Have you ever thought about owning your own car?
If you are like most teenagers, this thought has crossed your mind almost
on a daily basis. Do you dream
about what kind of car it is or what color it is?
But how are you going to get your car?
Do you think you could persuade you mom and dad to buy you the car of
your dreams? Well, let's think
about how you could do this.
Tasks
1. Find six cars that you would like to buy.
Using Microsoft Excel enter the following data into a
spreadsheet; type of car (make & model), year, mileage, and asking price. You can find used cars at AutoTrader.com,
AutoByTel.com, Cars.com,
or in local newspapers and magazines. Remember to save all your work.
2. Narrow your choices to three by comparing the
asking price of the car to market price for that type by using the NADA
guides, Kelly
Blue Book, or Car
Prices.com.
Include proof that you made a sound decision.
3. Calculate the amount of your monthly loan payment
by using the Yahoo
Car Loan Calculator or E-Loan.com.
Calculate for a loan, not a lease. The term of the loan is 12, 24, or 36 months; which ever works best for you. The Sales Tax is 6%. The Interest Rate is 7.5%. You have no trade in or rebate. Then add another column to your spreadsheet to record the amount of the
monthly payment for each of the cars. Include
proof of the loan payment calculations.
4. Using one of the many car insurance companies, get
insurance rates for the three cars. Since you are financing the car, you
will have to have full coverage insurance. Some
of the insurance companies you can use are, GEICO
Direct, Progressive Insurance, 21st
Century Insurance, NetQuote.com, or Lower
My Bills.com. Then add another
column to your spreadsheet to record the amount of the monthly insurance payment
for each of the cars. For the purpose of this exercise, you are 18 years of age. Don't give any real information about your or your address other then the zip code. Include proof
of the insurance quotes.
5. Add another
column to your spreadsheet. In this
column insert a formula that will add the amounts of the monthly loan payment
and the monthly insurance payment for each of the cars and give you a total
monthly cost for each of the cars.
6. From the data
that you now have, decide which of the three cars that you will buy.
21st
Century Insurance
https://ww2.i21.com/GetZip3.asp?SourceCode=BW2390
Auto
Trader.com
http://www.autotrader.com
Autobytel.com
http://www.autobytel.com
Car
Prices.com
http://www.carprices.com/
Cars.com
http://www.cars.com/
E-Loan
https://www.wheels.eloan.com/cgi-bin/autoloans?context=auto&user=sc1
GEICO
Direct
http://www.geico.com
Kelly
Blue Book
http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.tp?kbb&&32&split
Lower
My Bills.com
http://www.lowermybills.com/iau/index.jsp?sourceid=meflspuvorr100530902
NADA
guides
http://www3.nadaguides.com
NetQuote.com
https://www1.netquote.com/Auto1_5/A_Getting_Started.cfm?Status=FY
Progressive
Insurance
http://www.progressive.com
Yahoo
Car Loan Calculator
http://autos.yahoo.com/finance/calcloanlease.html?cf=autoloan
200 Points Total,
broken down as follows:
Data
Collection. All
research information included, relevant and accurate. (50 pts)
Spreadsheet.
Formatted correctly, formulas included and accurate where appropriate.
Turn in two copies, one normal view, one displaying your formulas ( ctrl + ` ).
(50 pts)
Resume'. Complete and ready for use. (25 pts)
Report. Complete and covering all
topics. (50 pts)
Organization. Organized, easy to follow. (25 pts)
Were you able to buy your dream car? Even if you
weren't, you learned a lot about the process of buying a car. You now have a better idea about the price of used cars, financing, and
other factors such as insurance that help in determining which car to buy.
You have also had to analyze choices before making a decision.
Buying a car is not an easy decision for the
responsible and savvy consumer, especially in today's economy. In the 1950's there were fewer than 50 different models of cars while
today there are well over 200. There
are many different ways to buy a car now as well. Whatever your choice was, have fun in the driver's seat but...drive
safely!
Site Designed by Ron
Stewart
Last updated:
December 09, 2008