation & $750 for the equipment, although prices for the same charger are $200 higher today it looks like on Amazon at least. So that does factor in to your year 1 fuel costs for sure, but I look at it more like a necessary hardware investment that pays off relatively quickly rather than a outright cost.

I also went with a pricier installation of hard-wiring the charger to a new, dedicated 80amp circuit run from my outside panel rather than a more typical dryer plug installation that would have been about $250. I wanted to future-proof that setup for something like the F-150 Lightning that I have on order. The battery on that thing is *massive* (131 kWh i.e. like 10x Tesla powerwalls or 2.7x what my ID4 has) and I wanted to be able to fully charge that vehicle overnight if required. My charger as installed puts ~37 miles of range on my ID4 per hour, whereas if I had done the cheaper dryer plug-type install that would have been more like 20 miles of range per hour, and I felt the need...the need for speed!

Even factoring in those costs, it's 40% paid off already just in 4 months based on my savings over the gas car we replaced.

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11 hours ago, LumberjackAxe said:

For a point of reference with respect to Teslas and USAA:

I financed through USAA, since they offered a .5% lower rate if you checked the box for "auto pay" and I also have insurance through them. I live in the Sierra Nevada, have a $500 deductible, and pay $144 per month ($867 for six months).

We have a unique driving situation and put on a ton of miles per month, so we had to get a Tesla for the range. Since we're in the mountains, we needed AWD, but the Model 3 uses an electrical resistance heater so we paid a little more for the Model Y, which uses a far more efficient heat pump.

I cannot believe how amazing an electric car is, not to mention we're actually saving money by driving this instead of paying for gas, even including my loan payment.

If you're just looking for a daily commuter and don't need 300 miles of range, then there are better cars out there. Autopilot is cool but I'd be totally fine driving a cheaper car without it.

2021+ Model 3’s use the heat pump.

Source: Me, a 2022 Model 3 Performance owner. Agree with everything you said, I love my EV.

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4 hours ago, nsplayr said:

I paid $950 for the installation & $750 for the equipment, although prices for the same charger are $200 higher today it looks like on Amazon at least. So that does factor in to your year 1 fuel costs for sure, but I look at it more like a necessary hardware investment that pays off relatively quickly rather than a outright cost.

I also went with a pricier installation of hard-wiring the charger to a new, dedicated 80amp circuit run from my outside panel rather than a more typical dryer plug installation that would have been about $250. I wanted to future-proof that setup for something like the F-150 Lightning that I have on order. The battery on that thing is *massive* (131 kWh i.e. like 10x Tesla powerwalls or 2.7x what my ID4 has) and I wanted to be able to fully charge that vehicle overnight if required. My charger as installed puts ~37 miles of range on my ID4 per hour, whereas if I had done the cheaper dryer plug-type install that would have been more like 20 miles of range per hour, and I felt the need...the need for speed!

Even factoring in those costs, it's 40% paid off already just in 4 months based on my savings over the gas car we replaced.

Some states/cities will reimburse owners if they install a level 2 charger at home as well. 

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My opinion is that until DC fast charging infrastructure is more plentiful (in progress), it makes a lot of sense for the average two-car family to have 1x EV for whoever has the longest commute + normal in-town family driving, and 1x ICE vehicle for road trips if that's something you do regularly. That'll probably be the case for the next 6-9 years if I had to guess.

My family does not do a lot of road tripping, but we make an annual ~750 mile one-way trek to the beach and yea, that will be challenging if we decide to take the EV on that trip because it's already a long haul. Probably will opt to take my ICE truck for the duration/ease of fueling + larger cargo capacity, even though 14 mpg and $5 gas will be very painful.

The EV vs ICE fueling numbers are still overwhelmingly favorable for 99% of our driving though, but as always (and literally in this case), YMMV.

If/when we get some combination of swappable batteries, 500+ mile range, and > 800v charging, at that point even road tripping across our impressively big country will work great in EVs. The Porsche Taycan that you can buy today already has an 800v charger on board, which is awesome.

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  • 3 months later...

And now USAA has changed up their app and website. Can’t functionally adjust your own profile, settings, accounts, etc.

And worst part is there is no way to direct message USAA any more. Used to be able to send them a message and they would get back to you. Now all that’s available is a virtual chat app with no person connected to it. And it doesn’t answer any real questions. So you either have to fumble with the virtual assistant or waste your time calling in and sitting on hold.

One of the main reasons I have stayed with USAA so long is because of their customer service. This is the last straw. Them spending money on GRONK NFL advertisements was stupid. But completely trying to save my to screw over the military to save money is just sickening.

Bye USAA.

What’s next? Pen fed or navy?

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3 hours ago, Guardian said:

And now USAA has changed up their app and website. Can’t functionally adjust your own profile, settings, accounts, etc.

And worst part is there is no way to direct message USAA any more. Used to be able to send them a message and they would get back to you. Now all that’s available is a virtual chat app with no person connected to it. And it doesn’t answer any real questions. So you either have to fumble with the virtual assistant or waste your time calling in and sitting on hold.

One of the main reasons I have stayed with USAA so long is because of their customer service. This is the last straw. Them spending money on GRONK NFL advertisements was stupid. But completely trying to save my to screw over the military to save money is just sickening.

Bye USAA.

What’s next? Pen fed or navy?

I switched to Navy Fed a few years ago from USAA. Have no regrets, their customer service is spot on.

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3 hours ago, Sua Sponte said:

I switched to Navy Fed a few years ago from USAA. Have no regrets, their customer service is spot on.

Just opened a Navy Fed account this morning.  They have a local branch for me, too, which will be handy every once in a while.  

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I have also had it up to here with USAA. They don't know it yet, but I am switching to **something** come December when their 2.5% cashback card goes TU, but I haven't quite figured out exactly who yet. I'm thinking Fidelity, but does anyone have a recommendation for a good, one-stop-shop, for investments, banking, insurance, etc? I want the ability to project out expenses and financial scenarios in my banking app without it being a pain in the ass. USAA's app has changed so much in the last 5 months that I'm basically done with it.

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31 minutes ago, ViperMan said:

I have also had it up to here with USAA. They don't know it yet, but I am switching to **something** come December when their 2.5% cashback card goes TU, but I haven't quite figured out exactly who yet. I'm thinking Fidelity, but does anyone have a recommendation for a good, one-stop-shop, for investments, banking, insurance, etc? I want the ability to project out expenses and financial scenarios in my banking app without it being a pain in the ass. USAA's app has changed so much in the last 5 months that I'm basically done with it.

Down to a simple checking and savings account.  Went to citi double cash card for everyday use.  

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59 minutes ago, Guardian said:

Do you have to completely close all accounts to get that bonus account they put money into on your behalf every year? And when do they pay in?

I got mine when I closed insurance only at first.  They tried to keep me by saying the $400 dollar cheaper insurance premium I was going to be paying with progressive at the time wasn't really a discount because we give you the dividend at the end of the year.  I asked for the money now and I'd stay.  No dice so I left.  

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Was watching local FL news on an overnight recently and heard that if an insurance company goes insolvent, other FL insurers are kinda on the hook to cover.  Then they posted Ian damages exposure.  USAA has $6.8 billion in Hurc-Ian exposure, one of the highest.  Did some looking and saw this on Miami Herald:

When property insurers become insolvent, the nonprofit Florida Insurance Guaranty Association typically steps in to pay claims. Known as FIGA, the organization has authority to levy “assessments,” which are costs passed on to insurance policyholders across the state. FIGA already is using money from assessments of 1.3% and 0.7% to pay costs related to other insolvencies. Its board last month approved a plan to borrow $150 million, with the debt financed by extending the 0.7% assessment through 2023. 

So its more like FL policy holders are on the hook to cover insolvencies.  Oh, the start of that article says 6 FL insurance companies went under this year.  And USAA has a huge exposure and I bet everyone's rates go up to cover.

Time to switch?

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Was watching local FL news on an overnight recently and heard that if an insurance company goes insolvent, other FL insurers are kinda on the hook to cover.  Then they posted Ian damages exposure.  USAA has $6.8 billion in Hurc-Ian exposure, one of the highest.  Did some looking and saw this on Miami Herald:
When property insurers become insolvent, the nonprofit Florida Insurance Guaranty Association typically steps in to pay claims. Known as FIGA, the organization has authority to levy “assessments,” which are costs passed on to insurance policyholders across the state. FIGA already is using money from assessments of 1.3% and 0.7% to pay costs related to other insolvencies. Its board last month approved a plan to borrow $150 million, with the debt financed by extending the 0.7% assessment through 2023. 
So its more like FL policy holders are on the hook to cover insolvencies.  Oh, the start of that article says 6 FL insurance companies went under this year.  And USAA has a huge exposure and I bet everyone's rates go up to cover.
Time to switch?

Back when I lived in Florida, they wouldn’t even provide insurance for my house in the middle of the state. I couldn’t get any further from the coast. I switched everything at that point.


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