If you follow the econ doom newa, you know that US Goobermint borrowing has gone Hockey stick, with something like $10T added in the last year essentially doubling the total debt.  This has resulted in the big banks which serve as dealers having to buy the debt themselves when they can't sell it to some other sucker.  This in turn has caused the UST yields to rise, now past 5%.  If it costs Da Goobermint 5% to borrow money, how much does it cost J6P to borrow money for his car?  A lot more, of course.  Banks make their money on the spread between those borrowing costs.

Interest rates for used cars are 13.5% on average for those with fair credit but can rocket up to around 21% for those with the worst credit, according to Bankrate.

15-20% is what you get with unsecured loans like Credit Cards. A car loan or home mortgage is securitized so should come cheaper since the bank can repo the car or foreclose on the mortgage if you miss a payment.

Not surprisingly, as the rates go up, more people go delinquent on the loan because they are usually adjustable rate and your payment, once $200/mo goes to $250 or $300.  Does this stop dumbass J6P from buying carz?  No, they keep buying at higher rates, leading to more delinquencies.  Eventually your subprime loans pop and it's time to bailout the banks.  Where does that money come from?  MOAR Goobermint borrowing.  So now, at long last Fitch, Moodies et al no longer give USTs AAA rating, its downgraded to AAA-.  It should be rated as Junk Bonds, except Da Fed can keep printing as long as they keep printing more USTs also and shoveling wheelbarrows of them at the Dealers to sell.  Round and round she goes, where she stops NOBODY seems to know.  Should have stopped in 2008 of course, but the Smartest Guys in the Room pulled a rabbit out of their Jockstraps and 15 years later it's still going round.  Can the Magicians of Money keep it going again this time?  We'll know soon methinks.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/10/21/americans-are-overdue-with-their-car-payments-at-highest-rate-in-nearly-30-years/?sh=38b68e9133d0

Americans Are Overdue With Their Car Payments At Highest Rate In Nearly 30 Years

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