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An estimated 3 million cars were repossessed in the US in 2025 — the highest number since 2009. Planet Money follows a repo agent on his nightly rounds and traces how pandemic-era car loans (low rates, high prices, loose standards) are now unwinding.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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Planet Money reveals that predatory auto lenders concentrate in neighborhoods with poor public transit — areas where owning a car isn't a luxury but a necessity for employment. The environmental absence of transportation alternatives makes consumers accept loan terms they'd otherwise reject.
Highlights
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The car repo crisis is a delayed consequence of pandemic-era lending — cheap money produced bad loans that are now defaulting
During COVID, auto lenders gave loans to anyone with a pulse: zero down payment, 84-month terms, to borrowers with sub-600 credit scores, for cars priced 40% above pre-pandemic levels. Three years later, those loans are defaulting at record rates.Was this useful?