Nathalie Martin, University of New Mexico Law School, and Ozymandias Adams recently co-published their study of the automobile title loan industry in New Mexico in an article entitled Grand Theft Auto Loans: Repossession and Demographic Realities In Title Lending. If you ever needed a reason not to take out an automobile title loan, their study gives reasons enough.
[UPDATE (August 15, 2012): The repossession rate is high among cars purchased through “Buy Here, Pay Here” used-car dealerships too. The LA Times has run a series of articles on such dealerships.]
[UPDATE (September 30, 2012): Governor Brown signs two bills regulating “Buy Here, Pay Here” used-car dealerships.]
[UPDATE: (June 7, 2015): For more on automobile title loans in California see this LA Times article: “More title lenders are snagging unwary borrowers in cycle of debt.”