Auto Loans
- 5.24% (60-month, new car)
- 6.22% (36-month, used car)
Auto loan rates were mixed this week. New-car loans were up, with the average rates for 48-month new-car loans and 60-month new-car loans rising 2 basis points off last week's record lows, to 5.17 percent and 5.24 percent, respectively. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point.
However, used-car loan rates fell to record lows. The average rate for a 36-month used-car loan dropped 6 basis points to 6.22 percent, the lowest it's been since Bankrate began collecting data on used-car loans in 1997.
The appetite for auto loans among U.S. consumers surged in the last quarter of 2011, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. Nonrevolving consumer debt, which includes installment loans for things such as cars, education expenses, boats and mobile homes, rose 10.7 percent in November and 11.8 percent in December last year, the biggest such increases since February 2005.