I'm considering going to USAA for my loan, they tell me they will give me Simple Interest @ 3.75% and will include "Free Total Loss Protection".

The dealership says they will match that and either give me free "GAP Insurance" or will get the price on it down really low.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between "Total Loss Protection" and "GAP"?

Same thing, different name.

I'd call to make sure though.

Herc's right, it's the same thing. If they can beat the USAA deal, go for it. I'll be doing the same thing, but I'm going to get a site draft from USAA and see if they want to try and beat them on it.

How do you go about getting a USAA loan?

Details please? :)

First you have to be US military or a US military dependent. Then you contact USAA and have a chat.

yeah. dad was a Colonel in the Army. I've been with them ever since. They were recently voted the #1 bank to do business with. I like em. They even got my rate down from 3.75% to 3.5%

You do not have to be US military to get a loan from USAA. The loan department is part of the Federal savings bank (seperate from insurance side) so they can not turn you away from opening an account. You have to be US military or dependent to get insurance from them.

So where do I go to apply... if I should choose to do so?

Hey, great suggestion. I use USAA for all my insurance and they've always treated me right when I had to make a claim. But i've never used their banking side of the business. I will definitely compare them with Mazda financing and my credit union (NFCU.)

www.usaa.com

Call 1-800-531-2265 and ask for deposit, sales, and services. This is direct number for USAA banking services.

my site draft/check thing from usaa for 3.5% expired a week ago and they wouldn't give us an extension:( wouldn't have helped really as it would have only been for 1 week i expect my car is a good 2 to 3 weeks away. now i have to go thru the whole process of getting rates from different places including usaa and see who has the best. i hope that usaa sends another one in the mail soon but they wouldn't tell me over the phone:(

Originally posted by tripwire
yeah. dad was a Colonel in the Army. I've been with them ever since. They were recently voted the #1 bank to do business with. I like em. They even got my rate down from 3.75% to 3.5%

Tripwire, we come from the same place :) My dad was a Colonel in the Army as well.

And Zoom44, do you have an online account with them? If not, sign up. You're probably pre-approved already again, like I am. I'm just waiting for them to send another site-draft to make things a bit easier.

yeah i'm pre-approved againbut for less money at a higher interest rate. good news(?) is that because of that i found an error in my credit report that i have been taking care of today. once that is fixed(up to two weeks to update on the credit report) it should go back to the original amount at the original rate.