NEW YORK -—Auto loan defaults didn't decline by the same month-over-month level in September as second mortgages or bank card loans, but Standard & Poor's and Experian found that vehicle contracts did reverse their two-month-old trend.

According to the most recent S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, auto loan defaults edged lower by 0.69 percent to an index reading of 2.04 percent. Back in June, the rate stood at 1.6 percent.

Looking at vehicle loans on a year-over-year comparison, the September decline registered at 13.29 percent.

Officials also discovered defaults on both second mortgages and bank-card loans dropped by double digits in September. For second mortgages, the reading went down to 2.13 percent, a decline of 10.83 percent. For bank card loans, the index mark slid to 7.04 percent, a 10.53-percent decrease.

First mortgages decreased, too, moving down to 3.01 percent. Officials determined that was a decline of 4.47 percent.

All told, the index's composite reading for September moved lower by 5.31 percent to 3.13 percent. That mark is 32.35 percent lower than a year ago.

Turning to a look at the latest index report by metropolitan area, the steepest month-over-month decline occurred in Los Angeles. S&P and Experian noted the city's index level finished at 3.48 percent, a mark 13.75 percent lower than August and 44.67 percent lower than last year at the same time.

Miami's reading was the highest among the five mentioned. It came in at 7.61 percent, down 9.13 percent from August and 40.30 percent from a year ago.

The others cities were:

—New York: 3.19 percent, down 5.23 percent from August and 31.97 percent from September 2009.

—Chicago: 3.56 percent, down 4.84 percent from August and 18.75 percent from September 2009.

—Dallas: 2.28 percent, down 9.83 percent from August and 33.33 percent from September 2009.

"The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices are showing declining default rates at the national level for all categories, including auto loan defaults which had risen over the previous two months," explained Craig Feldman, director at S&P Indices.

"All five of the highlighted cities are showing declines as well, with Miami and Los Angeles continuing to show the largest year-over-year drop in default rates, as has been the trend for the last three months," Feldman added.