In: Advanced Math
Keep the Old Car or Buy a Used Car
Manny is an online student who currently owns an older car that is
fully paid for. He drives, on average, 160 miles per week to
commute to work. With gas prices currently at $2.02 per gallon, he
is considering buying a used, fuel-efficient car, and wants to know
if it would be a good financial decision.
The old car Manny owns currently gets 15 miles per gallon for average fuel efficiency. It has been a great vehicle, but with its age, it needs repairs and maintenance that average $800 per year (as long as nothing serious goes wrong).
He is considering buying a newer used car that will cost a total of $7,500 over a three-year loan process. The used car gets 27 miles per gallon and would only require an average of $10 per month for general maintenance. To help make a decision Manny wants to calculate the total costs for each scenario over three years. He decides to use the Quantitative Reasoning Process to do this.
Find the total costs (gas, maintenance/repairs, purchase price) for each scenario over the three years.
Round your answers to the nearest dollar.
Scenario |
Total Cost for Three Years |
Keep the old car |
____________ |
Buy the fuel-efficient used car |
____________ |