zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
A Lot of You Are Paying More Than $1,000 a Month for Your Car and It's a Little Worrying
A Lot of You Are Paying More Than $1,000 a Month for Your Car and It's a Little Worrying-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:20

Image for article titled A Lot of You Are Paying More Than $1,000 a Month for Your Car and It's a Little Worrying

Edmunds, which is an automotive analytics and data firm, has a new report out, which says that the average monthly payment for new cars is now more than $700, which is completely ridiculous. This is in part because car loan interest rates are . A little over 14 percent of buyers even have monthly payments over $1,000, according to Edmunds, which Edmunds says is the highest number on record and is frankly worrying.

Now, it’s true that because of long-term inflation everything costs more, and a lot more to us Old Millennials, who might still, somehow, expect one’s car payment to be $200-$300 a month, at most. But that simply isn’t reality in 2022, with cars costing more but also automakers simply not selling a lot of small, affordable cars, in favor of $40,000-$50,000 SUVs and trucks. In that sense, big car payments aren’t surprising, though, still, over $1,000? Sheesh.

, Edmunds also notes that, yes, people with the biggest payments tend to be luxury customers, though there are a couple of truck brands in that crowd as well:

More than 1 in 4 consumers who financed an EV committed to a monthly payment over $1,000. 26% of consumers who financed an EV committed to a $1,000+ monthly payment, compared to 24% of consumers who financed a plug-in hybrid, 14% who financed a gas-engine-only vehicle, and 4% who financed a hybrid vehicle.Two mainstream brands known for their popular truck offerings made it to the top 10 list of makes that commanded the greatest share of $1,000+ monthly payments. Though luxury brands dominate the list, GMC earned a No. 7 spot with 41% of its shopper base committing to a $1,000+ monthly payment and Ram took the No. 10 spot with 36% of its shopper base committing to a $1,000+ monthly payment. The full list of makes ranked by share of $1,000+ monthly payments can be found below.Large trucks and large SUVs dominated the top 10 list of models that commanded the greatest share of $1,000+ monthly payments. Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Tahoe captured the highest percentage of monthly payments over $1,000. The Ford F-150 made up 5.6% of all new vehicle loans made in Q3 with a $1,000+ monthly payment. The top 10 list of models ranked by share of $1,000+ monthly payments can be found below.States with consumers that favor large truck purchases are leading the country in the greatest share of $1,000+ monthly car payments (infographic available). Wyoming, Texas and Utah had the greatest percentage of new-car shoppers who agreed to a monthly payment over $1,000 (25.7%, 20.8% and 19.1%, respectively).

Separately, Edmunds offers the following table, which I’ll confess to not completely understanding, though it does seem to say that 58 percent of Ram 2500s are financed with loans with payments above $1,000.

Image for article titled A Lot of You Are Paying More Than $1,000 a Month for Your Car and It's a Little Worrying

Now, personal finance people — some of them even call themselves experts — generally recommend that your car not take up more than 15 percent of your take-home pay, meaning $600 a month if you make $4,000 a month, or lesser or higher amounts depending on your income as the case may be. And while I can imagine that a lot of BMW X5 buyers make the kind of money that might justify a payment over $1,000 a month, I can also imagine that a lot of F-150 buyers don’t.

And while Edmunds doesn’t go into it, I also wonder how many of the people who don’t have payments over $1,000 a month have cheaper payments because they’ve opted to take out , including , which is eight years, which is batshit. A car loan is also borrowing money to buy a depreciating asset and, well, all of this stresses me the hell out.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
A Letter to My Beloved, The 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
A Letter to My Beloved, The 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
My dearest Shelby, I miss you. I never had someone, something, this special in my life. My first instinct is to apologize for this cliche, but I proudly stand by it. My love for you began at first sight. No. Wait. At first sound. You arrived that hot, humid...
Dec 27, 2025
Meet the bZ3, Toyota's Answer to the Tesla Model 3
Meet the bZ3, Toyota's Answer to the Tesla Model 3
Toyota’s second fully-electric bZ model may not be coming to the United States quite yet, but photos surfaced by the Chinese Ministry of Industry have provided us with a good idea of what the Japanese automaker’s answer to the will look like. What you see above is the Toyota...
Dec 27, 2025
Nissan Z Maxes out at 186 MPH on a Japanese Test Track
Nissan Z Maxes out at 186 MPH on a Japanese Test Track
. It makes a claimed 400 horsepower, takes design cues from many of the best Zs throughout history, and is eventually () going to be sold for a reasonable, attainable price. But, here’s the thing. I wonder just how hot the Z actually is? I mean, Nissan claims it’s got...
Dec 27, 2025
Watch the All-Electric Maserati GranTurismo Folgore Take Off Like No Maserati Before It
Watch the All-Electric Maserati GranTurismo Folgore Take Off Like No Maserati Before It
is finally ready to show us what the 1,200-horsepower, all-electric GranTurismo Folgore can do, and the brand’s taken to YouTube to demonstrate it. The last GranTurismo dated back to 2007 if you can believe it, but the Folgore — the Italian word for “lightning,” and — primarily updates the...
Dec 27, 2025
At $12,000, Is This 1984 VW Jetta a Coup of a Coupe?
At $12,000, Is This 1984 VW Jetta a Coup of a Coupe?
At one time, the Jetta was VW’s best-selling car in the U.S. Two-door editions like today’s car never contributed much to those numbers. Let’s see if rarity and its condition, can make this one worth its asking. There was a lot of disagreement over last Friday’s and its $8,500...
Dec 27, 2025
At $8,500, Would You Let it All Hang Out in This 1964 Dune Buggy?
At $8,500, Would You Let it All Hang Out in This 1964 Dune Buggy?
Owing to a dearth of donor VW Beetles for the chassis, few people are building fun cars like today’s dune buggy anymore. That’s too bad and makes street-legal fun cars like this a rare commodity. Let’s decide what that might all be worth. While it had a 302 horsepower...
Dec 27, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved