Question

A certain vehicle loses 35% of its value each year.

Compute the value of the vehicle at the end of the 3rd year if the car has an initial value of $25,000

Answer 1

1,250

A trick I've learned is by removing 10% each time, and that's easy because all you have to do is move the number over once to the right.
25,000 -> 2,500
2,500 * 3 = 7,500
10% of 25,000 is 2,500 / 2 = 1,250 Or 5% of 25,000
7,500 + 1,250 = 8,750
8750 x 3 = 26,250
26,250 - 25,000 = 1,250

Answer 2

huhh???

value at end of year 1 = 25000(.65) = 16250
value at end of year 2 = 16250(.65) = 10562.50
value at end of year 3 = 10562.50(.65) = 6865.63

or in 1 step
value = 25000(.65)^3 = 6865.63

So much for you little trick, it is blatantly wrong.

Answer 3

How did you get 16,250? You probably need to recheck your answers.

Answer 4

Wait, just realized my mistake. It's actually 18,134 is the total loss of the value of the car. 25,000 - 18,134 = 6,866 (The car's value now)