About 1 in 5 new auto loans have monthly payments of at least $1,000

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/why-it-s-becoming-so-expensive-to-buy-a-car-in-america/ar-AA1Wzz5t


The Washington Post
Why it’s becoming so expensive to buy a car in America
Story by Todd Frankel • 3h

It can be a shock shopping for a new car these days.

The average sticker price for a new car or truck now sits above $50,000 — about 30 percent more than in 2019. Even with incentives and specials, the out-the-door price reached above $50,000 for the first time in September and stood at $49,191 in January — a record for the typically sluggish sales month, according to Cox Automotive.

That’s helped push the average monthly payment to buy a new vehicle to an all-time high of a little over $800, according to J.D. Power.

Some customers go further. About 1 in 5 new auto loans have monthly payments of at least $1,000, S&P Global said, projecting that share could double by year’s end.


“We are approaching a threshold that a lot people don’t want to go over,” said Patrick Manzi, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association.

The auto industry is increasingly worried how much more consumers can take. Signs of stress are growing. Severely delinquent auto loan rates have soared to levels last seen during the pandemic shutdown.

[dem4decades]

1. Add in the local property tax and auto insurance and you've added another 100 at least.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

19. More luke a couple of hundred. Auto insurance for fancy vehiclcle is pricey

[awesomerwb1]

32. More than that for auto insurance

[bucolic_frolic]

2. That's $40+ per work day, after taxes, just for transportation

This will impact cost and even availability of Uber, Lyft services.

[Greg_In_SF]

3. Never finance

a depreciating asset. Pay cash for your cars.

[EdmondDantes_]

4. Not everyone has that option.

Granted I assume that wouldn't apply to anyone buying a car with a $1000 a month car payment, but it's still rough for a lot of people to get 15-25k for a used car.

[multigraincracker]

6. In 1982 my dad ask me how many

payments I dad to go on my car. I told him just one more. He said to keep that car and put the payment amount in the bank until I had enough to pay cash for the next one. That last car payment in 1982 was the last car payment I ever made. Just bought a Honda. CR-v and love it.

[EdmondDantes_]

10. That's a great theory

But it doesn't entirely work in reality. Between increasing cost of living, income not keeping up, the cost of cars both new and used rising rapidly, saving the same amount as a previous payment might not be possible and even if you did, it wouldn't cover the car payment.

I say this as someone fortunate enough to have bought a used car in November 2019 right before COVID made the prices skyrocket.

[multigraincracker]

12. I've gone on and moved it to houses

Now in my third home I’ve paid cash for.
My goal of never paying interest, only collecting interest is here.
I’m just a retired autoworker and never made big money. Just decided to live as cheap as possible. I shop sales and buy used for my needs. Found out my real needs are small

[senseandsensibility]

18. We love our Honda CR-V!

Bought it new a few years ago but it's been reliable and we will keep it as long as we can!

[multigraincracker]

22. That's what I just got.

I got the gas one. Just don’t think I’ll be driving it enough to worry about gas.

[PCIntern]

29. Yep!!!!

2018 model, purchased from Carvana during COVID. NOT A SINGLE PROBLEM IN 5 YEARS.

[Deuxcents]

27. Good advice. And good taste..those 2026 Hondas look futuristic. I have a 2019 Civic and love the new models

[Greg_In_SF]

7. Plenty of

used cars out there for $5000 and under that can easily last another year or two.

[EdmondDantes_]

11. For 5k you're getting a high mileage old car

Might work, might immediately need repairs or new tires. Sure some cars last 20 years, but a lot don't.

It's weird seeing people here bash the poor for not making better decisions. Have we all forgotten the truth in how having to buy the cheapest boots costs more in recurring costs than the expensive boots?

[Greg_In_SF]

13. Absolutely.

Cheap cars have lots of miles. That's how it works. But Hondas, Toyotas, etc. can run 300k or 400k miles or more. And, of course you may have to replace wear items such as tires and brakes. You also have to do that stuff on more expensive used cars.

Lastly, where can I find this 'bashing' you referred to?

[EdmondDantes_]

14. The part where you fail to consider circumstances

Might not allow for people to make the same choice you do. It's easy to sit in judgement, but much harder to accept that your simple solution isn't accessible to everyone. Those cars with 200,000 miles will often need increasingly expensive repairs. That can often eat up savings.

[Greg_In_SF]

15. Okay, so clearly no

"bashing", but now I'm being "judgmental"?

Let's math this out. A new financed car will run you $9,600 for the first year. A $5000 cash car plus another $2000 for repairs/tires/brakes/etc. will, of course, run you $7000 for the first year. But, with the cash car, you're done....but that $9600 annual cost will continue for years to come on the new car.

[multigraincracker]

24. Paying interest on a car for 5 or 6

years can almost double what you pay for it.
It’s even worse for paying for everyday expenses on time. That’s why I set a goal of never paying interest
Use to carry cash and pay cash. Then my bank offered me a card that pays me two percent cash back on purchases. That’s how I pay for everything now. That’s six cents on every gallon of gas. I stop at the bank every two weeks and pay the balance.
It took me a long time to get here.

[Happy Hoosier]

9. The trick is the first one.

If people are making payments, they CAN save for a cash purchase.... once they have that first car. The trick is to buy less car than you can afford early on and buid larger down payments. I bought a new car right out college. It was an emotional purchase. The I bought used. I bought with 3 years loans and kept the car 6 years. That let me save the equivalent of the car payment for 3 years. That let me buy the next car with a 2 year loan. And after that, the next car was cash. Now I can buy new cars in cash. It took a while, but not having a car payment is awesome. Again the trick is to buy a bit below what you can afford.

[Torchlight]

23. Wouldn't it be great if that option was practical to everyone?

One-size-fits-all instructions often ignore it, though.

[gay texan]

5. I buy used and maintain them

It saves a lot of money

[Happy Hoosier]

8. Averages aren't completely illustrative...

Not that the cost of new cars is good, but I just bought a new car.... a Honda Minivan in the next to top trim . It was less than $50K. The majority of cars on the lot are less than $50K. The Stu[id Big Trucks with stickers over $100K are skewing the data, and so are higher end luxury cars.

But people DO spend stupid amounts on cars, and car payments are budget killers.

[617Blue]

16. I haven't owned a car in 15 years. To me being carless is freedom.

[MineralMan]

17. A place to live and a vehicle to drive are the biggest killers of the cost of living.

Those two items end up taking far too high a percentage of the average person's income. Whether you rent or buy, having a place to sleep and eat is a huge expense. And to earn that money, you have to be able to get to your job, in most cases.

If you add raising a couple of kids to that mix, you have a problem and it won't go away anytime soon.

Is there a solution? Not a good one. I see this as the key issue facing young people these days.

I'm fortunate. I have lived during a period when it was possible to reach retirement age with a paid-off house and car. I skipped the having children thing altogether. Looking at the world as it is now, I don't think that would be possible today.

It is a crying shame!

[flvegan]

20. Lots of folks rolling negative equity into new loans, too.

Never a good idea. Add to that, the used car market is a chaotic mess right now, which eliminates a less expensive option for many.

Caveat being, far too much of the "need" to buy a new vehicle is emotionally driven. It's a want, not a need. As a car nut, I'm pathetically guilty of this myself.

[Mosby]

21. It's all part of a larger strategy.

Ignore the media, ignore the manufactures. Here's what's going on.

Lower income families are purposely being priced out of the new car market. In less than 10 years, Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, et al will have fleets of new, self driving cars and trucks that they will rent out like waymo. Because the cars/trucks/suvs will be able to "work" 24/7, they will generate 3-4 times the profit compared to actually selling them. Thats the new business model.

I used to work for U-Haul. Very smart people run that company. They buy their trucks stripped down to the cab and frame, and built their own boxes. Because I was a GM I had access to a lot of info, one number that stood out to me was lifetime truck revenue. Every single truck in their fleet will earn between $600,000 and $1,000,000 in revenue before it is sold.

Every one.

Now think about how much a self driving car can make working 24 hours, every day.

[Lochloosa]

26. I've been driving my $3200.00 Truck for 10 years.

Paid cash for it.

[dsc]

28. Mine is under $600 with gap

I got an Elantra Hybrid. So far a great car. With their warranty and complementary maintenance and an extra five years I got with my GAP I will have 8 years of no cost repairs. I wanted to buy American but couldn't. I don't want an suv and the milage that goes with it.

[OC375]

30. I don't plan to buy a new vehicle again

Last edited Wed Feb 18, 2026, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Between the nanny features I don't want the require intervention to disable, and the value I get with the current prices, automotive purchases are not something I want to participate in anymore. I have a 2013 Jeep that's paid off. It would be cheaper to drop a new engine and transmission in when it dies than to buy a base model vehicle of a similar size and utility. When my wife's 2014 or my 2013 die, we'll simply be a one car family. After that, maybe none, depending on where we are in life at that point. No reason we cant hit 2034 before we have to decide. Simple math. I loooooove cars, and always will, but I'm out of the "game" as far as buying anything again. I'm 55.

Not only are Millennials and younger losing interest in cars, so is X. After the Boomers are spent, who carries the day?

[msongs]

31. buy a van... u can live in it. nt

[Johnny2X2X]

33. This just in, people buy cars they cannot afford

What the hell is wrong with people who pay $1000 a month for a vehicle? Unless it's a work truck you need to do your job, what are people thinking?

We're in the top 10% for household income, I'd never dream of wasting $1000 a month on a single car. Heck, I am not keen to do that on 2 cars combined.

I think to spend $1K a month on a car payment, I'd have to make $400K a year or more, but if I was making $400K a year, I'd probably try to pay cash for cars.