Experts are warning that the US economy is teetering on the brink of a major financial crisis as the number of car repossessions rises and Americans struggle to afford their car finance payments
09:13 ET, 23 Oct 2025Updated 12:02 ET, 23 Oct 2025
Experts have warned what the next economic crisis could be(Image: Getty)
President Donald Trump boasted that he had “defeated” inflation and that the US economy was bouncing back to normality in a defiant statement earlier this year.
However, despite Trump’s claims, reality paints a different picture as Americans grapple with soaring prices and a potential looming financial crisis.
Over the past century, the United States has weathered several major financial storms including the 2008 financial crash and Great Recession, Black Monday in 1987, and the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Now, experts are sounding the alarm about another impending crisis for the US economy. This crisis revolves around the car lending market and a surge in car repossessions across the country as Americans default on their auto loan payments, a problem affecting millions and setting off warning signals on Wall Street. It comes as Americans are warned the government shutdown is set to wreck the holidays.
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There are concerns around the car finance market (stock)(Image: adamkaz via Getty Images)
Ignas Ryla, head of B2B Sales at used car parts company Ovoko, issued a stark warning in a statement to Mirror US: “Auto loan delinquencies have reached alarming levels, with overall 60+ day delinquency rates at 1.38% in Q1 2025, exceeding the 1.33% peak in 2009, and subprime delinquencies hitting a record 6.6%.”
He added: “1.73 million vehicles were repossessed in 2024, the highest number since the 2008 financial crisis, and Americans now owe $1.66 trillion in auto debt, with trends looking alarmingly similar to those before the Great Recession.
“The recent collapses of Tricolor and First Brands have exposed fraud and reckless lending, with major banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Fifth Third, set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The average new car price has topped $50,000 for the first time, 20% of newly originated car notes are over $1,000 monthly, and Gen Zers have the highest delinquency rate at 7.5%.”
President Donald Trump(Image: Getty)
These worries have been shared by Carl Hazeley, CEO of financial information platform Finimize, who warned that the issue was reaching Great Recession levels of severity and cautioned we could be witnessing the beginning of a ‘cascading’ impact on the US economy, reports the Express.
Carl said: “Car finance defaults are worth watching closely. Auto loan delinquencies are approaching Great Recession levels, with nearly 5% of loans currently delinquent and subprime delinquencies at 6.43%.
“What makes this particularly concerning is the cascade effect. Losing access to a car can mean losing your job, your ability to get your kids to school, or access to healthcare.
“And right now, Americans are being rejected for auto loans at the highest rates since 2013, with expected rejection rates at 33.5%.The warning signs are there in the data.”
But vehicle financing payments and defaults aren’t the only economic troubles causing panic on Wall Street as Trump‘s intensifying trade war with China threatens to shake up the US and global economies while he vows to add on additional tariffs, according to the Telegraph.
The expectation is that a middle ground can be found between Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea next week.