Which borrowers fall behind on car loans?
18-29 leads at 4.8%.
What it shows: 18-29 is the largest at 4.8%, followed by 30-39 at 3.9%; the smallest shown is 60-69 at 1.8%.
At the calculator's default inputs, an $18,000 balance at 7% APR paid at $400 a month is gone in 53 months and costs $2,940 in interest. Your monthly payment sets that total. Adding $5 a month cuts it to 52 months and saves $44.
The final payment does not end your risk. Most of the 11,484 CFPB complaints about paying off a car loan involve a missing title after payoff, and only 15.3% ended with relief for the borrower. When you send the last payment, get the lender's title release date in writing.
What borrowers reported to the CFPB about paying off a car loan
Lenders named most (25)
| Lender | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ally Financial Inc. | 1,029 | 9% |
| Hyundai Capital America | 937 | 8% |
| Santander Holdings USA, Inc. | 659 | 6% |
| Westlake Services, LLC | 557 | 5% |
| Wells Fargo & Company | 515 | 4% |
| Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. | 486 | 4% |
| Capital One Financial Corporation | 484 | 4% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 446 | 4% |
| Toyota Motor Credit Corporation | 373 | 3% |
| Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation | 282 | 2% |
| Truist Financial Corporation | 265 | 2% |
| TD Bank US Holding Company | 258 | 2% |
| U.S. Bancorp | 253 | 2% |
| General Motors Financial Company, Inc. | 244 | 2% |
| Credit Acceptance Corporation | 232 | 2% |
| American Honda Finance Corp | 222 | 2% |
| Nissan Motor Acceptance Company LLC | 212 | 2% |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | 197 | 2% |
| Bank Of America, National Association | 174 | 2% |
| Exeter Finance, LLC | 162 | 1% |
| Pnc Bank N.A. | 161 | 1% |
| VW Credit | 152 | 1% |
| Fifth Third Financial Corporation | 135 | 1% |
| American Credit Acceptance, LLC | 124 | 1% |
| Huntington National Bank, The | 121 | 1% |
Full dataset: complaints by year and by state
Complaints by year received
Complaints by state
| State | Complaints |
|---|---|
| CA | 1,243 |
| FL | 1,111 |
| TX | 996 |
| GA | 634 |
| NY | 560 |
| NJ | 475 |
| IL | 412 |
| NC | 404 |
| VA | 386 |
| OH | 374 |
| MD | 364 |
| PA | 341 |
| AZ | 268 |
| MI | 264 |
| MO | 254 |
Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database (full file), product "Vehicle loan or lease", data through 2026-09-24. Complaints are not a random sample and are not adjusted for each lender's size; a complaint count is not a measure of how a lender treats most customers.
What banks charge for a new-car loan: Federal Reserve rates since 2015
Worked example: this calculator's default $18,000 balance, priced as a 60-month loan
| This page's loan | At 5.05% (2021) vs 7.14% (2026) |
|---|---|
| Monthly payment on $18,000 over 60 months | $340 vs $358 $18 more a month |
| Total interest over the loan | $2,406 vs $3,457 $1,051 more over the loan |
Other loan terms the Fed publishes (latest vs five years earlier)
| Series | Latest | Five years earlier |
|---|---|---|
| New-car loan rate, 48 months, commercial banks | 7.47% (2026-05-31) | 5.28% (2021-05-31) |
| New-car loan rate, 72 months, commercial banks | 6.97% (2026-05-31) | 4.77% (2021-05-31) |
| New-car loan rate, finance companies | 6.31% (2026-06-30) | 4.86% (2021-06-30) |
| Average maturity, new-car loans, finance companies | 66.8 mo (2026-06-30) | 67.4 mo (2021-06-30) |
| Average amount financed, new-car loans, finance companies | $41,705 (2026-06-30) | $33,915 (2021-06-30) |
Source: Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit, Terms of Credit (data download), not seasonally adjusted, retrieved 2026-09-26. Payments are our calculation with the standard amortization formula, payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), r = rate ÷ 12. Bank averages are not a quote; your rate depends on credit score, lender and the car.
Car loan payoff: 7,472 complaints come after the final payment, when the title does not arrive
Borrowers filed 7,472 CFPB complaints saying they could not get the car title, or had another problem, after the loan was paid off. That is 65% of all car loan payoff complaints.
So your last payment does not end the process. Keep the payoff confirmation and the date the lender received the funds. Those are the records these borrowers needed when the title did not show up.
Santander is named under two company names in car loan payoff complaints: 659 and 486
Car loan payoff complaints list Santander Holdings USA, Inc. 659 times and Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. 486 times as separate companies.
If your loan is with Santander, check which company name is on your contract before you file. The CFPB records it under the name you choose.
Car loan payoff complaints name Westlake 557 times, alongside Bridgecrest, Credit Acceptance and Exeter
Several non-bank auto lenders appear by name in car loan payoff complaints: Westlake Services, LLC (557), Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation (282), Credit Acceptance Corporation (232), Exeter Finance, LLC. (162) and American Credit Acceptance, LLC (124).
These are complaint counts only. They are not adjusted for how many loans each lender holds.
California, Florida and Texas lead car loan payoff complaints with 1,243, 1,111 and 996
California borrowers filed 1,243 car loan payoff complaints, Florida borrowers 1,111 and Texas borrowers 996. Georgia comes next with 634.
In these states, how the title reaches you after payoff depends on state title rules as well as on your lender. A title problem may need to be followed up with both.
Car loan payoff at $18,000 and 7% APR: an extra $5 a month saves $44 and cuts a month
With the calculator's defaults ($18,000 balance, 7% APR, $400 a month), payoff takes 53 months and costs $2,940 in interest.
Adding $1 saves only $9 and does not shorten the loan. To finish sooner, the extra payment has to be large enough to remove a whole month.
Frequently asked questions
What happens after I pay off my car loan?
You should get your title, but 7,472 CFPB complaints say borrowers could not get the title, or had another problem, after payoff. That is 65% of all car loan payoff complaints, and only 15.3% of the 11,484 complaints ended with relief for the borrower.
Sources
Data shown on this page
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Household Debt and Credit Report file downloaded 26:Q2
Terms: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, cite the source.
Observed: records as filed; owner reports are unverified and are not failure rates.
What is our own estimate
The price range comes from our calculator's formula. Its parts prices, labor hours per job and shop-rate tiers are CalcScrape estimates, not a published price dataset. Methodology