For each one-year period after a car was purchased, its value at the end of the year was 15% less than its value at the beginning of the year. If the value of the car 2 years after it was bought is $17,918, what was the value of the car when it was bought?

1 answer

Let's call the value of the car when it was bought "x".

After one year, the value of the car would be 0.85x (15% less than x).
After two years, the value of the car would be 0.85(0.85x) = 0.7225x (15% less than 0.85x).

We know that this value is equal to $17,918:

0.7225x = $17,918

To solve for x, we need to divide both sides by 0.7225:

x = $24,750

Therefore, the value of the car when it was bought was $24,750.