Are Americans Crammed With A Devastating Auto Loan Crisis?

The numbers behind America’s wheels tell a story of how the car market is running on borrowed money and more of it is starting to slip. A closer look at the ledger shows an enormous uptick in the total consumer debt which reached $18.03 trillion by September 2025.  However, if other metrics like bankcard delinquencies which decreased to 2.7% is considered it could be argued that there is a hint of stabilization, but the clear fault lines forming in the auto credit market remain undisputable.  

In 2021 auto loan dipped to just above 2.2% but that ship has long sailed and now it's revving up again. The share of auto loan balances at least 30 days past due reached 3.88% by Q3 2025, the highest reading in over a decade outside the post-financial-crisis spike.  

Auto delinquencies are almost neck and neck with credit card delinquency rates, which historically have been more volatile but seem to be doing well at 4.03%, closing a gap that used to be wider. Auto debt is no longer the “safer” corner of household credit it once looked like.  

Americans took out $183.9 billion in new auto loans in Q3 2025, with drivers aged 18 to 49 accounting for the lion's share at $111.2 billion. Average monthly payments now run $748 for new cars, $532 for those settling for a used car, and for leases the number is $596.  

To make those payments fit, buyers are stretching loans past 69 months and borrowing $42,332 on average, even still about 5% of balances are already 90 days late. Tellingly, for now, the damage isn’t being felt by America’s wealthier prime borrowers, the sharpest cracks are forming among subprime borrowers, where 60-day-plus delinquencies hit 6.4% in 2025, doubling since 2021 as per CNN.  

Younger borrowers are far more likely to miss payments with Gen Z borrowers boasting the highest auto loan delinquency rate at 7.5%, steering ahead of millennials at 6.9% and Gen X at 4.3%. America hasn’t hit the brakes yet, but the warning lights are on; car ownership is being propped up by longer loans, heavier payments, and borrowers are slipping.