A record 7 million Americans are 90 days behind on their car payments

New Ford vehicles.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A record number of Americans are three months behind on their car payments, leaving economists surprised — and concerned.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a new report on Tuesday that shows seven million Americans are at least 90 days late on their car payments. Most of those seven million people are 30 or younger with low credit scores. Defaults are highest among "subprime" borrowers, who have credit scores of 620 or lower and usually have interest rates between 14.5 and 20 percent on their loans.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.