Buying a Car Project
Car Loans, Insurance & Total Cost · Consumer Math
- Grades
- Grades 9–12
- Formats
- Google Slides, PDF, PowerPoint
- Pages
- 32
- Answer keys
- Included
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Show students what a car really costs! In this buying a car project, high school students draw a life card with a job, income, savings and credit, shop eight realistic car listings, find out-the-door prices, calculate car loan payments with the real formula, read an amortization table, learn auto insurance, add up the total cost of ownership, compare new vs. used, test their choice with the 20/4/10 rule, spot dealer add-ons, practice negotiating and present a final decision.
What's included
- Teacher guide with 6-7 day pacing, materials and differentiation (support, on level, challenge)
- Standards page (Common Core math & ELA + Jump$tart personal finance) and contents
- Project overview with rules and checklist
- 8 cut-apart life cards (income, down payment savings, credit, APR, insurance quote, miles driven)
- Guided notes: Car Buying 101 (new vs. used, depreciation, out-the-door price, co-signers, smart shopper checklist)
- 8 detailed car listings (new, used, certified, hybrid, EV, SUV, pickup) + warm-up
- Out-the-door price worksheet (tax, doc fee, title and registration)
- Guided notes: how car loans work, with the monthly payment formula M = P x r / (1 - (1 + r)^-n) and a worked example
- Loan payment practice (6 loans, including a 0% APR deal)
- Reading an amortization table (36-month loan)
- Shopping for the loan: term and credit comparisons + the monthly payment trap
- Guided notes: car insurance (liability, collision, comprehensive, deductible, premium, uninsured motorist, gap)
- Insurance practice: which coverage pays? + deductible math
- Total cost of ownership and new vs. used comparison (with depreciation)
- The 20/4/10 rule with a worked example
- Dealer add-ons and negotiating notes + a buyer's order to inspect
- 8 Dealer Talk role-play cards + response sheet
- Final decision presentation planner, 15-question quiz and 20-point rubric
- Complete answer keys, a 20/4/10 reference for every card and a sample completed project
How to use it
Run it as a 6-7 day project in consumer math, financial literacy, personal finance, Algebra 2 or precalculus applications, or as a capstone. Print and go: the only prep is cutting the life cards and dealer talk cards.
Skills practiced
Percents and sales taxexponential expressionsloan payments and amortizationAPR and loan termsunit rates (mpg, cost per mile)auto insurancebudgetingnegotiationpresenting
