Auto finance is at a breaking point, as Americans owe over $1.66 trillion in auto debt. Delinquencies, defaults, and repossessions have shot up in recent years and look alarmingly similar to trends that were apparent before the Great Recession. Cars are more expensive than ever, due in part to economic factors, but also due to the fraught experience of buying and financing a car. Dealers and lenders have long engaged in deceptive and predatory practices that jack up prices for car buyers in order to line their pockets. This auto finance crisis is happening just as our nation’s federal watchdogs–the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – have taken significant steps back from oversight and enforcement of predatory practices in the auto market.

Americans are facing a cost of living crisis, and the burden of auto debt is becoming more urgent every day. It is time for policymakers to reexamine the marketplace and root out exploitative conduct that makes buying a car even more expensive and defaulting on a car loan even more dangerous.