A Record Number of New Car Buyers Pay 1K a Month

2025 was a year marked with high interest rates amid affordability struggles as new and used car prices soared.

“Around 20 percent of the people that bought cars in 2025 were paying $1,000.00/month. The overall average car payment has reached well over $700.00/month. So, $1000/month is not that big of a stretch. The Car Pro Show Host, Jerry Reynolds said.

President Trump ended the electric vehicle incentive program when he came into office. The government incentive deadline was September 30th. “A lot of what we saw in 2025 was spurred by an increase in electric sales due to the federal money going away, and it did, and it was a rush, and that raised overall prices of cars. I think we will see that drop this year. Reynolds said.

This shifted the average car price to 49K. He says the price of cars never goes down; they only go up. He projects there will be greater incentives in 2026. He adds the auto manufactures have reached a saturation point- pricing a lot of consumers out of the market pushing them to look at used cars. Reynolds says automakers do not want this. He says the tariffs brought new changes- making it a transitional year for the industry. Each car company was in a different position. They are all adjusting to it and he says in 2026, consumers should see better incentives and better pricing.