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With record high used car values and low interest rates, it’s still a great time to refinance your auto loan.
The monthly Auto Refinance Rate Report is an analysis of anonymized completed auto refinance applications and funded (closed) loans in our network of more than 150 lenders nationwide.
● The current average auto refinance interest rate slightly inched upward (+0.02%) but is still really low at 5.36%.
● The average monthly auto refinance savings reached $103.79, second to July’s record high ($103.93).
● As used car values have skyrocketed, retail loan-to-value ratios have dropped to a new record low: 97%.
Here’s the Auto Refinance Rate Report for November 2021.
Current average interest rate
📝 The current average auto refinance interest rate is 5.36%. This is an average across all loan terms (36 to 72 months) and all credit profiles for loans approved in the RateGenius network over the last 30 days.
Across all credit tiers, auto refinance interest rates are still near record lows. Borrowers with Excellent (750+) and Good (700-749) credit scores can secure rates 3.00% and below for most loan terms. The exception is a 48-month loan for borrowers with Good credit which has a current average interest rate of 3.99%.
Borrowers with Fair (640-699) and Poor (<640) credit scores can still take advantage of rates to reduce the amount of interest paid on their loans. The average loan average rates for Poor credit are under 9.00% while Fair credit borrowers are averaging 5.68% and 5.67% for 60- and 72-month loan terms, respectively.
As used car prices continue to rise, the chances of getting approved for a loan also increase — making November another great month to refinance.
If used car prices go up because they’ve increased in value, that means your car’s value has also gone up. And if your car’s value has gone up, that means a very important factor, your loan-to-value ratio, has gone down.
During the refinance process (specifically the bookout), your lender will calculate the value of your vehicle and compare it to how much you owe on your car loan. If your loan-to-value ratio, or LTV, is over 100%, that means you owe more on your car than it’s worth.
Learn More: Your Loan-To-Value Ratio and Car Loan Refinancing
However, used car values are currently high which means your LTV will be lower (and better). A lower LTV may increase the odds of getting approved for auto loan refinancing and could even get you a more favorable interest rate too.
Our report on the impact of used car values on auto loan refinancing applications found a 66% increase in auto refinance loan approvals when the Manheim Used Car Vehicle Index reached the then-record high of 203. Well, both September and October have beat that record. The index reached 204.8 in September and 223.7 in October (😲).
📝 The average overall auto refinance interest rate in October was 5.37% across all customers approved for refinancing. Among borrowers who completed the auto refinance process, the average auto refinance savings was $103.79 per month, and the average auto loan balance refinanced was $24,760.
Interest rates stayed about the same across all credit tiers. The overall average interest rate slightly dipped in October to 5.37% (-0.01%). Borrowers in the Fair credit range saw the biggest decline, from 5.85% to 5.74%.
All credit ranges — except Poor — saw an increase in the average monthly savings. Borrowers with Poor credit saw a drop from $108.30 to $102.18 from September to October. Average monthly savings for borrowers with Excellent credit were the highest this year at $93.02.
The average auto loan balance refinanced has been steadily increasing throughout 2021. October’s overall average, $24,760, is the highest this year.
RateGenius analyzed data on customer applications for auto loan refinancing made between January 1, 2021 and November 14, 2021. This dataset included thousands of anonymized completed auto loan refinance applications. We examined annual savings, changes in interest rates, auto loan debt, and application volume, broken down by credit tier and/or loan term. Savings and interest rate averages are based on approved loans across all loan terms, 36 to 72 months.
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