This is generally not true. Most loans were structured to have a down payment (meaning that you still had equity in the deal) and to amortize faster than the ca

This is generally not true. Most loans were structured to have a down payment (meaning that you still had equity in the deal) and to amortize faster than the car depreciated, so you were never underwater. Only recently have we started financing cars the way we financed houses in the 2000s, and mobile homes in the 1990s etc etc.