But some credit unions have decided they've committed too much of their assets to auto loans, they are earning too little, and/or they have decided that members would be better served by offering other products.

Among these is Seattle's Salal Credit Union ($523.1 million in assets, 36,411 members). It tired of indirect auto loans about four years ago. In fact, it tired of auto loans, in general.

Salal had $89 million in car loans at the end of 2011, representing 38% of its $231.9 million in total loans. Three years later auto loans had shrunk to $50.8 million, representing 18% of its total loan portfolio. By Sept. 30, Salal's auto loans stood at $32.2 million, representing just under 8% of $411.8 million in total loans.

Just looking at NCUA reports, indirect loans still show up as 36% of total loans. Who's borrowing that $146.9 million?

Not car buyers, according to Sheryl Kirchmeier, Salal's SVP and chief marketing officer.

"We have many, many more compelling offerings," she said. "We just try to find those niches where others are not."

Salal members are more compelled to seek their credit union's help to soak in a hot tub, heat their water with the sun or grow marijuana.

For example, Salal has a program called Dealer Direct, which is an indirect loan program that focuses on companies selling hot tubs, solar panels and other major home improvements.

On Salal's website, it tells potential dealers they can close more sales, get fast credit decisions, increase average sale amounts, and "shift the focus from total ticket price and sell on low monthly payments."

For customers, they can pay rates with APRs as low as 7.99%, and borrow $1,000 to $75,000 on loans of up to 144 months.

"Dealer Direct lending has really escalated for us," Kirchmeier said. "The loans are generally a much higher rate and the defaults are a much lower rate."

Salal also started a small business services operation in 2012. "We are one of the few that will open accounts and lend to the cannabis industry," she said.

Salal members tend to be older and more affluent. Many have the sterling credit histories that qualify for the lowest rates in the market. Some still want to borrow through their credit union, and, for that reason, Salal obliges.

On its web page, its featured links are for mortgages, home equity lines and credit card transfers. To find its car loans, a visitor has to click on the "Personal" option at the top, then on "Personal Loans" before finding a link to "Auto and Recreational Loans."

Rates in late January were 2.49% to 8.24% for new cars, and 2.99% to 9.49% on used cars based on creditworthiness, vehicle age and the term, which can be up to 84 months.

"It's a service we offer our members, but we're not actively out there trying to recruit members that way," she said.

Auto loans were probably almost 50% of Salal's portfolio at one time. It moved away from CUDL about three or four years ago after realizing that members arriving through the indirect program weren't part of Salal's target market.

"It's very difficult to make money in the auto lending business. The rates are much lower and the delinquencies are high," Kirchmeier said. "We began aggressively diversifying into other lines of business that provide more safety and soundness to the credit union than the auto lines could."

Consumers being reached through the Dealer Direct program are homeowners with good credit scores. And they have been supplying most of the credit union's new members, many of them homeowners outside Washington.

Kirchmeier of Salal spoke of auto lending with wistful nostalgia. "That was the bread and butter for credit unions for so long," she said. "In the longer term, look at what happens when self-driving cars come along."

In St. Louis, Gateway Metro Federal Credit Union ($179.5 million in assets, 15,804 members) is trying to increase its footprint in the metro area through better branch locations, higher visibility, better mobile banking options and greater mortgage lending.

Jay Lewis, Gateway Metro's president/CEO for the past two years, expects indirect auto lending will fade in importance. "There are multiple products we can offer that make your life a lot easier. It's not just that indirect loan."

Total car loans were $55.3 million on Sept. 30, down 4% from a year ago, while all other loans rose 13% to $66 million. Indirect loans fell 30% to $30.1 million. As a result, car loans have fallen from 50% of its total loan portfolio in September 2016 to 46% a year later. By the end of 2018, Lewis expects it will be close to 40%.

Only about 2% to 3% of indirect loan members open another account or take out another loan, Lewis said. "The consumer today looks for the best deal. They may have multiple accounts at multiple institutions because that's who was giving them the best deal that day."

About 80% of Gateway Metro's auto loans are originated indirectly. Most of its direct loans are refinancings for lower rates.

Park Community Credit Union in Louisville, Ky. ($866.2 million in assets, 89,431 members) has "dialed back" on indirect lending to focus on business lending and mortgages, Julia Aguilar, Park Community's vice president of lending, said.

"We can get a lot more interest income on those mortgages and MBLs, and they're less risky products," Aguilar said. "Auto rates are typically lower, and you're paying out your reserve to the dealer."

Plus, Park Community has been encountering higher delinquencies and charge-offs among its indirect loans. Auto loans made up half its total loans at the end of 2014. Two years later car loans had slipped to 42% of total loans.

By Sept. 30 last year, the auto loan portfolio at Park Community had shrunk to $248.2 million of its $683.1 million in total loans. That left it with auto loans making up 36% of its loan portfolio – almost matching the 35% average among federally-insured credit unions.

In the past 12 months, its car loan portfolio has been flat, while other loans grew 25%. Meanwhile, indirect loans fell 16% to $261.3 million.

"We didn't want to have all our eggs in one basket," Aguilar said. "It's obviously safer for our membership to have a more diverse portfolio, and it's better for us to be able to offer more products."

Some of its indirect loans are for motorcycles, recreational vehicles and boats, but the vast majority are for cars.

"We tend to lean heavier in used auto, even in indirect lending," she said. "By shrinking that portfolio, we've also been able to shrink the delinquency charge-offs."

Park Community has raised some rates, changed its dealer reserves and required lower loan-to-value ratios.

"We're watching our dealerships very closely. We've terminated some relationships over the past year just due to look-to-book percentages and delinquency charge-offs," Aguilar said. "We don't want to totally draw back from that business. We want to take it down as we grow other areas."

This year, Park Community will be trying to find ways to help members who arrive via indirect car loans to become tied more closely to the credit union, probably by trying to entice them with small loans. The current percentage of those members who open a checking account or take out another type of loan is "super low," Aguilar said.

"It's very hard to convert indirect members into true members," she said. "That's definitely a focus we have this year. I think it's the focus of a lot of credit unions to really try to capture and grow that business."

The Golden 1 in Sacramento, Calif. ($11.3 billion in assets, 902,074 members) remains committed to indirect lending. It held $4.4 billion in car loans on Sept. 30, making it the nation's third-largest credit union car lender.

Auto loans, fueled by indirect lending, have grown significantly at Golden 1, eclipsing other types of loans. Auto loans have grown at a 47% annual pace since the end of 2011, while all other loans in its portfolio grew 9% per year.

At the end of 2011, auto loans were 33% of total loans and indirect loans were 21%. Three years later, auto loans were 47% and indirect loans were 34% of total loans.

Over the previous 12 months, Golden 1′s portfolio of new car loans grew 29% to $2.6 billion while its used car loans grew 26% to $1.9 billion on Sept. 30. Indirect loans stood at $3.9 billion on Sept. 30, up 33% from a year ago and representing 47% of its $8.1 billion in total loans.

"It's good it's growing," Greg Brown, Golden 1′s chief lending officer, said. "It's a tough thing to do in the auto business."

But while Golden 1′s portfolio grew, originations fell from roughly $2 billion in 2016 to about $1.2 billion in 2017. This year Golden 1′s goal is to make $1.6 billion in auto loans.

Growth has been challenging because car sales, which "had been growing by leaps and bounds" in recent years since the Great Recession, have been growing at a slower pace.

An increase in loan delinquencies and charge-offs from autos, credit cards and other unsecured debt contributed to Golden 1 to raise its provision for loan losses from $6 million in 2016′s third quarter to $14.7 million in 2017′s. It was 0.52% of average assets for the three months ending Sept. 30, on par with its peers and the average for all credit unions.

"When you see delinquencies and charge-offs rise from certain vintages, you have to increase your loan loss reserve," Brown said. "That's what everybody's seeing and what everybody's doing. Everyone is saying, 'Let's slow the wagon down, adjust a few things and see where we're going.'"