Both the new and used vehicle markets are shattering records, but unfortunately, it’s the kind of record-breaking that’s causing headaches for buyers. While there have been some small improvements recently, overall, prices have soared to historic highs, leaving buyers with significantly lighter wallets than they anticipated. To add to the financial burden, high loan rates are a prevalent concern, making car financing a daunting task for many potential buyers.
Data gathered by Edmunds relating to third-quarter transactions shows that average monthly payments for new vehicles reached an all-time peak of $736, up from $733 in the second quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the proportion of the market with a monthly car payment of more than $1,000 reached an all-time high of 17.5 percent. That’s an increase of 0.4 percentage points over Q2 2023.
New Car Finance Data
Even in the used market, consumers are facing pressure. Whereas the average down payment in Q2 was $4,107, it reached a new record of $4,111 in the third quarter of this year. The only shred of good news was that the average amount financed across new and used vehicles fell slightly, by $207 and $337, respectively.
Despite that, the average annual percentage rate (APR) for both new and used vehicles continued to rise. For new vehicles, the figure rose to 7.4 percent, and for used vehicles it jumped two percentage points, to 11.2 percent. The last time we saw APRs that high was in the second quarter of 2007, on the eve of the Great Recession.
Read: You’re Now Paying An Average Of $533 Per Month For A Used Car – And That’s A Risk For Everyone
“Spiked interest rates remain the biggest impediment to affordability in both the new and used car markets today,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds‘ head of insights. “And while the Federal Reserve held off on raising the federal funds rate in their most recent session, the expectation is rates will remain high or even increase slightly through the end of the year, which may help tame inflation in the long run but is inflating monthly payments for now.”
Used Car Finance Data
While consumers face higher and higher APRs, zero-percent financing is almost non-existent. Whereas 24.2 percent of all sales included zero-percent financing in Q2 2022, just 1.1 percent of transactions featured the attractive rate in Q3 2023.
“Zero-percent financing commercials might still be airing to draw shopper attention, but the reality is those deals are all but gone for the average car shopper,” said Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights. “The largest segment of consumers financing a new car today has a 7.9% APR. That’s a far cry from those spring 2020 pandemic deals of 0% financing for 84 months that drove significant sales of large trucks and SUVs.”
