Californians have taken on bigger car loans at an alarming pace since the pandemic and more people are falling behind on their payments, according to a new study released by the University of California–Berkeley’s California Policy Lab.
“The escalation in auto loans was steady through the 2010s, but when the pandemic began in 2020, it rocketed upwards,” the lab reported.
The average auto loan for a new or used vehicle in the state is now over $34,000—about 27 percent or $7,300 more than it was before the pandemic started in 2020.
Loans also increased in length with higher monthly payments during the pandemic, the lab said in a report by authors Sarah Hoover, Steve Ramos, and Evan White….