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BlueWaveNeverEnd

(13,734 posts)
Wed Feb 18, 2026, 08:19 AM Feb 18

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

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.
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Add in the local property tax and auto insurance and you've added another 100 at least. dem4decades Feb 18 #1
More luke a couple of hundred. Auto insurance for fancy vehiclcle is pricey BlueWaveNeverEnd Feb 18 #19
More than that for auto insurance awesomerwb1 Feb 18 #32
That's $40+ per work day, after taxes, just for transportation bucolic_frolic Feb 18 #2
Never finance Greg_In_SF Feb 18 #3
Not everyone has that option. EdmondDantes_ Feb 18 #4
In 1982 my dad ask me how many multigraincracker Feb 18 #6
That's a great theory EdmondDantes_ Feb 18 #10
I've gone on and moved it to houses multigraincracker Feb 18 #12
We love our Honda CR-V! senseandsensibility Feb 18 #18
That's what I just got. multigraincracker Feb 18 #22
Yep!!!! PCIntern Feb 18 #29
Good advice. And good taste..those 2026 Hondas look futuristic. I have a 2019 Civic and love the new models Deuxcents Feb 18 #27
Plenty of Greg_In_SF Feb 18 #7
For 5k you're getting a high mileage old car EdmondDantes_ Feb 18 #11
Absolutely. Greg_In_SF Feb 18 #13
The part where you fail to consider circumstances EdmondDantes_ Feb 18 #14
Okay, so clearly no Greg_In_SF Feb 18 #15
Paying interest on a car for 5 or 6 multigraincracker Feb 18 #24
The trick is the first one. Happy Hoosier Feb 18 #9
Wouldn't it be great if that option was practical to everyone? Torchlight Feb 18 #23
I buy used and maintain them gay texan Feb 18 #5
Averages aren't completely illustrative... Happy Hoosier Feb 18 #8
I haven't owned a car in 15 years. To me being carless is freedom. 617Blue Feb 18 #16
A place to live and a vehicle to drive are the biggest killers of the cost of living. MineralMan Feb 18 #17
Lots of folks rolling negative equity into new loans, too. flvegan Feb 18 #20
It's all part of a larger strategy. Mosby Feb 18 #21
Message auto-removed Name removed Feb 18 #25
I've been driving my $3200.00 Truck for 10 years. Lochloosa Feb 18 #26
Mine is under $600 with gap dsc Feb 18 #28
I don't plan to buy a new vehicle again OC375 Feb 18 #30
buy a van... u can live in it. nt msongs Feb 18 #31
This just in, people buy cars they cannot afford Johnny2X2X Feb 18 #33
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