Cook did the math, made a pros and cons list, and bought a new car. Courtesy Greg CookHis car — the monthly payment, the fast-rising insurance, fuel and maintenance costs — takes up a 30% share of his monthly budget. And buying a car is no cakewalk either: Credit is increasingly harder to come by and rejection rates are spiking. Instead, consumers have been presented with a higher bar, including requirements for a heftier down payment and a higher credit score, he said. More restrictive lending typically equates to approval rates going down and rejection rates rising.

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Persons: Greg Cook’s, he’d, I’ve, ”, Cook, Greg Cook, “, Jeremy Robb, “ Everyone’s, Robb, David Paul Morris, they’re, repossessions Organizations: CNN, Cox Automotive, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Federal, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: Oregon, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Richmond , California