Hawai'i's economic downturn is driving up auto loan deficiencies, with the state's 30-day delinquencies rising faster on a percentage basis than all but two other states.

A new study on vehicle loans from Experian Automotive shows 2.77 percent of automobile loans here were 30 days past due during the second quarter of 2009.

That was about one-third higher than a year earlier. Only Idaho and Montana had bigger increases.

Nationally, 30-day delinquencies rose by 14.6 percent, or about half the rate found in Hawai'i. Experian traced the higher loan defaults to the weak economy and consumers having a tougher time.

"Challenging economic times continue to take a toll on the automotive finance world," said Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive, a Experian plc, one of the largest credit bureaus.

"As the recession continued to drag on during the second quarter, the rate of delinquency rose much faster from the first to the second quarter than it did the previous year."

"This caused lenders to tighten criteria and push some consumers out of the new vehicle market."

Local consumers' financial difficulties aren't news to Hawai'i automobile dealers, who have seen sales plummet as the state's economy sank into a recession and unemployment rose to highs not seen in three decades.

Before the Cash for Clunkers campaign, a forecast done for the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association projected sales would sink to their lowest level in at least two decades.

The July forecast said retail sales of new vehicles would drop by 22.4 percent to 33,227 this year, down from 42,804 last year.

Since that time, there was a pleasant surprise for dealers from the mid-summer Cash for Clunkers program, with more than 1,600 vehicles being sold here through the program.

Moreover, Hawai'i's 30-day delinquency rate also was below the national average of 3.06 percent.