Monthly Car Payments Keep Climbing

Owning a new vehicle keeps getting more expensive, with monthly car payments climbing to a record high. That should be a concerning fact not only for consumers who have to navigate a rather inflated market but also for the industry, which could suddenly suffer a painful and severe correction.

Car repos have hit 2009 levels.

According to data gathered by J.D. Power, the firm is forecasting monthly car payments in May 2025 will be at $748. That is a prediction, reports Automotive News, so the final number might be a little different. But if it holds true, it would be an all-time record.

Compared to the official total from May 2024, that would be $21 more. That might not sound like much, but when you’re talking about averages, it’s quite the shift and in what we consider a bad direction.

We’d love to say we’re shocked but we’re honestly not. If you’ve gone new car shopping in the past two or three weeks, you know why. New vehicles are just getting more expensive and there’s no relief in sight.

Right now, the popular whipping boy for a problem that’s been building for a decade and really accelerating over the past five years is President Trump’s tariffs. We’re sure they’re not helping, but a lot of news outlets are acting like car prices were fine before Trump won the last election.

That reality is the industry’s prices have been out of control for some time. It wasn’t that long ago a budget-conscious shopper could get a decent economy car for under $20,000. Try doing that now and you’ll be shocked at what the cheapest cars in different automakers’ lineups go for.

People can point fingers at what’s been driving the high cost of vehicles, from lenders to covid and everything else. But one thing remains clear: consumers are getting crushed as things aren’t slowing down or going the opposite direction. Our fear is a market correction will be brutal and quick, leading to some serious upheavals in the industry that’s unwilling to adjust.

Image via Giselle Garcia/Facebook Marketplace