The Case of the Twelve-Year Car

Case file: three in ten subprime car loans run past the car's twelfth year. In 2019, seven in a hundred. The Ledger: six-year-old cars on 68-month loans, all perfectly legal. Wren: and when the transmission dies first? Nightjar: the loan doesn't. $1.7 trillion in car loans. Mind the mileage.

More than 30% of subprime car loans written in the first half of 2026 run until the car is over 12 years old, up from 7% at the end of 2019, because buyers are financing older cars for longer: the typical $15,000 to $20,000 used car is now about six years old against just over three in 2019, and loan terms have stretched to about 68 months, inside a $1.7 trillion auto loan market.

Starring

Inspector HaleWrenThe LedgerNightjar