Auto loan rates depend more on credit tier than anything else
There's no single "good" APR for a car loan — the right benchmark depends heavily on your credit profile and whether you're financing a new or used vehicle. According to Experian's most recent State of the Automotive Finance Market data (Q2 2026), average auto loan APRs break down by credit tier like this:
| Credit tier | Avg. APR — new car | Avg. APR — used car |
|---|---|---|
| Super prime (781–850) | 4.41% | 6.29% |
| Prime (661–780) | 6.15% | 8.81% |
| Near prime (601–660) | 9.71% | 13.93% |
| Subprime (501–600) | 13.52% | 19.10% |
| Deep subprime (300–500) | 16.11% | 21.62% |
Across all credit tiers combined, the overall average sits around 6.35% for new cars and 11.19% for used cars — used-car loans consistently carry higher rates than new-car loans at every credit tier, partly because lenders view used vehicles as higher risk collateral and partly because used-car loan terms tend to run longer relative to the vehicle's value.
So what counts as a "good" rate for you?
The most useful comparison isn't to some national average — it's to the other rates in your own credit tier. If your credit score puts you in the "prime" range and a dealer quotes you 11%, that's well above the roughly 6–9% you'd expect and is worth shopping further. If you're in a "subprime" tier and get quoted 14–15%, that may actually be close to or better than average for your situation, even though it looks high in absolute terms.
A few other factors move your rate up or down independent of credit score:
- Loan term: shorter terms (36–48 months) typically carry lower APRs than stretched-out 72- or 84-month terms.
- New vs. used: new-car loans are consistently cheaper than used-car loans, as shown above.
- Lender type: credit unions and banks often beat dealer-arranged financing, though manufacturer incentive financing (0–3% promotional APRs) can beat everyone when you qualify.
- Down payment: a larger down payment lowers the amount financed and can improve the rate a lender is willing to offer.
How to tell if a quoted rate is actually a good deal
The simplest test: get at least two or three quotes — ideally from a bank or credit union in addition to whatever the dealer offers — before you sign anything. Rate shopping for an auto loan within a short window (typically 14–45 days depending on the credit scoring model) generally counts as a single inquiry for credit-score purposes, so shopping around doesn't cost you the way spreading applications out over months would.
Once you have a rate in hand, run it through our Car Loan Calculator alongside the vehicle price, your down payment, trade-in, and local sales tax to see the real monthly payment and total interest — and try the term shorter or longer to see how much that alone shifts your total cost. If you're financing something other than a vehicle, the same rate-shopping logic applies to our Personal Loan Calculator as well.