2025 isn’t a great year to finance a car. Cox Automotive reports the average new car transaction price is holding at over $48k. Meanwhile the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates high. As a result, 20% of new car buyers are blowing over $1,000 on their payment. Every single month. It’s a perfect storm. As a result, one in every five new car buyers is opting for an 84-month loan. Yup, they’re committing to the same car for seven years! One financial expert found a much better way, and claims he’s saved $100k.

Is a seven year car loan a bad idea?

The problem with a longterm car loan is that you’ll be paying it off for so long, you’ll pay a ton of interest. That’s money car buyers just give to the bank. And with current high interest rates, it adds up fast. So if you can afford to get your loan paid down sooner, it’ll cost you less in the long run.

Bumping up to a seven year loan just so you can get a higher trim level or a fancier vehicle is not a wise financial choice. You’ll end up throwing a lot of money away for those leather seats or V8 engine.

One major problem with a seven year loan is that your new vehicle may be pretty far into its wear cycle when you’ve finally paid it off. If you’ve put a lot of miles on it, you may just swap your car payments for high repair bills. If you live in the rust belt, your vehicle may soon be unrepairable. And if you toss it and get trapped in another, similar loan, you may wish you’d leased. On the other hand, car buyers who don’t drive many miles or expect vehicles to rust may be glad they’re building equity in their car.

One great option is a gently used vehicle, especially a compact sedan or crossover if it will fit your family. Some German and American vehicles have excellent durability. Others, not so much. Japanese automakers have the best overall reliability rankings. This is a huge generalization, but still a decent starting place. You can see the longest-lasting vehicles in the list below.

Can car buyers drive the same vehicle for seven years?

Yes, you absolutely can. If you’re smart about the vehicle you buy and you take care of it, seven years is not a long time to drive a car. Many cars built in the past decade are proving especially reliable, and with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, their infotainment will feel “modern” for years.

A Colorado-based financial expert named Jeremy Morris drove his Toyota Tacoma for 24 years. He calculates that he saved at least $100k in the process. No payments, no interest paid to banks. Just occasional repair bills, that totaled less than $1k a year. That’s a pretty sweet deal for car buyers.

The average car on the road is 12.5 years old. That’s older than any other time in history. Forty percent of the cars registered now are more than a decade old. The Tacoma is one of many great choices. The iSeeCars website listed the 30 cars most likely to last 250k miles, for car buyers to consider. Check them out in the table below: