Car Buyers Are Paying More, and Paying Longer

Car buyers are driving off with bigger loans and thinner cushions, My Fox 8 reports. Auto-shopping website Edmunds says the average amount financed for a new vehicle hit a record $44,664 in the third quarter, while average monthly payments climbed to $787, also an all-time high. A record 21% of buyers are now signing up for payments of $1,000 or more a month, even as many are stretching repayment: more than a quarter of financed buyers chose loans of at least 84 months.

Longer terms mean more interest, with borrowers on the hook for nearly $10,000 in finance charges on average. Yet demand isn't cracking. Edmunds' Jessica Caldwell calls it "consumer resilience" as buyers put less down, devote more of their budgets to cars, and shop harder for financing, even as total auto debt swells past $1.7 trillion. It's not just new cars: Experts tell Marketplace the prices, loan amounts, and monthly payments are soaring for used vehicles, too. (Last month, Bloomberg took a look at how investors are getting rich off car buyers who take out subprime auto loans.)