Math Modeling Buying a Car Project Name Period For this project, you will research the process of buying a vehicle. You will have two class periods to work on this project. The final project is due on 4/17 (A day) and 4/16 (B day), and it will count as a double quiz grade on your 5 th 6-weeks grade. Record the requested information about each vehicle below. All of your work must be shown to receive credit. If you need extra space to complete your calculations, show your work on a separate page, and attach it to this packet. 1. Pick two vehicles that you would like to own. One of them will be a sensible vehicle that is moderately priced and can get you from point A to point B. The other vehicle can be anything you want. For example, you can choose a Ford Focus and a Hummer H3. Make & model Year Make & model Year Price of vehicle (MSRP) (A) Price of vehicle (MSRP) 2. When you buy a car, you must pay sales taxes (6.25% of vehicle price) and a title fee ($33). Tax 6. 25% of (A) (B) Tax Title (C) Title Total vehicle cost (A+B+C) (D) Total vehicle cost 3. You will be financing these vehicles from the Anderson Credit Union. You will randomly select a down payment percentage, an APR, and the length of your loan. Use Auto Loan Calculator on bankrate.com and lines G, H, J to calculate monthly car payment. Down payment (%) (E) Down payment (%) Down payment ($) (D) of (E) Total amount to be financed (D- F) (F) Down payment ($) (G) APR (H) APR Total amount to be financed Length of loan (J) Length of loan Monthly car payment Monthly car payment
4. You will also need to budget your monthly/yearly expenses for the vehicles. You will not always find coupons, so shop wisely. 1. Insurance: You will need full insurance coverage since you are financing your vehicle from a financial institution. Visit http://money.msn.com/auto-insurance/auto-insurance-quotes.aspx to determine the annual cost of car insurance for each vehicle. (*NOTE-the given quote is for 6 months*) Annual cost Annual cost 2. Gas: a. Use Google Maps to estimate how many miles you will drive on a given week. Consider travel to/from home, work, and school as well as child care and running errands. b. Convert the weekly estimate you generate to a monthly figure. c. Given the current price of gas ($2.29/gallon) and the estimated MPG for each vehicle, budget your cost of gas per month. Weekly mileage (K) Monthly mileage (K*52)/12 (L) MPG (M) MPG Monthly cost (L/M)*$2.29 (N) Monthly cost 3. Up Keep: You will be having the usual scheduled maintenance performed for each vehicle. a. Most vehicles need to get oil changes every 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. b. Tires should be rotated every 6,000 miles. Based on the mileage you estimated, calculate the annual expenses for oil changes & tire rotations. Consider that more expensive vehicles may require premium products. # of oil changes needed # of oil changes needed Cost per oil change Annual oil change expense Cost per oil change Annual oil change expense # of tire rotations needed # of tire rotations needed Cost per tire rotation Annual tire rotation expense Cost per tire rotation Annual tire rotation expense 4. Unexpected Repairs: Sometimes your vehicle will need unexpected maintenance (flat tire, dead battery, etc.). Based on the expense of your vehicle s parts (more expensive vehicles may require premium products), estimate an annual allocation for unexpected repairs.
5. State fees: The state requires you to pay annual fees on your vehicle. a. State inspection costs $28.75 annually. b. Vehicle registration costs $64.25 annually. State inspection State inspection Vehicle registration Vehicle registration 5. Now that you have considered all the potential expenses of owning a car, estimate the monthly cost of having a car. Some of the expenses that you calculated above were annual costs, while others were monthly. If expenses were recorded annually, determine what the cost of that expense would be if it were spread out over 12 months. Record only monthly costs below to determine the total monthly cost of owning your vehicles. Car payment Car payment Insurance Gas Up keep Unexpected repairs State fees Total monthly cost Insurance Gas Up keep Unexpected repairs State fees Total monthly cost 6. After analyzing the total monthly cost of owning each vehicle and taking into account your salary, living expenses, and desired lifestyle, thoughtfully explain which car you will choose to buy and why. You must use a minimum of 4 complete sentences to respond.
7. You will be presenting the information that you have collected to the class (A day: 4/17; B day: 4/16). a. You must present your information visually. You may use a PowerPoint presentation, custom website, poster board, etc. Use your imagination! All of the steps you walked through on this worksheet must be present in the visual presentation, and the visual presentation must be done neatly. i. If you are using a visual presentation medium that needs to be accessed through a computer, you must email your visual presentation to your teacher by 7am on the project due date. 1. Teacher email addresses: a. Ms. Felux: suzanne.felux@austinisd.org b. Mr. Rangel: gabriel.rangel@austinisd.org b. You must be prepared thoughtfully discuss the information you gathered with your classmates. Each verbal presentation must be at least 3 minutes long. 8. You must turn in the following items on the date the project is due: a. Completed worksheet b. Presentation c. Rubric with self-assessment column completed
Criteria Section 1 Grading Rubric Maximum Point Value Self-Assessment (student fills out) Points Awarded (teacher fills out) Car #1 Car #2 Car #1 Car #2 Car #1 Car #2 Make & model 0.5 0.5 Year 0.5 0.5 Price of vehicle 1 1 Section 2 Tax 2 2 Title 0.5 Total vehicle cost 2 2 Section 3 Down payment (%) 0.5 Down payment ($) 2 2 Total amount to be financed 2 2 APR 0.5 Length of loan 0.5 Monthly Car Payments 2 2 Section 4.1 Annual insurance cost 1 1 Section 4.2 Weekly mileage 2 Monthly mileage 2 MPG 1 1 Monthly gas cost 2 2 Section 4.3 # of oil changes needed 2 Cost per oil change 1 1 Annual oil change expense 2 2 # of tire rotations needed 2 Cost per tire rotation 1 1 Annual tire rotation expense 2 2 Rubric is continued on reverse side
Criteria Grading Rubric Continued Maximum Point Value Self-Assessment (student fills out) Points Awarded (teacher fills out) Car #1 Car #2 Car #1 Car #2 Car #1 Car #2 Section 4.4 Annual unexpected repairs 2 2 Section 4.5 State inspection 0.5 Vehicle registration 0.5 Section 5 Car payment 1 1 Insurance 2 2 Gas 1 1 Up keep 2 2 Unexpected repairs 2 2 State fees 2 2 Total monthly cost 2 2 Section 6 Explanation 4 Section 7 Presentation Visual component - All information included 5 - Neatness 5 - Colorfulness 5 Verbal explanation - Well prepared & articulate 5 - Minimum of 3 minutes 3 Total 110