Given the Consumer Reports “car90” 1990 data set, categorize each of the cars as green (a good purchase), yellow (a mediocre purchase), or red (a bad purchase) for an average American city-dweller (single with no kids, average height, income, etc.). The goal is to help consumers distill complex information and make a good decision.
- The average net compensation for a single person in 1990 was approximately $20,172.11 (pre-tax) according to the Social Security Administration. We’ll assume this remains the same over the course of the loan, excluding taxes.
- Our consumer does not want to spend more than 15 percent of his/her gross income on the car loan over the four-year period, would be subject to a 4% interest rate, and would not be putting anything down on the vechile.
- With these parameters, a loan amount of $12,103.27 serves as an example of a categorically “green” purchase. The total cost of the car loan with interest would be $13,117 at a monthly payments of $273.
- The buyer would be the average height of an adult male measuring at 5’ 9’’.
- The buyer doesn’t have any children, so space in the back is not crucial.
- The buyer lives or often drives in a metropolitan area, so size and maneuverability are valued over power.