Auto Loan Rates Drop Sharply;
New Auto Falls to 5.652%, General Auto Leads at −0.157 pts
Week Ending April 27, 2026

All three auto loan categories declined sharply this week. General auto led at −0.157 points to 6.036% APR, new auto fell 0.123 points to 5.652% — a fresh low for this cycle — and used auto dropped 0.096 points to 6.479%. The overall average fell to 6.085%, the largest single-week move in this cycle.

📊 Full week-over-week data for all 3 auto loan categories tracked by MonitorBankRates.com across all 50 states.

NATIONAL — National auto loan rates declined sharply across all three tracked categories for the week ending April 27, 2026, with the overall national average falling to 6.085% APR — down 0.183 points from last week’s 6.268% and the largest single-week move in this cycle. New auto loan rates dropped 0.123 points to 5.652% APR, a fresh cycle low. General auto rates posted the steepest single-category decline of the week at −0.157 points to 6.036%, resuming its leadership of the broader downtrend after last week’s brief reversal. Used auto loan rates fell 0.096 points to 6.479%.

New auto loan rates fell 0.123 points to 5.652% APR — a fresh cycle low and the second consecutive weekly decline. The two-week cumulative drop on new auto stands at 0.156 points from the 5.808% recorded on April 13. New vehicle financing remains the lowest-rate category and continues to benefit from predictable collateral valuations and slower depreciation. The new-to-used spread held at 0.827 percentage points, slightly wider than last week’s 0.800 as new auto fell faster than used.

Used auto loan rates dropped 0.096 points to 6.479%, reversing the near-flat pattern of the prior week. The 0.827-point premium over new auto reflects the typical spread for the higher collateral risk and broader credit profile of used vehicle borrowers. General auto loans — which include refinance products and non-specific vehicle loans — led declines for the week at −0.157 points to 6.036%. After last week’s brief reversal up to 6.193%, general auto resumed its downtrend with the steepest weekly drop of any category. The three-week cumulative move on general auto now stands at 0.270 points, the largest sustained decline among the three categories.

For borrowers, the cumulative effect is now meaningful. New auto at 5.652% is the lowest rate in this rate-tracking series. On a $30,000 loan over 60 months, the difference between 5.808% (two weeks ago) and 5.652% represents approximately $2.40 in monthly payment savings and roughly $144 over the life of the loan. For refinance shoppers focused on general auto loan products, the three-week 0.270-point cumulative decline has produced a more meaningful payment impact — making this an opportune time to compare current rates against existing financing. Compare current auto loan rates from banks and credit unions →

This week’s sharp declines across all three auto loan categories follow last week’s mixed pattern, in which general auto reversed direction while new and used drifted lower. The resumption of the downtrend — and at greater speed — suggests the brief pause was a single-week pricing adjustment rather than a directional change. The 0.183-point overall move is the largest weekly drop in this rate-tracking series and aligns with the broader pattern of credit market easing seen across the deposit and mortgage data over recent weeks. As Treasury yields have drifted lower and bank funding costs have eased, auto loan pricing is following with characteristic lag.

The leadership pattern in general auto loans is worth highlighting: this category has now posted the steepest weekly decline in three of the past four weeks (−0.115, −0.138, +0.025, −0.157). General auto loans include a higher proportion of refinance products than new or used categories, and refinance pricing tends to respond most quickly to both directions of rate movement. The 0.270-point cumulative decline over three weeks is now the most aggressive sustained move in the dataset and represents real dollars for borrowers who refinanced at peak rates in 2023–2024. New auto’s drop to 5.652% is the lowest rate in the series and a meaningful improvement for purchase buyers entering the market this spring. Track how auto loan averages evolve on the national auto loan rate trends page.