Auto loan delinquency rate declines in ’09, says Experian

Consumers seem to slowly be improving their finances in 2009 through bill consolidation and better money management, as fewer families fell behind on their auto loan payments when compared to previous years.

According to Experian Automotive, the rate of loan payments that fell at least 30 days into delinquency rose by 5.8 percent from between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009. Despite the increase, the year-to-year rate change and was much less severe than the rate of delinquencies from year-to-year was not as significant as the 9.5 percent jump seen between Q3 2007 and Q3 2008.

"While higher-than-average delinquency rates are still with us, and may be for some time, the fact that the rate of increase is slowing is definitely some positive news for an industry that hasn’t had much as of late," said Melinda Zabritski, director of Automotive Credit for Experian Automotive. "These slowing delinquency rates, along with several other trends we are now seeing, should provide some cautious optimism for the market."

The study also found that average credit scores needed for new vehicle loans had from 762 in the Q3 2008 to 775 in Q3 2009 while average scores for used car loans jump from 670 to 684 respectively.