Analysis compiled by Edmunds.com of used-vehicle financing activity during the second quarter at franchised dealerships turned up more evidence of the fuel igniting record-setting growth.

According to the site’s latest Used Vehicle Market Report, the average amount financed moved 3 percent higher year-over-year to $20,732.

“Loan terms are growing to offset higher prices but for the first time since pre-recession we are seeing average APRs creep higher,” Edmunds.com said about the average APR, which came in at 7.7 percent.

“While nearly 60 percent of used buyers financing their vehicle obtained an APR of 5 percent of lower, many buyers have APRs in excess of 10 percent,” the site continued in its reported, which also mentioned the average used-vehicle retail prices hit a record high in Q2.

Edmunds also pointed out that the average term for a used-vehicle installment contract originated at the franchised store during the second quarter climbed to 66.2 months, extending an upward march that began in 2009.

Beyond the rising retail prices, Edmunds.com director of industry analysis Jessica Caldwell told SubPrime Auto Finance News during a phone conversation on Friday that another elements is pushing the APR average higher.

“My feeling is some of the folks in the subprime market are driving up the averages,” Caldwell said. “It is a law of averages because the majority are paying a lower interest rate. But for every person who is getting a 2 percent APR, there is someone paying 25 percent. It definitely affects the averages.”

All of that used-vehicle activity at franchised dealerships — subprime or not — helped to push the industry to a new record in Q2.

According to the New York Federal Reserve’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data, auto loan originations reached a 10-year high in the second quarter at $119 billion, supporting a $38 billion increase in the aggregate auto loan balance.

That balance is now above $1 trillion, which Equifax deputy chief economist Dennis Carlson discussed with SubPrime Auto Finance News in more detail.

More discussion about how the subprime slice of the auto finance market is behaving is on tap for the SubPrime Forum, which is a part of Used Car Week. Analysts and experts from the leading data and compliance providers are set to be a part of the event, which runs from Nov. 16-20 at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Ariz.

For more details, go to www.usedcarweek.biz.