When Lee Iacocca was a Ford regional manager, he helped pioneer auto loans. Consumers could buy a 1956 Ford for 20% down and $56 a month. The loans were paid off in just 36 months. In the final quarter of 2012, the average term of a new car note stretched out to 65 months, says Experian. 17% of all new car loans in the past quarter were between 73 and 84 months. A few were as long as 97 months. This trend bears huge risks for consumers and industry, says the Wall Street Journal.
The average price of a new car is now $31,000, up $3,000 in the past four years. To keep payments under $500 as month, loan terms get longer and longer. Says the Journal:
?Such long term loans can present consumers and lenders with heightened risk. With a six- or seven-year loan, it takes car-buyers longer to reach the point where they owe less on the car than it is worth. Having ?negative equity? or being ?upside down? in a car makes it harder to trade or sell the vehicle if the owner can?t make payments.
Car makers have mixed feelings about long-term loans. They allow consumers to buy more expensive?and profitable?cars. But long loans may keep some people from replacing their cars, cutting into future sales.?
Source: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/car-loans-the-borrow-time-gets-longer-and-longer/
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