Novated Lease Australia for a 2026 Tesla Model Y RWD in Victoria

Hi everyone, I'm looking at a 5-year novated lease through Novated Lease Australia for a 2026 Tesla Model Y RWD in Victoria, and I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has used them.

I sign, I'd love to know:
Were you happy with Novated Lease Australia overall?
Did the finance interest rate end up matching what you expected? (My calculations suggest mine is around 8.5–9% p.a., but the quote doesn't actually state the interest rate.)
Were your insurance premiums competitive, or did you source your own insurance?
Were the maintenance and tyre budgets realistic, or did you end up with money left over or needing to top up?
Any hidden fees, unexpected charges, or surprises during the lease?
How was the customer service, especially if you changed jobs or needed to update your lease?

My quote is roughly:
Tesla Model Y RWD
Drive-away price: $60,700 ($55,181.81 exclude GST: is it expensive as I can see somewhere on web $53800 but not sure)
5-year lease
15,000 km/year
Lease payment: $1,022.88/month
Total package: $1,592.73/month (including insurance, registration, electricity, tyres, maintenance, admin, GST)
Insurance budget: $2,376/year
Maintenance budget: $616/year
Tyres budget: $660/year
Electricity budget: $903/year
Residual: 28.13% ($15,586.80 ex GST)

If you've used Novated Lease Australia, would you choose them again? Any advice or things you wish you'd known before signing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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Comments

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  • There is a local Ozbargain/reddit user who is quite knowlegeable on NLs, and has created a calculator that can make it easier to work out what you'll be saving. I recommend having a read through this post.

    In general Im a bit wary of NLs. They can certainly save money compared with financing, but they can also be used as an avenue to get people into vehicles they otherwise might not be able to purchase.

    For most people, dropping 60k+ on a depreciating asset isnt a great financial decision. I think the potential savings of NLs get hyped so much, people tend to forget that part.

    • For an EV, a novated lease is a no brainer and well worth the hype as long as you earn enough money and are confident that you won't change jobs within the lease term. For a petrol car, it rarely makes any sense unless you are only doing a 1 year lease. As long as OP's figures are pre-tax costs, it's reasonable. However, OP would get a better deal if they did a self managed lease or bought a better, more luxurious EV car with a longer warranty at a lower price since they are all made in China anyway.

    • The website is included in the post though I would suggest reading the 'Is it worth it page' to see the pros and cons for it.

    • The savings from NL get hyped up because they are real. Depending on your tax bracket to buy a ~$70-80k EV (i.e. Tesla) is the equivalent of buying a $30-40k ICE car if you factor in depreciation and ownership/running costs. This is pretty much entry level pricing for most non-prestige ICE brands.

      • Depending on your tax bracket to buy a ~$70-80k EV (i.e. Tesla) is the equivalent of buying a $30-40k ICE car if you factor in depreciation and ownership/running costs.

        This is why I recommended the calculator. You can certainly save money, but the pricing and savings attached to NLs are often very specific to your personal circumstances. If you are a high income earner and can afford to cash purchase the buyout, your savings are very different to someone on lower income who plans on financing the buyout (or worse will fail to make the buyout).

        My caution with NLs is that too many people pitch them as a no brainer, but buyers really should do their research to make sure it is the right decision for their circumstance.

    • I'm weary of any loan that lets people buy things they can't afford, but right now, with FBT exemption, you are saving a small fortune. Last time I did the math, getting a $60k EV on a NL came down to the same as purchasing a $35k petrol vehicle outright upfront. This is due to FBT exemption, GST exemption and due to ownership costs (servicing, insurance, rego) all having gone up lately and being pre-tax in a NL). Not to mention you save thousands on not buying petrol (with the right electricity plan and ideally with solar, the cents/km compensation you get from a NL actually results in a slight profit for driving it).

      Tip: show around for your own insurance - don't take what the NL provider offers. I saved $1000/year.

    • Thank you I will try to get more inform from your link.

      • Literally all you need is this website: https://novatedlease.guide/

        NOT just the calculator (and the calculator is amazing) but the articles that cover risks and fundamentals of novated leases, why "tax saved" is wrong, lease terms, early termination.

        A lot of what I'm reading here are just insanely wrong about novated leases for EV that's it's quite insane they people hear have enough courage/"bravery" to share their suggestions and advice.

        Buying a new EV on reasonable novated lease leads generally leads to better total net financial outcomes than buying that same new EV outright.

        That said, don't do novated lease or any loan on a vehicle if you couldn't comfortably buy it outright in the first place from a financial position/budgeting point of view.

      • Do an in-depth comparison of NL vs what you could buy the car.

        Whenever I’ve done sums on NL it’s been cheaper just buying the car myself. Be careful what a NL company tells you as well. They really push the tax perks BUT are generally useless at going in depth on the sums compared to what you could get (again their job is to sell you a NL, not work out the cheapest option)

    • Novated lease providers are such scam artists.

      You get an extraordinarily high interest rate, but your slightly better off because of all the tax benefits.

      Really need more mainstream lenders to provide novated leases with comparable interest rates.

      The government should scrap the tax breaks and just give an EV rebate that isn't swallowed up by middle men.

    • I think the potential savings of NLs get hyped so much

      literally this.
      save tax, end up paying more for a car that wouldve been cheaper in other ways

      • What other ways (assuming the same car)?

        With the FBT exemption its significantly cheaper than buying in cash to use a lease.

        • Don’t buy the car if you don’t need it.

          • @Wiadro: Not answering the question. Lease is the cheapest way to buy an EV, cheaper than paying cash. Not buying a car is of course an option but irrelevant here.

            We don't "need" holidays etc either but a lot of us enjoy them despite others possibly thinking anything but the bare essentials for survival is irresponsible and a waste of money.

            • @Brianqpr: we do need holidays, unless you dont get annual leave from work…….

              Lease is the cheapest way to buy an EV

              if you need an EV, cars from the last 10 years are pretty damn good most of the time.

              • @Wiadro: You can also buy used EVs using a lease.

          • @Wiadro: Depends how much your ICE car costs you. Switching from used ICE to new EV on a novated lease will often save you money.

            • @Autonomic: Can you show me the working out, I’m at year 4 on my EV lease and have failed to see that

              • @Darude Sandstorm: Probably hard to do if you're 4 years in but you can use this:

                https://novatedlease.guide/calculator/

                Did you calculate with the following in mind:

                1. Running costs of your old car (insurance, rego, maintenance, depreciation, fuel)
                2. Interest earned/offset from the cash sale of your old car
                3. Include the net asset value of the car as a saving
              • @Darude Sandstorm: Without going into too much detail, my EV will cost me around $50k over 4 years if I buy it at the end of the lease. Cash drive away price is close to $66k.

                I got $27.5k for our old ICE car, currently sitting in offset saving interest, rate currently a little over 6%.

                Electricity is a lot cheaper than petrol. We charge at home and have only once used a public charger. Probably was spending $2k a year on petrol before which is lower than average.

                No oil changes, no scheduled servicing required, brakes last for ages because regen braking does 95% of the work there. Insurance and rego paid from pre tax pay, paid in full incl GST with our old car.

      • Most of the saving you get from NL will usually be in the running cost and not the actual car itself (depending on car/haggling) over the many years the running cost will outpace the cost of the car itself.

        • In the case of EVs the govt (or lease company or someone) pays the GST so you basically get 10% off from day one.

          • @WhyAmICommenting: Yeah and you also get a "fleet" discount but the amount you pay is negotiated between usually your employer and the leasing company, so there is no discount hunting for a better price elsewhere which could work out better or worse depending on the model car you want.

        • Not true. No GST on the car purchase for a start.

          In my case a Tesla that would cost around $66k drive away if bought with cash will cost around 64k total over 4 years via lease. When you strip out the running costs included in that (mainly rego and insurance) the actual cost of the car is closer to $50k. Then there's the fuel savings, virtually no servicing costs and money sitting in offset instead of being spent up front. The difference is large. Also got close to $30k for the ICE car we sold, now sitting in offset too.

          • @Brianqpr: Yes which is why I say "depending on car/haggling", because of full FBT exemption there is usually not much point getting a non-EV even with the GST and "fleet" discount, even for EV it depends on the model since you might be able to get a better price elsewhere, since the price is set between your employer and the leasing company (since your employer are the one doing the leasing).

            • @AaronRain: I don't know about other brands but Tesla pricing is standard, there's no haggling. In fact, I don't think this happens much in general any more, unless its a car that isn't selling.

              • @Brianqpr: I was surprised - with Leapmotor at least, there’s still haggling to be done.

  • These are rather quick cars, quicker than most on the road. Will you be doing 20 km/h under the limit in the left lane, the right lane or both?

    • or the classic do 20 under in the right lane with a queue of cars behind and then suddenly swing across 3 lanes to get to their exit

    • I don't have any experience with EVs yet.

        • So no Volkswagen or mercedes? And I should definitely buy the one made by the CCP?

          • @Koppeldread: Are you saying Germans are still nazis? That's pretty insane. But Musk is most definitely still a nazi.

        • But ones made by communists are great!

          lol!!

          • @R4: Compared to nazis? yeah, mate.

            • @Charmoffensive: communists are better than nazis?

              history shows us otherwise but okey dokey

        • your ceo is more eviler than my ceo

          pull the other one m8

          • @ssfps: One is literally a nazi, but go on, mate, keep defending your tech bro daddy.

    • He does not live in Queensland so won't be driving in the right lane when the left lane is empty

  • For those who haven't come across it:

    https://novatedlease.guide/calculator/

    Unbiased, comprehensive calculator which tells you the honest truth as I am not trying to nudge you toward a sale.

    Also plenty of articles on the webpage to describe the pros and cons of novated lease so that you could make an informed decision for yourself (not everyone is an appropriate candidate).

  • What's wrong with your current car that you probably own outright?

    • Its like nearly every week at my work they have representatives coming in to discuss leasing.

      I'll stick with the my wifes 2001 ford manual ute as my drive to work car until it blows up.

      Outside of services i do myself no major costs.

      Reflector on the bumper fell off last week wife wanted me to get a genuine ford unit but bunnings had 2 for $5.91.

      We are a years ahead on our house loan. Though would be nice to have a newer cat.

      • be nice to have a newer cat.

        RSPCA often has half price cat deals.

        • Or just go find a feral one

    • If you can afford it why not? Same reason people upgrade their phones before their old phones die. Are you planning to take all the money you've saved to your grave? Live a little.

    • True, but that's like saying what's wrong with Australia why do you need to holiday in Europe, Japan or New Zealand etc.? People want to upgrade and an EV is substantially cooler, smoother, quieter and free of all toxic fumes.

      • and free of all toxic fumes.

        LOL, clueless

        • Run your car in a closed garage and let us know how you go being in the room with it.

    • What's wrong with people having nice things if they can afford them? Especially is there's a tax effective way to acquire those things.

      • Nothing. But I can thinker of nicer things I would like over a Tesla.

        • Depends on your priorities. There are definitely EVs that are more luxurious for around the same price.

          However, the Model Y is still a benchmark by which all other EVs in its class are measured, and for good reason. Even the base model is very spacious, well equipped, has excellent performance and range, very low maintenance costs and remains among the most efficient EVs on the market.

          And Tesla vehicles have proper FSD now, which is a capability that no other maker comes close to right now, and would make a dramatic difference to the ownership experience for people who do a lot of driving (albeit at additional cost).

          Personally I wouldn't buy one either - I have zero interest in any form of SUV. But I can totally see why so many people choose them over their competitors.

          PS I just realised that you might mean nicer things like a renovated house, or a boat, or a month of girlfriend experiences. Whatever gives you a warm feeling, I guess.

        • Can you buy them with pre tax money and no FBT or GST?

          • @Brianqpr: It's a lease arrangement of a very particular type.

    • iTs nOt aN eV AnD iTs OlD

  • I wouldn't consider NL for longer than 2 years. The first 2 years provides great value and then diminishes a lot after that, especially when you have a high rate.

    I negotiated the rate with NL and lowered it from 9.xx% to 7.xx%

    Tyres are very unlikely to have issues in the first 2 years, so I didn't include that. Maintenance I also took out as very minimal effort.

    Also for 5 years, if you have to change job, next employer need to have a NL provider to take this. If not you have to finish the lease earlier.

    NLA is ok so far for me, the experience is positive. But they do try to include a lot of stuff in the package and you need to be firm on what you need.

    Again, 5 year is a long lease and I will avoid.

    • Can you get back money that we haven't spend for Maintenence? Example we pay for electric charger $500 instead of $900 per year and tyres $300 instead of $660?

      • I use NLA as well - my experience is also pretty positive. No real dramas. Had some issues initially making sure the interest rate was reasonable, but aside from that they've been fine.

        You decide on how much money you want to allocate to your maintenance buckets. Things like tires accumulate over multiple years so you need to make sure you have enough when the time comes (electric cars go through tires quicker apparently). Money can be used in different categories so it isn't stuck in one area (there's only one real bucket rather than many). If you genuinely have money left over at the end of the lease I believe it just back to you through your pay (and would get taxed).

      • Can you get back money that we haven't spend for Maintenence?

        Yes it gets paid out the end, will be subject to tax though as it wasn't spent on the NL.

        Is better actually to have too much in the kitty than not enough though, as if you run out you will need to pay for things with your after tax money.

        • Good to know, thank you

        • Nope. If you run out of money, you will need to wait for the kitty to accumulate enough money for a withdraw. Car related expense never come from after tax money, that's the perk of NL

          • @c9: If your kitty contributions are too low you may never catch up.

            • @trapper: You can always either adjust the deduction amount or just ask for a one off adjustment.

              • @keejoonc: Not always straightforward since it messes your employers accounting and payroll

                • @trapper: If the payroll department aren't capable of changing the deduction for an employee that's a whole different issue.
                  I have never had any issue making one off deduction change. Not that it matters, but that was with two different novated lease providers.

  • How secure is your job/role? I would personally never do such a long lease and just do 1 or 2 year and roll it over. Do you understand what happens to your NL if you are 6 months into it and get made redundant? Have you factored in the risk vs reward of that?

    • Yep, this is a big one as the loss will be huge if it has to be paid from after tax dollars. If you're not secure, just do 1 year leases as that will minimise the risk whilst maximising the tax savings as long as you're willing to pay more of the car off earlier.

  • Total package: $1,592.73/month

    o.0

    • I'm hoping that's the pre-tax amount. I've got a long range on NL. Total payment $1725, take home pay hit $1045.

      Over the 5 years, including balloon payment works out to about $7000 more than buying outright. Cash stays in my offset against my loan, my take home pay is slightly lower each pay period instead. Sold my old car which covers my balloon payment and more.

      All of those payments cover charging, insurance, rego and maintenance for all 5 years. Insurance itself would cost that over 5 years, or more. The amount I get back with the shortcut method per km for charging is far more than what it actually costs me with a cheap EV charging plan and solar usage most of the time.

      • Sold my old video games to buy a Hyundai i20 for 3k, flipped for 7k. Bought Proceed GT for 8k which i still have today as a daily and project car. DIY maintenance and mods. 3rd party property damage only for insurance. Can sell it for $7k profit today after 7 years of ownership but I enjoy tracking it.

        Total loss OP is over $100k minus whatever tax saving. Which is insane amount of money to waste on a commuter car.

        • If people can afford it and enjoy the car it isn't a "waste". Not everyone is on the breadline and you certainly shouldn't live like you are if you're not. The future is guaranteed to nobody and you can't take it with you when you go.

          • @Brianqpr: Agreed that's why my dream car is parked next to it, paid $40K, worth $60k decade later. GT not a breadline car, its fun hot hatch project car.

            With OP case, why I use the term commuter car because its just an appliance. If its a dream car you love then make the stretch. If its just an appliance fleet car, not worth coping the new car depreciation on it, spending $1 to save 30c is waste of money. $100k for an appliance is a waste of money any way you cut it.

            There are plenty more cheaper options out there that include EVs and the same car. Low kay used Ys go for half the price, its a fleet car so will see plenty for sale that someone else had copped large depreciation on.

  • Heya, my experience with NL is quite positive. With all costs increasing like insurance and all, even if you use your own choice privately, the NL offered a competitive package for me. You can certainly request for rates to be better by discussing cheaper rates in the market, even other NL provider's etc. Also for the monthly budget you can disclose you are "frugal" aka cheap (lol) and willing to do the basic servicing like tyre change in 3 yrs etc and your monthly budget can br kept quite low. You can bring in your choice of insurance too, but somehow the NL offered a better value for money. Overall my out of pocket difference btw NL and privately financed car purchase has been similar but the real difference is all expenses are inclusive already. The only catch was that we've had to update our mortgage recently, and the bank looked at NL as a forever loan of the amount, not a 3 or 5 year limited loan of fixed car price, and assumed much higher expense/credit use than i anticipated. This was quite a surprise to me.

    • yeah…the banks look at the monthly finance $$ of the NL + running costs, and not the total balance debt and term left. The balance does get factored into debt-to-income ratio, but it's the monthly repayment/expense that determines borrowing capacity/serviceability.

      • Yeh our broker said private car loan would work out better for our case and even asked to consider changing the arrangement

        • Broker get his commission on executing the deal for you

  • Any advice

    You can haggle the rates.

    • Using what as leverage?

      • Them, if you ignore them, they harasst you for eternity. Then use the rate at the current market ie I found out, my work mate had a better rates than me.

      • Just show them a quote from whipsmart

  • NLA is alright, with mortgages at 6+% these days the 8-9% for a car lease is kinda expected.

    I haven't had a problem with NLA, the only small thing I dislike is that they are fully app driven and no web interface as such. But otherwise okay.

    For the car and pricing you can find the car yourself if you know who sells it cheaper and get NLA to novate it, you don’t have to take it through them. Talk to a car broker like MotorScout or similar.
    Same with insurance etc it's just a finance budget, I arrange insurance myself and get NLA to reimburse me

    You don't plan on changing jobs otherwise you're in a pickle. Financial conditions for novated leases for EVs will change in a year and you might be paying FBT if you change the lease after about this time next year. So there's that.

    • This

      I found my car myself at great price

      I organise insurance myself

      Simply use NL to reap the EV benefits

      NL for ICE cars isn't a very attractive thing

    • I believe that they indicated that they will be all grand fathered in but ofcourse things can change.

      • Grandfathered existing leases.
        When you change job and new job place has a different leasing company that in 99% of cases cannot be changed, the lease will change and grandfathering is lost.

        This is exactly what has happened with PHEV FBT exempt cars, any lease variation ends the FBT exception and costs a lost of $$

        • Yeah good point.

  • As with any financial decision, crunch your own numbers, compare various alternatives. If you are a high income earner (190,000+) then a significant portion of your income is taxed at the top marginal tax rate - this is when salary sacrifice becomes economic. For lower income earners, the numbers usually don't add up. Good luck with your decision.

  • Are you actually driving 15,000 km a year right now? If you're only doing 10,000 km, there's no point paying extra for a 15k running cost tier.

    Also, have you looked at other EVs out there, or are you just leaning toward Tesla because your friends have them? Definitely test drive a few other models before making the final call!

    • Yep, a Tesla is so plain and basic inside with fake leather, you're really getting jipped at that price tag unless you desperately want to use & pay for a full self driving subscription. A Sealion 7 is cheaper, has a longer warranty, more luxurious, comes with real leather and has 3x the amount of screens for the driver in addition to an automatic roof cover.

      • Price difference between Sealion 7 vs a Model Y RWD in NSW is $4,907.48, which isn't that much difference (especially when factoring that over the 6 year warranty period servicing costs for the BYD is an extra $2288)

        The sealion 7 is cheaper but has limited range despite big battery and is inefficient, especially on the highway, half the frunk capacity, less boot capacity. Outside of the car, it doesn't have access to all the Tesla superchargers, doesn't natively make it easy track costs for novated leasing, and doesn't have the ability to order car parts directly to the consumer.

        Warranty wise, Model Y is 5 Years / Unlimited Kilometres vs Sealion 7: 6 Years / 150,000 Kilometres. Time vs Mileage difference, though since most people drive around 12-15km/year the SL 7 would be better warranty wise.

        I don't think you're getting 'jipped' at that price difference. Just tradeoffs. Except for VTL, Tesla gatekeeping that shit for the higher tiers.

        • I own EV for almost 8 months and never visited Tesla charger port as there are many other retail with simple pricing and discoun avaliable such as BP pulse gives AGL user 6 cents discount . kw and that will drop price below the Tesla subscription pricing

          • @Darayus: I’ve owned an EV for more than 8 months, clocked about 36k/ KM, and can’t charge at home and I’m a cheapass too.

            BP Pulse: 79c/kwh (no discount applied yet)

            Tesla Supercharger: 52, 55, 56, 59c/kwh (4 superchargers near me, with Tesla pricing for Tesla owners)

            Even with the 6c per discount it isn’t cheaper nor more convenient.

            That said, I’m keen to save money. May I ask what the prices and discounts you’re getting?

            • @dsar: My BP pulse charge 65c/kw in Sydney south west and 6 cents AGL discount will drop to 59 cents. I drive IM6 which is not a Tesla.

      • has 3x the amount of screens for the driver

        More screens for a driver whose eyes should be on the road. What could go wrong.

        • A lot less could go wrong since the high tech HUD is on the windscreen where your eyes should be instead of being forced to look down & sideways away from the road to see your speed, speed limit or directions like the Tesla. Tesla also stinged out on both the HUD & the instrument cluster screen in addition to the indicator & wiper stalks, light & wiper control knobs, start/stop button and a gear shifter to cut costs.

          • @supersabroso:

            "indicator & wiper stalks"?

            The Model Y always had stalks?
            Start/Stop button isn't needed

            Fair go for everything else.

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