Name:

Melissa Neagos

Part 1: What type of car will meet your needs? Take into account all the things you
may need to use your car for?
Will you need to haul anything with your car?

no

Will you need to have more than 2 people in your car?

yes

Will you need four-wheel drive?

Will you need to drive lots of distance?

no
yes

How much gas can you afford to buy each week?

$20

How much could you spend on repairs each month?

$30

Part 2: Create a list of at least 6 cars that meet your needs based on the above
requirements
LT Malibu
_______
Chevy Cruze
Dodge Caliber

Ford Fusion

Ford Focus

Saturn Ion

Part 3: Research the reliability of the cars on your list. You may want to consider
using Consumer Reports for this.

LT Malibu

2.5-5.5

Automa
tic/
Manual
auto

Dodge
Caliber
Ford Focus

2.4

Auto

1.4L

4.5/5

none

2.0

Auto

2.0

4.5/5

Chevy
Cruze
Ford
Fusion

1.4

Auto

1.4/1.8

3.6/5

Different color
lights
none

2.5

auto

5.4

4.5/5

Car

Engine

2.4L

5/5

Extras
(Heated
Seats Etc.)
heated seats

Fuel

Safety

Overall
Very good
car.

Titanium
heated seats

Part 4: Find at least 3 cars listed locally that meet your needs.
1

Make
Chevy

Model
Malibu

Year
2008

Price
$19,73
5

Ford

Fusion

2008

Ford

Focus

2008

$18,13
5
$14,39
5

Features
heated seats,
air
conditioning
Heated seats

Contact Info.

Different
color
changing
lights 1

Part 5: Look up the value of each of the three cars you found. Use kbb.com for this.
You must factor in Year, Make, Model, Features, Mileage, and Location to find the
price.
Car 1 $19,735

Car 2

$18,135

Car 3

$14,395

Part 6: Find at least three places where you could secure a loan for one car on your
list. You may want to consider banks and credit unions to find the best deal.
Institution 1: Chase Bank
Institution 2: Motor City Credit Union
Institution 3: TCF Bank
Part 7: Find, Print, and Complete a Car Loan Application
*** Do NOT include your Social Security # ***MAKE ONE UP!!!!
Part 8: Determine what your loan will actually cost. You should come up with the
monthly payment and determine the amount of principle and interest over the life
of the loan.
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/auto/auto-loan-calculator.aspx
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/financing/calc/loanCalc.jsp?mode=full
Monthly payment $___436.82
Interest $___387____
Principle$__49________

___

Part 9: What will it cost to put your car on the road? Identify taxes, registration, and
insurance costs.
Title Fee: ______________$20____
Registration: ___________$20_______

Plates:

$150

Insurance:

$200

Total: _______$390______

____

Part 10: General Up-keep and Maintenance

You also need to be concerned with the general upkeep of your car along with how
much it is going to cost to keep gas in your car. This include regular oil changes
after 3000 miles, two new tires every year for Michigan winter weather adventures
and other car problems that could possibly occur. Below is a list for you to fill out
that will help you calculate the other yearly costs of operating your car.
1. The average number of miles driven per year by Americans is 12000.
A. How many times will you have to change your oil then? 4x a year
B. If you will change it yourself, go to letter (d); if you plan on having
your oil changed by professionals go to letter (c)
C. What is the average cost of an oil change? $20
a.

Now multiply that number by how many time a year you will
need your oil changed.
Total yearly charge:
$ 80

D. For the do-it-yourselfers, you need to determine the number of

quarts of oil you will need every year, the number of oil filters you will
need, we will assume you have the wrenches to complete the job, but
you will need to buy some ramps so you can get to our oil plug.
Number or quarts of oil:
Total cost of oil:
Total cost of all filters:
Cost of two car ramps:
Total yearly cost for your oil changes:
2) Since the average number of miles driven is 12000, we are going to determine
how much money you will spend in fuel for one year.
a) Does your car run on gasoline or diesel? gas
b) What is the average fuel mileage of your car (from page 1)? 23mpg
c) What is the average cost of 1 gallon of fuel?
$1.75
d) Find the total cost of your fuel for one year:
(Number of miles driven / avg. fuel mileage)(Avg. cost of 1 gal. of fuel)
$912
3) What would the cost of 2 new tires for your car be?
Site where you found this:
Part 11: Complete the following chart
One Time Cost
Monthly
Registration: $20
Loan: $436

$152.44

Discount Tire

Weekly
Gas: $20

Repairs
Find at least 3 cost
of repairs for our
vehicle
3

Taxes: $20
Plates: $150
Down Payment:
$2000
Other:

Insurance:
$200

Brakes $396 +
labor
Muffler $59 +
labor
Water Pump $ 39
+ labor

Part 12: Research and present the cost of buying a car directly from the dealership
BRAND NEW!! What is the benefit of buying a car brand new vs. used. Look in to
the price of that car for a lease option and present the cost of leasing vs. buying
brand new. What is the benefit of leasing? What are the drawbacks? Out of the 3
options, buying used, buying brand new, and leasing, when would each purchase be
required in someones life? What is the best option for you now? What is the best
option for you later on in life? Why?
New vs Used-New will cost more, but you should have no maintenance repairs. Has
warranty.
Used, you never know what issues you will have, but should be a lower payment.
Used, you may have to pay for repairs.
Lease vs New-Lease no maintenance repairs, has warranty. Turn in and lease no
more or lease another new vehicle. Lease payments are much cheaper than buying
a new car outright. You never own the vehicle. You might go over the allotted miles
and then you pay more costs. You pay for a down payment on a lease and you do
not own the car.
You can buy and have a longer loan up to 5 years, where leasing you are limited to
2 to 3 year leases.
Leasing for the Malibu would be $150 month as opposed to buying would be $500
per month.
I would like not having a high payment, so leasing sounds like a good option, but
then in two years I have to do it all over again, but I would not have to worry about
repair issues.
Its hard to say what the best option would be as my circumstances can change and
you could lose your job and have no income to pay for the vehicle.