This unemployed Texas man pays $1,200/month for his $56,000 car, has $94,000 in total debt — and blames it all on a weird ‘dynamic’ with mother-in-law. Dave Ramsey blasts him for it

The auto loan crisis

The rising cost of cars, along with rising interest rates, have created a double-whammy for the average American family’s transportation costs in recent years. As of January, 2025, the average new car price is $49,740, according to CarEdge. Meanwhile, the average auto loan interest rate is 6.84% for new cars, according to Edmunds.

Families are also increasingly burdened by the service costs associated with their vehicles. On average, American drivers spend 20% of their income on car-related expenses, while one in ten drivers spend more than 30%, according to Marketwatch Guides. Meanwhile, Edmunds reports that 4.2% of drivers are paying more than $1,000 in monthly car payments.

These numbers suggest that Emmanuel’s situation isn’t unique, but rather increasingly normal. However, his unemployment and the fact that he’s raising two young children makes this debt burden much more concerning.

Only 1.38% of auto loans are expected to be delinquent in 2025, according to TransUnion, but without a new source of income or adjustments to his debt burden, Emmanuel could easily become part of this tiny cohort.

Ramsey offered some blunt advice to help him course correct.

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Immediate action

Although Ramsey and Warshaw acknowledge Emmanuel’s need for freedom and personal boundaries with his mother-in-law, they both agree that an expensive, unaffordable car is not the best solution. Taking on this debt, despite his financial situation, was also a reckless and “stupid decision,” according to Ramsey.

"You have to get out of this immediately," Warshaw told Emmanuel. “You're going to have to sit down and go, ‘okay, what did I do? I'm the one that said yeah, I'll sign my name right here.’ That's the truth, you're the one who signed for the car so you're responsible for it.”

With that perspective in mind, Ramsey and Warshaw encourage Emmanuel to sell the car immediately, pay off the auto loan and purchase another vehicle that’s significantly cheaper and within his budget. Additionally, a new job or side gig to boost income could help Emmanuel tackle the rest of his debt burden and further stabilize his finances.

Roughly 16% of car drivers who said they could no longer afford their vehicles got a side job to manage the expense, according to MarketWatch Guides.