Average Car Payment and Auto Loan Statistics 2023

The average car payment for new vehicles was a record-high $700 in the third quarter of 2022, a double-digit percentage increase from the third quarter of 2021. Not to be outdone, average car payments for used and leased vehicles rose at similar levels.

To get a full picture of U.S. auto loan debt and trends, LendingTree looked at payments, originations, term lengths, delinquencies and more. Here’s our 2023 roundup of auto loan statistics.

Auto loan statistics 2023: Average car payments to financing by credit score

• Average car payments in the U.S. increased year over year by double-digit percentages. The jumps were 13.3% for new vehicles, 11.2% for used vehicles and 12.1% for leased vehicles, according to third-quarter 2022 data from Experian. That puts average monthly car payments at $700, $525 and $567, respectively.
• Increases in vehicle prices aren’t as severe. New vehicle prices are up 8.4% year over year, according to the October 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) consumer price index, but used car and truck prices are up just 2%. Americans borrow an average of $41,665 for new vehicles and $28,506 for used vehicles, according to Experian.
• Auto loan debt is the third-largest debt category behind mortgages and student loans. Overall, Americans owe $1.52 trillion in auto loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, accounting for 9.2% of American consumer debt.
• On average, Americans take out $61.8 billion in new auto loans each month. By age, Americans younger than 50 take out $38.5 billion in auto debt monthly, according to the New York Fed, compared with $22.4 billion by those 50 and older.
• Americans are taking many years to pay back their auto loans. The average auto loan term is 69.7 months for new cars, 68.1 months for used cars and 35.9 months for leased vehicles, according to Experian.
• Auto loan delinquency rates continue to drop across the board. 3.9% of outstanding auto debt is at least 90 days late — down from 5.3% in 2010 — while another 6.2% are 30 days overdue. That’s down from 10.9% in 2009, according to the New York Fed.
• Borrowers with prime credit scores are responsible for the majority of retail vehicle financing. Borrowers with credit scores 661 and higher account for 66.0% of retail vehicle financing, according to Experian, versus 15.8% for subprime borrowers.

Average monthly car payments for new, used and new leased vehicles spike year over year

The average car payment for a new vehicle is $700 monthly, according to third-quarter 2022 data from Experian — up 13.3% year over year. Meanwhile, new lease payments average $567 (up 12.1%). With the lowest jump at 11.2%, used cars have the lowest average monthly payments at $525.

Source: Experian State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q3 2021 and Q3 2022

Those with credit scores of 601 to 660, in the nonprime or fair range, saw the highest average monthly payments for new vehicles at $739.

Source: Experian State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q3 2022

You can use the LendingTree auto loan calculator to estimate your monthly car payments.

Increase in new car payments lower than hike in new vehicle prices

The 13.3% hike in the average new car payment is nearly 5 percentage points higher than the new vehicle price increase of 8.4% (according to the October 2022 BLS consumer price index). The COVID-19 pandemic caused factory shutdowns and supply chain shortages, dwindling the vehicle supply even as demand recovered quickly. Then inflation skyrocketed to a 40-year high, causing more pain for consumers.

The used car market is friendlier to consumers, as used car prices rose by 2% — a significant decline from January 2021 to January 2022, when used car prices spiked 40.5%.

Average auto loan amounts near $42,000 for new vehicles

Average auto loan amounts have steadily increased in the past decade, reaching $41,665 for new vehicles and $28,506 for used vehicles in the third quarter of 2022, according to Experian.

New car buyers in the nonprime/fair credit tier (601 to 660) take out the largest loans — $44,530, on average. Borrowers with credit scores in the tier above — prime (661 to 780) — take out the most for used cars, $30,222, which is considerably above how much they borrowed last year ($29,065).

Source: Experian State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q3 2022

Americans owe $1.52 trillion in auto loan debt

Overall vehicle debt nearly doubled between the third quarter of 2012 ($768 billion) and the third quarter of 2022 ($1.52 trillion), according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

In these 10 years, the only dip came in the second quarter of 2020 — the first full quarter amid the pandemic. That quarter, Americans owed $1.34 trillion, down from $1.35 trillion the prior quarter.

Auto loans account for 9.2% of American consumer debt

While mortgages take the lion’s share of American consumer debt at 70.7% — according to the New York Fed — auto loans account for 9.2%, just below student loan debt at 9.5%.

Americans borrow more than $60 billion a month in auto loans

Looking back 10 years, Americans took out more than $34.1 billion a month in auto loans. Today, they borrow far more, at $61.8 billion a month, according to the New York Fed.

Americans in their 30s, 40s take out biggest auto loans

Americans in their 30s and 40s took out the largest auto loans in the third quarter of 2022, according to the New York Fed, borrowing $43.4 billion and $43.0 billion, respectively.

Those in their 50s borrowed about $7 billion less ($36.3 billion), followed by young adults ages 18 to 29, who borrowed $29 billion. The oldest generations borrowed the least.

When you break it down monthly over that third quarter of 2022, Americans younger than 50 took out $38.5 billion in auto debt monthly. This compares with $22.4 billion by those 50 and older.

Americans with highest credit scores take out biggest auto loans

Meanwhile, those with the best credit scores borrow the most. In the first three quarters of 2022, borrowers with credit scores of at least 720 took out $274.6 billion in auto loan debt. The remaining credit tiers accounted for $286.2 billion combined, according to the New York Fed.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The median credit score of auto loan borrowers when they originated a loan has been above 674 since 2005.

Pre-pandemic, Americans were taking out more than 2.3 million auto loans a month

The number of auto loans Americans took out in April 2019 — the latest available data — is 110% higher than at its lowest point in the Great Recession in 2008, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This will be an interesting trend to track further if pandemic-era data becomes available.

Average auto loan term shows it’s taking time to pay back these loans

The average auto loan term for new vehicles is 69.7 months, or nearly six years, according to Experian. Used car loans, despite being significantly smaller on average, are close behind at 68.1 months.

Source: Experian State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q3 2022

But auto loans are stretching even longer — topping six years — for nonprime borrowers. Middle-tier credit borrowers take out the longest car loans, an average loan of 74.7 months. Top credit score borrowers have the lowest average loan terms at 64.1 months.

The average new car lease term is 35.9 months, or about three years.

Auto loan delinquency rates continue to drop from peaks

According to data from the New York Fed, 90-day delinquency rates on auto loans peaked in the fourth quarter of 2010 at 5.3%, dropping to 3.9% as of the third quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, 30-day delinquencies spiked to 10.9% in the second quarter of 2009. But they’ve stayed below 8% since 2011 and have decreased to 6.2% in the third quarter of 2022.

Buyers turn to credit unions and banks the most for auto financing

Although captive lenders nearly eclipsed banks for a short time in 2020, credit unions top the auto finance market share with 28.4%, according to Experian. Banks follow closely at 27.3% of market share, while captive lenders are at 21.9%.

“Buy-here, pay-here” businesses, often known for predatory lending practices, capture 16.2% of the used car financing market. In this arena, captive lenders only claim 7.8%.

Sources

• Experian
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau