Experian Automotive Talks to 'Auto Trends' About the State of Car Financing

Melinda Zabrintski, who is the head of automotive financial insights for Experian Automotive, talks car payments and more. (Photo Credit: EA)

Over the past two years, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates have 11 times. 

Melinda Zabrintski, who is the head of automotive financial insights for Experian Automotive, joins Auto Trends with JeffCars.com, the only multicultural syndicated automotive program in North America, to talk about the effect the rates have had on consumers financing and leasing new and used vehicles. 

Experian Automotive is a division of Experian credit, one of the leading credit bureaus in the U.S.

Moreover, Zabrintski touches on where consumers are getting their financing from.

Despite "Car Mortgages" Increasing By 20% In 5 Years, Consumers Are Trading Out Of Them Earlier

A new study from TransUnion found that even as the term of new auto loans has increased (also know as "Car Mortgages"), the duration of time a consumer remained in these loans has declined.

The study found that the average term for new auto loans rose from 62 months in 2010 to 67 months in 2015. In the third quarter of 2015, 70 percent of new auto loans had terms longer than 60 months. Ironically in 2010, only 50 percent of all loans had terms longer than 60 months.

4 Consumer Car-Buying Trends

• Thirty-seven percent of new-vehicle buyers say that fuel economy is a leading factor in their next purchase, according to Consumer Reports. At 17%, quality is now a distant second to fuel-economy. Based on this data, it suggests that consumers are open to purchase a vehicle with questionable quality, as long as the fuel-economy is exceptional.