DBRS Finalizes Provisional Ratings on Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust 2018-1

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) finalized its provisional ratings on the following Series 2018-1 notes issued by Exeter Automobile Receivables Trust 2018-1 (the Issuer):

-- $261,640,000 Class A Notes rated AAA (sf)
-- $86,240,000 Class B Notes rated AA (sf)
-- $81,020,000 Class C Notes rated A (sf)
-- $92,060,000 Class D Notes rated BBB (sf)
-- $29,040,000 Class E Notes rated BB (sf)

The ratings are based on a review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:

-- Transaction capital structure, proposed ratings and form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement. The transaction benefits from credit enhancement in the form of overcollateralization, subordination, amounts held in the reserve fund and excess spread. Credit enhancement levels are sufficient to support DBRS-projected expected cumulative net loss assumptions under various stress scenarios.
-- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash flow assumptions and repay investors according to the terms under which they have invested. For this transaction, the ratings address the timely payment of interest on a monthly basis and principal by the legal final maturity date.
-- Exeter Finance LLC’s (Exeter) capabilities with regard to originations, underwriting, servicing and ownership by The Blackstone Group L.P.; Navigation Capital Partners, Inc.; and Goldman Sachs Vintage Fund.
-- DBRS has performed an operational review of Exeter and considers the entity to be an acceptable originator and servicer of subprime automobile loan contracts with an acceptable backup servicer.
-- Exeter’s senior management team has considerable experience and a successful track record within the auto finance industry.
-- The credit quality of the collateral and performance of Exeter’s auto loan portfolio.
-- A third-party entity that is unaffiliated with Exeter purchased a pool of automobile loan contracts from Exeter and is subsequently selling certain of those contracts to EFCAR LLC, the depositor, to be included as collateral in the transaction.
-- The legal structure and presence of legal opinions that address the true sale of the assets to the Issuer, the non-consolidation of the special-purpose vehicle with Exeter, that the trust has a valid first-priority security interest in the assets and the consistency with the DBRS methodology “Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance.”

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology is Rating U.S. Retail Auto Loan Securitizations, which can be found on dbrs.com under Methodologies.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities.

Please see the attached appendix for additional information regarding the sensitivity of assumptions used in the rating process.

The full report providing additional analytical detail is available by clicking on the link under Related Documents below or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.