The Seven-Year Auto Loan: America’s Middle Class Can’t Afford Its Cars

America's middle class isn't opting for home mortgages either - it has to do with not just affordability but with not wanting to be tied into long-term contracts in an increasingly unstable and dynamic economy. Main Street Revival is also banking on this trend for homes, as customers increasingly just rent. Here's a good read on the trend: https://fortune.com/longform/single-family-home-ai-algorithm...

If Americans are really signing seven-year loans for cars, something is very, very wrong. It seems to me that we need to do more to help people get their credit score high enough where they won't have to sign such financially disastrous loans. Help is available via free credit counselling.

Getting your credit score higher doesn’t reduce vehicle prices or increase wages, which is what is required to have shorter term loans. A combination of high vehicle prices and low wages is what creates the need for longer term loans to get the monthly payment down.

https://www.fullwsj.com/articles/the-seven-year-auto-loan-am...