Auto Loan and Lease Terms Get Longer

Washington DC September 11, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that vehicle loan and lease terms continued to lengthen, according to the Consumer Bankers Association's 2006 Automobile Finance Study.

Auto lenders favor using low monthly payments to boost business, and loan maturities of longer than 60 months represented 55 percent of new vehicle loans written last year, according to the study.

The average new vehicle loan increased 4 percent to $23,534 last year over 2004, while the average used vehicle loan rose 3 percent to $16,419 last year, reported Automotive News.