Cox: Auto credit access rose in June, but longer terms hit a record

What the Dealertrack index says about June

Cox Automotive reports that Dealertrack's Credit Availability Index increased 0.9% from May to 104.6 in June. That was the fifth consecutive monthly gain, 7.3% above June 2025, and the highest index reading since December 2015.

Cox attributes much of the monthly increase to an approval rate of 73.8%, up 1.7 percentage points from May. Access improved most for independent used-vehicle financing in the report's channel breakdown, while results differed across channels and lender types.

More approvals did not mean lower borrowing costs

The average contract rate in Dealertrack's dataset increased 0.11 percentage point to 10.98% in June. The share of terms longer than 72 months reached 31.1%, an all-time high for the dataset, while the share of loans involving negative equity remained above its year-earlier level.

These measures describe applications processed through Dealertrack and should not be read as approval odds or a market-wide rate for a particular borrower. The Federal Reserve's separate May series covers reporting commercial banks' most common APRs for new-car loans and uses a different sample and method.

Why term length and negative equity matter

A longer term can reduce the monthly payment, but it commonly raises total interest and leaves the balance outstanding for more of the vehicle's life. Rolling an old loan balance into a new loan raises the amount financed and can make it harder to sell or trade the next vehicle without bringing cash to the transaction.

How buyers can compare offers

• Ask several lenders for written offers covering the same amount and term.
• Compare APR, total interest, amount financed, total of payments, and any required products or conditions.
• Keep the vehicle's out-the-door price separate from financing and trade-in discussions.
• Check the payoff amount on an existing loan before deciding whether to trade or sell.