As Auto Loan Rates Soar, the Average Car Payment Zooms Past $700 a Month
By:
Pete Grieve
Pete Grieve
Reporter | Joined May 2024
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Editor:
Brad Tuttle
Brad Tuttle
Senior Editor | Joined January 2014
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The average auto loan interest rate for a new vehicle purchase reached the highest level since 2008 in the first quarter of 2023. Combine that with expensive prices for new cars, and the average new auto payment just hit an all-time high well over $700.
Car buyers who financed a new vehicle in the first few months of the year committed to an average auto loan interest rate of 7%, compared to 4.4% in the first quarter of 2022, according to a new report from Edmunds.
Today’s auto loan rates are one of the challenges American consumers are facing as a result of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes over the past year as it has tried to slow inflation down.
