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, 110 miles per week to commute to work. With gas prices currently at $ 2.05 per gallon, he is considering buying a more fuel-efficient car, and wants to know if it would be a good financial decision.



The old car Manny owns currently gets 17 miles per gallon for average fuel efficiency. It has been a great vehicle, but with its age, it needs repairs and maintenance that average $ 870 per year (as long as nothing serious goes wrong).



The newer, more fuel-efficient car that he is looking at to purchase will cost a total of $ 8,000 over a three-year loan process. This car gets 32 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 cost for each scenario over three years. He decides to use the quantitative reasoning process to do this.