{"podcast":{"title":"The Auto Finance Roadmap","slug":"the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365","podcast_index_feed_id":1123365,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-auto-finance-roadmap","website_url":"http://autofinancenews.net","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/yiV8BCcUEz3JjrPugs70ZQsOdVOel50r_ptmFlGjEM8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzM5MTcvMTY4ODY1/ODM4OC1hcnR3b3Jr/LmpwZw.jpg","author":"Auto Finance News","episode_count":328,"summary":"Auto Finance News is pleased to present The Roadmap, the podcast on best practices and trending topics in automotive lending and leasing. If you are in auto finance, this is your podcast. Auto Finance News, published by Royal Media, is the flagship publication for the auto finance industry. Published since 1996, Auto Finance News is the nation’s leading source for news, insights and analysis on automotive lending and leasing. Auto Finance News offers a Premium subscription service, which includes a monthly newsletter, a weekly email Update, exclusive event discounts, and much more. The Auto Finance News Premium subscription provides its subscribers with valuable data and exclusive market knowledge. Subscribe now to the News That Drives The Industry at https://www.autofinancenews.net/subscribe/. Auto Finance News produces the following leading industry events: the Auto Finance Innovation Summit, the Auto Finance Risk Summit, and the Auto Finance Summit, the industry’s premier event.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T10:18:20.761179+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365"},"episode":{"title":"Drivers underestimate annual car ownership costs with Synchrony’s Keith Mait","slug":"drivers-underestimate-annual-car-ownership-costs-with-synchrony-s-keith-mait","published_at":"2026-02-24T18:20:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365/drivers-underestimate-annual-car-ownership-costs-with-synchrony-s-keith-mait","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/83f5859d","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/83f5859d/d5a5c5eb.mp3","summary":"Drivers underestimate the cost of owning a vehicle by nearly $4,500 a year, underscoring mounting affordability pressures across the auto market. There is a growing disconnect between consumer expectations and the rising expenses tied to maintenance, repairs, insurance and everyday vehicle use, Keith Mait, senior vice president and general manager of Synchrony Financial’s auto business, told Auto Finance News during a special episode of the “Weekly Wrap” podcast. That was among results of the lender’s survey, released Feb. 17, that polled 1,030 U.S. adults responsible for a vehicle’s upkeep via the Ask Suzy online platform. “We see it every day in the average order values, or the transaction sizes, that find their way onto our cards. They haven’t gotten smaller,” he said. “Over the last four or five years, we’ve seen continuous incline in the average transaction values, both the first time somebody engages with us and on the repeat side.” Evaluating affordability As consumers grapple with elevated new-vehicle prices, many buyers opt for used vehicles, extend lease terms or hold on to their cars longer, Mait said. While today’s vehicles last longer, they also feature more advanced technology, sensors and specialized components that can drive up repair costs, he said. “When we try to evaluate consumer affordability vis-a-vis how they want their mobility to occur, it leads you to believe that they expect better quality,” Mait said. “They expect more for their dollars and they expect to have these vehicles for a long time, so making sure that they’re operating properly comes with [a] cost.” In this episode of “Weekly Wrap,” Auto Finance News Deputy Editor Johnnie Martinez II discusses trends affecting today’s car buyers with Mait.","meta_description":"Drivers underestimate the cost of owning a vehicle by nearly $4,500 a year, underscoring mounting affordability pressures across the auto market. There is…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1494,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365/episodes/drivers-underestimate-annual-car-ownership-costs-with-synchrony-s-keith-mait/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-auto-finance-roadmap-1123365/drivers-underestimate-annual-car-ownership-costs-with-synchrony-s-keith-mait.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}