Servicemembers Pay Higher Rates, Borrow More, and Put Less Down on Auto Loans, CFPB Report Finds

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a report on April 17, 2026, showing that U.S. servicemembers pay higher interest rates, finance larger amounts, make smaller down payments, and carry greater financial risk than civilian borrowers when purchasing vehicles. The report covers auto loans originated between 2018 and 2022.

For new vehicles, servicemembers borrowed an average of $39,000 — more than $2,200 above the civilian average — while putting down about $1,100 less. For used vehicles, military borrowers financed an average of $27,500, nearly $400 more than civilians. Servicemembers also faced average APRs 0.6 percentage points above civilian rates and longer loan terms, pushing their average monthly payment on new vehicles to $644, roughly $20 more per month than civilians pay and nearly $1,300 more over the life of the loan.

Add-on products compound the disparity. More than 70% of servicemembers purchased add-on products and paid on average about $140 more for them than civilians did. Warranty, service, and maintenance plans were the most common and expensive category. GAP products ranked second, and the CFPB noted that servicemembers' purchase of GAP products increased sharply in 2020 after the Department of Defense changed its interpretation of the Military Lending Act.

The bureau attributed part of the vulnerability to structural factors: servicemembers are often required to own a personal vehicle to fulfill military obligations, may be young and far from family support networks, and may be especially vulnerable to overreaching lending practices and have fewer resources to draw upon.

The report is part of a broader pattern of CFPB enforcement and research focused on military borrowers. The bureau noted that it recently ordered Navy Federal Credit Union to refund over $95 million in illegal overdraft fees charged to servicemembers, veterans, and their families, and took action against FirstCash and MoneyLion for charging servicemembers illegal and high interest in violation of the Military Lending Act. Separate CFPB research found that Reserve and National Guard members were forgoing an estimated $9 million annually by not receiving the interest rate reduction benefit provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The CFPB also proposed a rule to protect servicemembers and other Americans from data brokers selling their sensitive personal information to scammers, stalkers, and foreign surveillance operations.