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Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Patient957 — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:39:21 GMT

Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan.

The price of new cars and trucks in the U.S. has increased 33% since 2020, and consumers are piling on interest as they stretch out loan terms to eight, nine and nearly 10 years.

David Kelleher, who runs a Dodge and Jeep dealership in Glen Mills, Pa., 27 miles west of Philadelphia, said many American families can’t comfortably take on a new-car payment these days.

“We don’t have $300 monthly payments any longer in new vehicles,” he said. “It’s a thing of the past.”

The average price of a new car broke the $50,000 barrier this fall, according to Kelley Blue Book. That is up from less than $38,000 in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. As sticker prices marched higher, so did monthly payments. For a few years, car shoppers were undeterred. Many needed new vehicles after putting off buying during Covid when supply chains were upended and dealer lots were empty. Others, feeling flush, opted for luxury vehicles at much higher price points.

Fast forward to November of this year and the average monthly payment for a new car was estimated to be $760, according to J.D. Power, an industry-research firm. The hefty cumulative inflation is starting to weigh on consumers, and now some Americans are falling behind on their car payments.

The struggle to keep monthly payments in check is so tough that the typical 48- to 60-month car-loan term has given way to 72-month terms, and longer, industry officials say.

In the third quarter, a third of all buyers took out loans that stretched at least six years, or 72 months, according to Experian data. A year ago, 29% of buyers did so. The volume of loans with 85 to 96 months to repay, or up to eight years, rose as well to 1.61% of car buyers through October.

Some loans now reach 100 months, or more than eight years, especially for the purchase of larger pickups, Experian data show.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

pizzadude — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:41:36 GMT

This makes sense given that the 50 year mortgage may soon be a thing too

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Patient957 — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:58:25 GMT

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Varsity_Lu — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:09:32 GMT

Buying a new car is one of the worst financial decisions a person can make. Find a low mileage used Toyota or Honda, change the oil every 5k miles, and drive it 200k miles. You'll pay almost half what a new car costs and get way more out of it.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Patient957 — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 19:40:59 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
Buying a new car is one of the worst financial decisions a person can make. Find a low mileage used Toyota or Honda, change the oil every 5k miles, and drive it 200k miles. You'll pay almost half what a new car costs and get way more out of it.

I just broke 200K on my ES300. It's just getting broken in. The engine still runs like a top. Try that with your modern 4-cylinder turbo.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Varsity_Lu — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:10:43 GMT

@Patient957 wrote:
@Varsity_Lu wrote:
Buying a new car is one of the worst financial decisions a person can make. Find a low mileage used Toyota or Honda, change the oil every 5k miles, and drive it 200k miles. You'll pay almost half what a new car costs and get way more out of it.
I just broke 200K on my ES300. It's just getting broken in. The engine still runs like a top. Try that with your modern 4-cylinder turbo.

I have an Avelon with 170k and a Sienna with 134k. Both run like a top. I paid $4000 for one and $2000 for the other one. The people selling them just didn't want an older car anymore. No rust, everything works...crazy value. I'm hoping to drive them both past 200k. My son just bought a Corolla with 65k for $10,000. No one wanted it because it was an "old" 2016 model. No joke. He's off to college next year and it should last him through graduation at least. Used Toyota are definitely the way to go.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

FicoMike0 — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 02:17:58 GMT

I'm so old, my first house payment was under $200 , first new car under $100.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

crystal626 — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 06:46:21 GMT

100 month loans are insane. Modern cars have so many issues that most won't make it past 5 years without substantial monetary investment, you'll just be paying a lot more for the car in the end. What's next, the return of debtors' prison?

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

TrapLine — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:07:33 GMT

@Patient957 wrote:

Good thing "debtors' prison" is not in our mirrors now.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Patient957 — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 02:27:32 GMT

@crystal626 wrote:
100 month loans are insane. Modern cars have so many issues that most won't make it past 5 years without substantial monetary investment, you'll just be paying a lot more for the car in the end. What's next, the return of debtors' prison?

Yeah, that's the irony of it. Modern cars are built to break in 5 yrs but priced to be paid over 10. It's a losing game, but there's apparently many people still willing to play.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Varsity_Lu — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 02:38:56 GMT

@Patient957 wrote:
Modern cars are built to break in 5 yrs but priced to be paid over 10.

You don't really believe this, do you?

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Patient957 — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 03:23:28 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@Patient957 wrote:
Modern cars are built to break in 5 yrs but priced to be paid over 10.
You don't really believe this, do you?

It's a generalization, but yes I do. It's no secret that newer cars aren't built to last like they were 10, 20 years ago. With 4 cylinder turbos replacing naturally aspirated V6s and V8s, engines just don't hold up. And with plastics replacing metal parts, again they just don't last. Even some Toyotas and Lexuses aren't cutting it these days, but they're still better than the rest, as long as you steer clear of the problematic models.

Edit to add: And the prices speak for themselves.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

crystal626 — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 04:44:22 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@Patient957 wrote:
Modern cars are built to break in 5 yrs but priced to be paid over 10.
You don't really believe this, do you?

The more electronics you have, the more failure points you have.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

AndrewF — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 03:39:16 GMT

In 2009, they repossessed a then-record number of vehicles from consumers who fell behind on their payments. It was the peak of the auto repossessions spawned by the 2008 Financial Crisis. The 2nd worst (to that point) recession in US history, which was being compared to the Great Depression. 2.1 million repos.

According to preliminary repossession data for 2025, which does not have December's total in it, there were over 3 million auto repossessions and a new record, with an entire month of repo data missing.

Meanwhile, gasoline is dirt cheap. At the worst part of the 2008 Great Recession, I pulled over and paid $1.79 a gallon. Despite the fact that the gas tax has been raised by over 39 cents a gallon in my state since then and despite the fact that the US Dollar buys about half of what it did then, I pulled over and paid just $2.29 at the supermarket yesterday.

Alan Greenspan said he prefered to track men's underwear sales for signs of a recession. The idea went that when consumers closed their wallets, the first thing to get whacked would be a garment that (ideally) nobody ever sees. But it's easier to look at the price of gasoline. When it drops to an impossibly low figure, it means that people can't afford to do much travel that's not strictly necessary, which is a sign that we're in a recession. The price drops because prices fall or rise until demand equilibrium is met.

Gas always gets SUPER cheap when the economy is terrible and people are losing their jobs. It's just that this time there's another factor at play. I put in over 100 job applications in the past two weeks. So far I have an interview to be the guy who throws towels and bedsheets in the washer for minimum wage. To get that, I had to submit to something creepy that ended in ".ai" of course. Yuck. But what people need now, and many are not getting, is a steady paycheck.

Let's hope that the "Economic Miracle" we're being told about doesn't get "any better". Yes?

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

AndrewF — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 03:33:21 GMT

@Patient957 wrote:
@crystal626 wrote:
100 month loans are insane. Modern cars have so many issues that most won't make it past 5 years without substantial monetary investment, you'll just be paying a lot more for the car in the end. What's next, the return of debtors' prison?
Yeah, that's the irony of it. Modern cars are built to break in 5 yrs but priced to be paid over 10. It's a losing game, but there's apparently many people still willing to play.

Yeah, that's why the honest salesman doesn't sell anything. "Imagine how you, sir, could look in this bankruptcy-inducing midlife crisis. Don't you deserve it?"

It's not just auto prices that have gone sky high, it's the interest. Even people who were getting 0% as recently as 5 years ago find that often the best they can do (without giving up those manufacturer "rebates" and getting an artificially low interest rate) is 4-5%. Most people are paying considerably more.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

TrapLine — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 09:28:31 GMT

@AndrewF

You hit a sore spot. Ford Motor Company has given me 0.00% on every car loan since 2000 until about 2021. Now I can get 4.49%. Several loans all paid early and off. Not excitied about the "Delivery Charge" at $2,595 ... unreal (non-negotiable)!

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

AndrewF — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 02:53:19 GMT

@TrapLine wrote:
@AndrewF

You hit a sore spot. Ford Motor Company has given me 0.00% on every car loan since 2000 until about 2021. Now I can get 4.49%. Several loans all paid early and off. Not excitied about the "Delivery Charge" at $2,595 ... unreal (non-negotiable)!

Hit you in every pocket. It makes the car look less outrageous. Then they get you in there and there's all these $1000 for this and $2500 to get it to the dealership there. Like, you're a car dealer and you've always had to get inventory to your lot. Why is it $2595 to do that now?

Before the 2020 recession, I distinctly recall that delivery fee being about $400 on a 2018 model I bought.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

AndrewF — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 04:25:25 GMT

This month instead of a car loan, I figured out and fixed two more old car problems.

I got a code for a bad MAP sensor, so I replaced it. A week later I got a code for a P0304 Misfire on Cylinder 4.

I knew that if it was a ignition module or coil I'd get random multiple misfire or Misfire on Cylinders 2 and 4. So I went and got a few cans of Gumout Multi-System Tune Up. The car went from going "blublublublub" for a couple blocks, or stumbling over, or just idling so bad that my phone was vibrating like crazy in the windshield holder, to smooth as silk. It took a while. Most of the issue was gone after the first treated tank, but 3/4ths of the way into the second and the issue is completely gone and no codes have come back.

General Motors said don't use any fuel system treatments, but they also SELL a fuel system treatment called AC Delco Fuel System Treatment Plus. I used to use it on this car before I couldn't find it anymore. It was the old Techron formula from before Chevron lowered the PEA percentage from 15% to 5%.

Gumout Multi-System was recommended by Scotty Kilmer by name, and it's cheap. Only about $6.50 a can at Walmart, and you get a lot more PEA than Techron (10% and a bottle that's 16 ounces, not 10). He recommended doing three tanks in a row, each with one can of cleaner in them, and running down to near E, then pouring another can in and filling up. He took some pictures of the cylinder heads on a Honda before and after with a borescope camera to prove it worked. Well, based on symptoms and results, I'd say the stuff works in my Buick.

I have not had the same luck with Techron products or Royal Purple or STP. It seems that some of these really are "snake oil" and there's a few that work. I think the Gumout and Redline are the better ones you can buy in Walmart.

That being said, $60 for a sensor and $19.50 for a few cans of fuel system cleaner are better than a $750 payment to the bank this month.

As a happy byproduct of being so old, my engine is port-injected, so the fuel injectors are being cleaned by the detergent, but they're also spraying it directly onto the intake valves and washing those clean if they've been coked up.

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

Stuart89 — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 22:28:38 GMT

LOL at the 100-month car loan! People are crazy. Just buy used!!

Re: Car Payments Now Average More Than $750 a Month. Enter the 100-Month Car Loan

AndrewF — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:38:07 GMT

@Stuart89 wrote:
LOL at the 100-month car loan! People are crazy. Just buy used!!

My ex actually signed something like this on a Toyota Prius and at 12% interest. He signed an 84 month loan at 12%.

He asked if I could help him shop for refinance loans and I managed to get his loan that had 74 months remaining(!) at 12% refinanced into 48 months remaining at 6%.

He had horrible credit when he bought the car and he should never have agreed to that loan.

If you can't get less than about 6.5% and can't pay it off in 60 months or less, you REALLY need to be looking at a beater car.

Longer loans don't solve the affordability problem. They just add a lot of interest and a lot of exposure to potential job loss or future fiscal issues where you ALSO get your car repossessed.

The salesman only cares about selling a car. He does not care about what happens to the loan a few years from now. They don't even want to talk to you next week unless you're there to buy another car. They know all the tricks to make them "look" affordable and to get customers who shouldn't have a car loan through financing.