A Consumer Is Trying to Decide Whether to Purchase Car

question 48

Multiple Choice

A consumer is trying to decide whether to purchase car A or car B. Car A costs $10,000 and has an mpg rating of 30, and insurance is $500 per year. Car B costs $11,600 and has an mpg rating of 50, and insurance is $550 per year. Assume that the consumer drives 15,000 miles per year and that the price of gas remains constant at $1.25 per gallon. Based only on these facts, determine how long it will take for the total cost of car B to become less than that of car A.

• A)27 years
• B)9 years
• C)8 years
• D)17 years
• E)37 years

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Definitions:

Accounts Receivable Period

The accounts receivable period is the average number of days it takes a company to collect payments owed by its customers.

Operating Cycle

The period of time between the acquisition of goods for production and the cash received from their sale.

Cash Cycle

The period between the outlay of cash for the purchase of inventory and the receipt of cash from accounts receivable, representing the time it takes for a company to turn its investments in inventory back into cash.

Receivables Factoring

The process of selling a business's accounts receivable to a third party at a discount to quickly generate cash.