More drivers than ever are making $1,000+ auto loan payments

jd8 // Shutterstock More drivers than ever are making $1,000+ auto loan payments If you’re in the market for a car in 2024, you’ll have plenty to choose from at a dealership near you—something that couldn’t be taken for granted just a few years ago. Nonetheless, while supply of both new and used vehicles on U.S. dealer lots have returned to historically normal levels, the price of driving certainly hasn’t. That’s especially true once one considers so-called hidden costs like auto insurance, registration fees and, depending on where you live, parking. Moreover, the most in-your-face cost of all, the auto payment, hasn’t declined for most drivers still paying off their old loans—a portion of which were borrowed when cars were scarce and rates for car loans shot up. Borrowers are still paying down those higher car loan amounts, Experian data shows. More drivers are spending more than $1,000 per month (per vehicle) keeping their car loans current in 2023, Experian reports. Experian More Drivers Facing Four-Digit Auto Loan Payments in 2024 More than 4% of drivers are sending four-digit payments to their lenders to pay down their auto loans each month, a full percentage point more than in 2023, when...