R.I. has highest auto loan rates, fourth-highest driver costs

RHODE ISLAND HAS the highest auto loan rates in the country and is the fourth most expensive state to operate a car, according to two separate studies. / COURTESY GOBANKINGRATES.COM
RHODE ISLAND HAS the highest auto loan rates in the country and is the fourth most expensive state to operate a car, according to two separate studies. / COURTESY GOBANKINGRATES.COM

NEW YORK – Rhode Island is the fourth-most expensive state to operate a motor vehicle in, according to a Bankrate.com report released Wednesday.

The typical Ocean State driver spends $3,913 per year in gas, insurance, repairs, taxes and fees, Bankrate.com found. That was well above the national average of $3,201.

Georgia was the most expensive state, at $4,233 per year, and Oregon was the least expensive, at $2,204. California, at $3,966, and Wyoming, at $3,938, were the only other states more expensive than Rhode Island according to the report. At $3,886, Nevada rounded out the top five most expensive states to operate a car.

Massachusetts came in at No. 8 on the list, with an average annual cost of $3,625, followed by Maine and Connecticut at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively, with costs of $3,502 and $3,485. Vermont ranked 35th on the list, at $2,954, and New Hampshire rounded out the New England states’ showing, at No. 40, with $2,826 per year in costs.

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In a separate study, Rhode Island had the highest auto loan rates in the country. GoBankingRates.com found the average interest rate for a car loan in Rhode Island was 5.11 percent, compared with an average of 3.65 percent nationwide. The lowest average rate in the country was Michigan’s, at 3.03 percent.

Massachusetts and Connecticut also had some of the highest average auto loan rates, at 4.21 percent and 4.82 percent, respectively. Maine’s average rate was 3.69 percent and Vermont’s was 3.17 percent. New Hampshire had the lowest in the region at 3.08 percent.

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