One car model costs $12,000 and costs an average of $0.10 per mile to maintain. Another car model costs $14,000 and costs $0.08 per mile to maintain. If one of each model is driven the same number of miles, after how many miles would the total cost of one model be the same as the other?

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

Let's call the number of miles driven we are looking for

m

.

The the total cost of ownership for the first car model is:

12000

+

0.1

m

The the total cost of ownership for the second car model is:

14000

+

0.08

m

We can equate these two expressions and solve for

m

to find after how many miles the total cost of ownership is the same:

12000

+

0.1

m

=

14000

+

0.08

m

Next, we can subtract

12000

and

0.08

m

from each side of the equation to isolate the

m

term while keeping the equation balanced:

-

12000

+

12000

+

0.1

m

-

0.08

m

=

-

12000

+

14000

+

0.08

m

-

0.08

m

0

+

(

0.1

-

0.08

)

m

=

2000

+

0

0.02

m

=

2000

Now, we can divide each side of the equation by

0.02

to solve for

m

while keeping the equation balanced:

0.02

m

0.02

=

2000

0.02

0.02

m

0.02

=

100000

After 100,000 miles the total cost of ownership of the two cars would be the same.