Car payments just hit a record $787 a month—and 1 in 4 new-car buyers is now signing a 7-year loan

American drivers face a daunting market. The average monthly payment on a financed new car hit a record $787 in the third quarter, according to Edmunds, up from $777 in the second quarter and $756 a year earlier. Buyers are also borrowing more than ever. The average amount financed climbed to a record $44,664, while the average new vehicle sold for $50,562 in September, per Kelley Blue Book, just $52 shy of the all-time high. Nationwide, auto loan balances reached $1.71 trillion in the second quarter, according to the New York Fed, roughly 56% more than a decade earlier. For Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst at Edmunds, the math is brutally simple: Vehicle prices sit near record…