Southerners load up on car loan debt

Giant trucks are costly.

That's about exactly what I owe on my car. In Shreveport.

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I also see quite a few range rovers, mercedes and jaguars driven by people who... let's just say... don't look like they can necessarily afford them in my great hometown of Shreveport.

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To be fair- there are a lot of new millionaires in the area after the Haynseville, and not many of them bought new Armani suits to go with their jags. There are probably also a lot of 10-15 year loans on some Chrysler 300's.

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1. Most places in the South don't have the trains etc to move around like you do in Chicago etc.

2. We have places to park.

3. Culturally, men like big trucks and hoes want to ride in them and ride the little dick the driver has.

4. People tend to live beyond their means anyway.

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also a new car is a more sensible purchase in the south. they hold their value better when they don't have to drive through the salt and snow every winter.

I would think that most trucks in Shreveport that are purchased for O/G related fields are bought outright from dealerships. Also most of the people that I know that own nice vehicles, either pay cash or pay off in a year or so. Again, I see alot of really nice cars driven by people that can't afford them. I would venture to say that there is a high repo rate on vehicles in Shreveport too.

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4. People tend to live beyond their means anyway.

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Well Dallas should be number #1 then.

Haynesville Shale at your service. I don't know why, but lots of guys in the oil field love large trucks (guess that's from using them at work) and have them for personal autos. Also lots of 30-40K SUV's/miniSUV's in the area.


I love my paid for 2007 Chevy Silverado. 105,000 miles with another 150,000 to go before I do a new one.

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much better uses of capital

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Yep, a lot of 0% financing options.