I work for a CU, so apologies for the long reply. Assuming it is a simple interest loan there should be no penalty for paying off the loan early so you shouldn't expect there to be a penalty. In Florida there used to be Document stamp fees which were a little over $400, so if you are talking a 1 percent reduction on a 60 month loan it wasn't worth it. I don't know if the state you live in has that. In Florida you only pay the title transfer fee, which is minimal, less that $50. Rates here are as low as 1.79 for 66 months maybe 2.25 for 78 assuming A+ credit (750 and higher). The kicker is what your CU will consider for the refi. If they are willing to treat the vehicle as a new car, they will use MSRP as the LTV, (loan to value), meaning the will loan 120% of whatever the suggested price is. The extra 20% includes products such as GAP and Extended Warranty, and Tax tag and title. If not they have to take the NADA value of a used vehicle, which as you know, as soon as you drive it off the lot new cars depreciate. So talk to the CU and see what they can do and get an idea they will give you all of the info before you commit to anything, the only thing that it cost you is another credit pull which dings you 3-5 points but it is something that in the long run isn't that big of deal. Also, and this is for everybody GAP, which I recommend for anybody purchasing a new car, is typically cheaper at the CU, and so is Extended Warranty. Our GAP is $399, I saw a buyers order for a car today and the dealership's was $699. The other benefit is with a CU you can go in and talk to someone. If you forgot to make a payment and are 10 days late, good luck getting a waived late fee from Toyota Finance, but your local CU manager will probably have the power to waive late fees as a courtesy. I do it all the time. ETA: I could do the refi for you but that involves a visual inspection and unless you want to come on vacation to the beach in winter it would be really inconvenient for you.
Gap insurance is an optional insurance on vehicles. If you drive a 30k car off the lot and get in a total accident, most insurance companies are only going to cut a check for the blue book of the car. That value is going to be WAY less than what you paid for it probably 25k. As you drive the car the car depreciates even more, often more than what you are paying down on the principal. So during that time, when you get that check from the insurance company it's going to be for, say 21,000 but you still owe 27,000 on the loan. You are on the hook for that 6k. If you have Gap it pays everything that insurance doesn't pay on the loan balance. If you are getting a new car it makes sense (in theory), if you are getting a used car that holds its value, or is worth more than the loan, it's a waste of money.
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