Question

Lina Martinez wants to buy a new high-end audio system for her car. The system is being sold by two dealers in town, both of whom sell the equipment for the same price of $2,000. Lina can buy the equipment from Dealer A, with no money down, by making payments of $118.28 a month for 18 months; she can buy the same equipment from Dealer B by making 36 monthly payments of $70.31 (again, with no money down). Lina is considering purchasing the system from Dealer B because of the lower payment.

Find the APR for Dealer A.
Use the financial calculator and Find the APR for Dealer B

Answer 1

dealer A:

total interest charged = ($118.28 x 18 months) - $2,000 = $129.04

APR = [($129.04 / $2,000) / 1.5 periods] x 100% = 4.3%

dealer B:

total interest charged = ($70.31 x 36 months) - $2,000 = $531.16

APR = [($531.16 / $2,000) / 3 periods] x 100% = 8.85%

The APR charged by dealer A is much lower than the APR charged by dealer B. Even thought the monthly payments are much lower for dealer B, the total amount of interest charged is much higher.