Average new-vehicle transaction price passes $51,000

More than one-quarter of car buyers are now financing their vehicles for at least 84 months, according to Edmunds. That is seven years of payments for a purchase whose average new-vehicle transaction price has reached a record $51,109.

Kelley Blue Book, part of Cox Automotive, put the average $500 above the previous record set in December 2025. The figure covers what buyers actually paid for new vehicles, including options and features and after incentives such as dealer discounts. It includes everything from SUVs and pickups to electric vehicles, across brands including Toyota, Subaru, Tesla and Mercedes-Benz.

The number that matters: The average price rose 2.1% from a year earlier. Cox Automotive executive analyst Erin Keating said that is below inflation, and lower than the 3.4% average annual vehicle-price increase from 2012 through 2021. That is modest comfort when the starting point is already above $51,000.

The catch: The transaction-price figure does not include interest. Edmunds puts auto-loan rates at more than 7% for new cars and about 11% for used ones. In the latest quarter, buyers took out auto loans averaging $44,664, Edmunds found. Lower down payments and longer repayment terms can reduce the monthly bill, while making the total cost of the car considerably less friendly.

Why prices stayed high: Pandemic-era shortages, including a semiconductor crunch, meant fewer vehicles were built and automakers prioritized their more profitable models. That also left fewer used cars entering the market in the early 2020s. Cox Automotive says the average used vehicle now costs nearly $27,000, up 6% from a year earlier. Tariffs on steel, aluminum and Canadian imports, plus higher chip and copper costs, have added to automakers' expenses, NPR reported.

Buyers are also choosing bigger, better-equipped vehicles: Kelley Blue Book puts the average sticker price of a full-size pickup at nearly $72,000. The open question is whether more buyers keep accepting seven-year loans or start stepping away from the vehicles they cannot comfortably finance.