Free Republic

Auto payment defaults doubled last year and are expected to get worse. It is another financial meltdown waiting to happen similar to the crisis in the home mortgage industry, according to one consumer group. A CBS 5 ConsumerWatch investigation has found consumers locked into cars they cannot afford. According to Power Information Network, 1.85 of the 9.6 million customers in 2006 who leased or financed a new car were subprime borrowers or consumers with weak credit. Vivian Snyder has strong credit and is not classified as subprime, but she is one of many consumers who can't afford the car she...

Auto lenders refuse to put the brakes on risky loans, even as subprime mortgage lenders are skidding off the road. Mortgage lenders are spinning their wheels as more and more borrowers with weak credit are unable to make payments now that their adjustable rates have reset. This has made it difficult for the lenders to unload new mortgages on investors, bringing their businesses to a standstill. In the case of auto lenders, rate resets aren't the problem -- the rates on most auto loans are fixed. But the terms of these loans are getting longer as consumers stretch to buy...