As we head into the new year, affordability continues to be the most talked about topic. Below we examine autos and impact on the consumer. The total auto debt remained the same at $1.655 trillion in Q3 2025 from the previous quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. If auto debt continues to mushroom, the affordability for the average consumer will continue to decline.
Utilizing data from Bloomberg, the chart below outlines the average cost per all vehicles from Q1 2011 to Q3 2025. The average cost of an automobile has increased to $34,215 in Q3 2025. This is near the high of $34,465 in Q3 2023. If this trajectory continues, consumers will potentially fall behind on payments, hold onto their vehicles longer, and without a doubt create a loss of jobs within the auto industry.
College graduates are having an extremely difficult time finding a job. 4.86% of car buyers between the ages of 18-29 have fallen behind on auto loans. The younger generation are not able to finance a vehicle.
The chart below highlights the percentage of balances 90+days delinquent for auto loans from Q1 2003 to Q3 2025. The average delinquency rate for the time period below was 3.79%. In Q3 2025, the 90+days delinquent on auto loans was 5.02%. This reached levels last seen in Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 at 5.05% and 5.03%.
More consumers may be holding onto vehicles for a longer period of time because of the rate on their auto loan (depending on your credit score) and the increase in price of the car. The next chart below examines the average age of passenger vehicles from 1995 to 2025. In 2025, the average age of a passenger vehicle reached a record high of 14.5 years.
There is some fear when it comes to opening an account for an auto loan because of the cost to own a vehicle. The chart below outlines the number of accounts for auto loans from Q1 2011 to Q3 2025. In Q3 2025, there was a decline in the number of open accounts for auto loans at 105.89 million. This was down from a year ago at 108.68 million in Q3 2024.
The final chart below outlines the number of all employees for motor vehicles and parts from November 2016 to November 2025. The number of employees has been on the decline since July 2025 from 1.09 million to 982,200 in November 2025.
