Car loans are becoming a problem for subprime borrowers. These are individuals who have a relatively lower credit score, but it was still high enough for them to get an auto loan.
In October of this year, reports came out demonstrating how many of these borrowers were at least 60 days behind. The report showed that this applied to 6.65% of borrowers, which was the highest percentage on file since the 1990s. For the sake of comparison, it was 6.23% in October of 2024, and it was 6.50% in September of 2025, so the numbers have been climbing for some time.
What does this mean for the future?
If the trend holds, more and more Americans are going to be defaulting on their car loans in the coming months. But even if the numbers just remain steady, it is still a historic percentage and could indicate that there will be future economic trouble.
After all, many people would prefer to miss other types of payments. If they have too much debt and they are having to choose which payments to make and which loans to default on, they will typically try to make their car payments for as long as they can. So if borrowers are hitting historic rates at which they are more than two months behind on their car loans, it could mean that their debt is getting so thoroughly overwhelming that they need to begin looking into other options.
Bankruptcy can sometimes help those who are facing such high levels of debt. This can be done with a repayment plan through Chapter 13 bankruptcy or through liquidation in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It is crucial that Americans know what legal options they have.
