A 5-year-old mainstream car in good condition with 75,000 miles estimates $4,848–$6,560 on this calculator. The type of car moves the number most: economy cars estimate $2,771–$3,749, and luxury cars or trucks estimate $7,619–$10,309.
If you still owe money on the car, the costly mistake can happen after you sign. Of 1,516 CFPB complaints about selling or trading in a financed car, 11.6% ended with relief for the borrower.
What borrowers reported to the CFPB about selling or trading in a financed car
Lenders named most (25)
| Lender | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ally Financial Inc. | 120 | 8% |
| Hyundai Capital America | 84 | 6% |
| Credit Acceptance Corporation | 71 | 5% |
| Santander Holdings USA, Inc. | 66 | 4% |
| Wells Fargo & Company | 64 | 4% |
| Capital One Financial Corporation | 62 | 4% |
| Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. | 61 | 4% |
| General Motors Financial Company, Inc. | 59 | 4% |
| Toyota Motor Credit Corporation | 56 | 4% |
| Westlake Services, LLC | 56 | 4% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 54 | 4% |
| Nissan Motor Acceptance Company LLC | 51 | 3% |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | 34 | 2% |
| American Honda Finance Corp | 33 | 2% |
| Ford Motor Credit Co. | 32 | 2% |
| Exeter Finance, LLC | 30 | 2% |
| BMW Financial Services NA, LLC | 29 | 2% |
| Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation | 29 | 2% |
| U.S. Bancorp | 29 | 2% |
| Carvana Group, LLC | 23 | 2% |
| VW Credit | 21 | 1% |
| Truist Financial Corporation | 20 | 1% |
| American Credit Acceptance, LLC | 19 | 1% |
| Bank Of America, National Association | 18 | 1% |
| Global Lending Services LLC | 17 | 1% |
Full dataset: complaints by year and by state
Complaints by year received
Complaints by state
| State | Complaints |
|---|---|
| CA | 206 |
| FL | 157 |
| TX | 142 |
| NY | 95 |
| NJ | 62 |
| GA | 52 |
| MD | 49 |
| VA | 49 |
| NC | 46 |
| PA | 46 |
| OH | 42 |
| AZ | 41 |
| MI | 41 |
| IL | 39 |
| SC | 35 |
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: the Fed's average new-car amount financed ($41,705, 2026-06-30) over 60 months
| This page's loan | At 5.05% (2021) vs 7.14% (2026) |
|---|---|
| Monthly payment on $41,705 over 60 months | $788 vs $829 $41 more a month |
| Total interest over the loan | $5,574 vs $8,009 $2,435 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 trade-in payoff complaints reached 273 by September 2026, already above the 2025 total
Borrowers filed 273 CFPB complaints about problems while trading in or selling a financed car in 2026 through September 24. That is already more than the 200 filed in all of 2025, which was itself the highest full year in the set.
Complaints were steady at 108 to 149 a year from 2019 through 2022, then rose to 189 in 2023. The 2026 figure means more borrowers are now finding out after the deal that their old loan was not closed the way they expected.
Car trade-in payoff complaints name carmakers' own lenders: Hyundai Capital 84, GM Financial 59, Toyota 56, Nissan 51
After Ally Financial, the lender named most often was Hyundai Capital America, with 84 complaints. Other carmaker finance arms also appear in the list: General Motors Financial with 59, Toyota Motor Credit with 56, Nissan Motor Acceptance with 51, American Honda Finance with 33, Ford Motor Credit with 32, BMW Financial Services with 29 and VW Credit with 21.
If you are trading a car financed through its brand's lender at a different brand's dealer, the payoff goes from one company to another. That transfer is the step these borrowers complained about.
Carvana appears in 23 car trade-in payoff complaints
Carvana Group was named in 23 complaints and Bridgecrest Acceptance in 29. Both are lenders tied to an online car seller.
If you are selling a financed car to an online buyer, the payoff can be delayed the same way it can at a dealer. Keep the buyer's written payoff confirmation until your lender shows a zero balance.
Only 56 car trade-in payoff complaints ended with money returned to the borrower
Of the 1,516 complaints, 56 (3.7%) closed with monetary relief and 120 (7.9%) closed with non-monetary relief. Non-monetary relief can include corrected credit reporting or a stopped collection.
If an unpaid old loan cost you late fees or damaged your credit, a complaint is more likely to fix the credit report than to get your money back. Keep the payoff letter and the dealer's buyer's order so you can document your own loss.
California's 206 car trade-in payoff complaints lead Florida's 157 and Texas's 142
Borrowers in California, Florida and Texas filed the most complaints about trade-in payoffs, followed by New York with 95 and New Jersey with 62. These counts are raw totals and reflect where more people live and buy cars.
The pattern shows this problem appears nationwide and is not limited to one state's dealers.
Car trade-in calculator: economy car estimates $2,771–$3,749 versus $7,619–$10,309 for luxury or truck
If your remaining loan balance is higher than the estimate for your segment, the dealer has to pay off more than the car is worth. That larger payoff is the handoff that borrowers in this data say went wrong. Check the exact payoff amount on the dealer's paperwork against your lender's payoff quote.
Car trade-in calculator: poor condition drops a 5-year-old mainstream car to $2,963–$4,009
If your car is in poor condition and still has a loan, the gap between its trade-in value and what you owe is widest. Get the payoff and negative-equity amounts written into the deal before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
How is car trade in value calculated?
The calculator uses the car's age, mileage, condition and segment, and the segment moves the number most. Borrowers who still had a loan filed 273 CFPB payoff complaints in 2026 through September 24, more than the 200 filed in all of 2025.
Sources
Data shown on this page
Terms: US government data, public domain.
Modeled: our estimate, not a quote.
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. Not independently checked: no established price guide publishes a general range for this exact job (looked 2026-10-03), so the default has no outside comparison. Methodology