An Analysis of Car Ownership Costs: Determining Optimal Three Year Ownership Period
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Applied Mathematics
Minor
N/A
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Donald Adongo, PhD
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Minimizing loss and maximizing profit is a goal that many Americans try to achieve in their lives, whether running a business or preparing a family budget. This is no different when buying and selling cars. Automobile purchases is a major financial decision. Americans spend on average $479 on monthly payments on a new automobile. A person would like to know the best time to buy and sell a used car so that he or she can minimize loss. That can be a challenging task. Using data analysis and linear regression models I am hoping to discover the optimum time to sell a used car so that loss is minimized. As an example, the Toyota Camry is a popular mid-sized sedan. I plan on collecting the following data: the values in 2017 of used 2002-2016 Camry's and the values of 2002-2017 Camry's when they were brand new. I have assumed miles driven, color, Camry type, and three year ownership. I then hope to develop a model that in general based on the age of the car, the number of miles driven, and the new car price that the consumer can use to minimize depreciation cost.
Affiliations
Honors Thesis
An Analysis of Car Ownership Costs: Determining Optimal Three Year Ownership Period
Minimizing loss and maximizing profit is a goal that many Americans try to achieve in their lives, whether running a business or preparing a family budget. This is no different when buying and selling cars. Automobile purchases is a major financial decision. Americans spend on average $479 on monthly payments on a new automobile. A person would like to know the best time to buy and sell a used car so that he or she can minimize loss. That can be a challenging task. Using data analysis and linear regression models I am hoping to discover the optimum time to sell a used car so that loss is minimized. As an example, the Toyota Camry is a popular mid-sized sedan. I plan on collecting the following data: the values in 2017 of used 2002-2016 Camry's and the values of 2002-2017 Camry's when they were brand new. I have assumed miles driven, color, Camry type, and three year ownership. I then hope to develop a model that in general based on the age of the car, the number of miles driven, and the new car price that the consumer can use to minimize depreciation cost.