Interest rates, production costs, and regulations have made new cars cost more.<\/p>\n
According to Experian, the average consumer pays $495 for a new car loan. That is more than the $447 they paid in 2008. The average interest rate in the third quarter of 2016 was 4.69 percent, compared to the higher rate of 6.14 percent in 2008.<\/p>\n
Consumers were financing more car in 2016 than in 2008 — up to an average of $30,022 compared to $24,600 for 2008.<\/p>\n
The cost of cars is also higher. In fact, according to Autotrader, about 3 million new cars should have been sold last year, just looking at population growth.<\/p>\n
Part of the problem, says Heritage.org, is that new regulations press car prices up, just as new technology actually pushes prices down.<\/p>\n
The price of a new vehicle is more than $7,000 higher than 2008, Heritage says. It points to new, costly fuel economy standards that are driving prices up.<\/p>\n
Prices are also under pressure at the dealer level. According to Automotive News, franchised new-car dealers in the U.S. spent a combined $3.2 billion in 2012 to meet 61 new federal regulations. Those costs are passed along to consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interest rates, production costs, and regulations have made new cars cost more. According to Experian, the average consumer pays $495 for a new car loan. That is more than the $447 they paid in 2008. The average interest rate in the third quarter of 2016 was 4.69 percent, compared to the higher rate of 6.14 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-quote-and-compare"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t