Generally, a good APR for a car loan might look something like this: Excellent Credit (750+): 3% or lower for new cars, 4% or lower for used cars. Good Credit (700-749): 4-5% for new cars, 5-6% for used cars. Fair Credit (650-699): 6-7% for new cars, 7-8% for used cars.
A high Annual Percentage Yield (APY) means your money grows faster. With a 5% APY, your savings will increase more quickly compared to lower-rate accounts. For example, if you deposit $10,000, you could earn about $500 in interest over a year. This is much better than accounts with 0.5% or 1% APY.
The average ranges from 3% to 4.5% for new cars—partly because new car buyers tend to have better-than-average credit. But the average used car loan interest rate is significantly higher, at roughly 8.5%. You may receive a different offer depending on your credit score and the lender.
Car Loan APRs by Credit Score
Excellent (750 - 850): 2.96 percent for new, 3.68 percent for used. Good (700 - 749): 4.03 percent for new, 5.53 percent for used. Fair (650 - 699): 6.75 percent for new, 10.33 percent for used. Poor (450 - 649): 12.84 percent for new, 20.43 percent for used.
A high APR for a credit card is one that's above the national average. Currently, the average APR is around 25%, so an APR that exceeds that is considered high.
There is no set federal maximum, although some states do set caps. According to data from Experian, average rates range from 5.38 percent to 21.57 percent, depending on credit and vehicle type. And these are just averages — individual lenders may charge max rates of 30 percent or more.
Suppose you invest $5,000 in a five-year CD paying 5% per year, with no compounding, and you make no additional contributions along the way. You would earn $250 per year, and your $5,000 would become $6,250.
According to a Federal Reserve report (PDF) , the average credit card Annual Percentage Rate (APR) was 14.75 percent in February 2021. Generally speaking, any interest rate below that figure would be considered “good."
A high-yielding property can come at the cost of little capital growth or increased risk depending on the circumstances. A good gross rental yield has traditionally been anything between 5% - 8%.
Savings accounts that offer 5% interest are not common historically. The reason rates are so high right now is because of monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve to combat rising inflation. Between March 2022 and July 2023, the Fed raised the federal funds rate 11 times, causing deposit rates to skyrocket.
5% as a decimal is 0.05 per year. 0.05/12 = 0.00417 per month.
A good APR on a 72-month loan is currently a rate that's at or below 6.86% if you're buying new and 12.80% if you're buying used, according to Experian Automotive.
NerdWallet recommends spending no more than 10% of your take-home pay on your monthly auto loan payment. So if your after-tax pay each month is $3,000, you could afford a $300 car payment. Check if you can really afford the payment by depositing that amount into a savings account for a few months.
Yes, just like the price of the vehicle, the interest rate is negotiable.
If you're unhappy with your credit card's annual percentage rate (APR), securing a lower one may be as simple as asking your credit card issuer. The issuer may decline your request, but it never hurts to ask.
Avoid loans with APRs higher than 10% (if possible)
"That is, effectively, borrowing money at a lower rate than you're able to make on that money."
How much is 26.99 APR on $3,000? An APR of 26.99% on a $3,000 balance would cost $67.26 in monthly interest charges.
According to the Service Quality Measurement (SQM) Group , the industry standard for a good FCR rate falls between 70 and 79 percent, which means about 30 percent of tickets take more than one interaction to resolve.
Reduces risk of negative equity
As vehicles tend to depreciate over time, your loan balance could potentially become higher than your car's value. This is known as having negative equity or being underwater on your loan. Paying your loan off earlier could reduce the risk of negative equity.
For used vehicles, the average interest rate can range from 7.13% APR with Super Prime to 21.55% for Deep Subprime. If you can get a rate under 6% for a used car, this is likely to be considered a good APR.
A high interest rate on a car loan is one that's above the national average. In the second quarter of 2024, the average rate was 6.84% for new cars and 12.01% for used cars, according to Experian's State of the Automotive Finance Market report.