Nearly 20 percent of new vehicle loans in Q1 2026 topped $1,000 a month. All-time quarterly high.
I want to be direct about what that means at the desk. The customers sitting across from me at $1,000 a month are not comfortable. They qualified. They do not feel good about it. And they are not in a mental state where adding products to their payment is an easy conversation.
June 2, 2026 - 01:12
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Management keeps asking why…
Management keeps asking why backend penetration is down and I keep saying the same thing. You cannot walk a customer through a $1,000 a month payment and then hand them to me to add $80 more. The math is done in their head before they sit down. What nobody wants to admit is that sticker prices built on tariff cover and destination fee inflation are eating the margin that used to live in F&I. We are competing for the same dollars and the front end is winning by default because the deal is already stretched before I see it.
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