Auto buyers are stretching their budgets to new limits as third-quarter data show extended efforts to squeeze in both new and used vehicle purchases.

Persistent affordability challenges brought some new records in multiple metrics, including down payments and used-vehicle monthly payments, while other categories remained at extremes, Edmunds research found.

The auto data provider said down payments on vehicle purchases fell to their lowest point in about four years as consumers signed for extended loan terms to bear the cost over time. The average new-vehicle down payment for the quarter fell to $6,020, down 6% quarter-over-quarter and 9% year-over-year to its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Extra-high monthly payments held firm for new vehicles as 19% of financed buyers agreed to $1,000 or higher terms, reflecting a record set in the second quarter, Edmunds said, while $1,000-plus used-vehicle payments reached a new high of 6%.

Meanwhile, 22% of new-auto loans spanned seven years or more, flat quarter-over-quarter but up from about 19% a year earlier, according to the company’s data. The average amount financed rose about 1% quarter-over-quarter and 5% year-over-year to $42,647.

Still, new units would appear to be consumers’ best value for now, Edmunds suggested. Among current options, though, it noted minimal difference in annual percentage rates and discounts between 2025 and 2026 units.

“… compared to the near-new market, where inventory has been constrained by lean pandemic-era sales and reduced leasing activity, new vehicles seem to have emerged as the more compelling option,” said Edmunds Head of Insights Jessica Caldwell in the third-quarter report. 

“With the potential for lower APRs and tariff-related price increases yet to materialize in any meaningful way, shopping for a new vehicle may have felt like the smarter play in Q3 — and could have given the new-car market a modest boost."

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