Perhaps the tightening of underwriting is leading to stabilization of delinquencies on the cusp of repossession as well as a bit of an improvement among those contracts that are behind but could possibly be brought back current.

The newest State of the Automotive Finance Market Report from Experian Automotive indicated the percentage of 30-day delinquencies has dropped 3.1 percent to 1.90 percent in the first quarter, while 60-day delinquencies have remained flat at 0.67 percent.

“Traditionally, lenders’ risk tolerance has swung back and forth like a pendulum, and right now we’re seeing a more risk-averse side,” said Melinda Zabritski, Experian's senior director of automotive financial solutions

“But if payments continue to improve, we could see credit standards loosen,” Zabritski continued. “The more insight lenders have into consumer credit behavior, the better decisions they can make.”

Drilling deeper into the Experian data at 60-day delinquencies, what analysts classify as finance companies — providers oftentimes with the most subprime paper in their portfolios — posted a delinquency rate more than double the overall Q1 reading at 1.60 percent. However, that figure is just 5 basis points higher year-over-year.

When looking by state at 60-day delinquency, the Top 10 locations continue to be areas likely familiar to auto finance institutions, forwarding companies, repossession agents and other service providers. Experian reported these Q1 figures:

1. Maryland: 1.33 percent
2. Mississippi: 1.22 percent
3. Louisiana: 1.11 percent
4. South Carolina: 0.95 percent
5. Alabama: 0.90 percent
6. Georgia: 0.89 percent
7. New Mexico: 0.80 percent
8. Texas: 0.78 percent
9. North Carolina: 0.77 percent
10. Nevada: 0.76 percent