# Math Help - Please Solve?

Hi
Can you please solve the following from a textbook i have-

"you are trying to decide which of two cars to buy. The first is American made, costs $14,500 and runs at a gasoline mileage of 28 miles/gallon. The second car is of European manufacture, costs$21,700 and has a rated mileage of 19 km/L. If the cost of gasoline is \$1.25/gallon and if the cars both deliver their rated mileage, estimate how many miles you would have to drive for the lower fuel consumption of the second car to compensate for the higher cost of the car?"

This to me is an algebraic problem-hope i'm correct in posting it here. 4.3 x 10^5 miles is the answer in the book? I can't get it-my answer is different?
hope you can help
John

The total cost will be the capital cost plus the monthly cost

The American car is: $x_1 =14500 + 28t$

The European car is: $x_2 = 21700 + \left(\dfrac{19 km}{1 L} \cdot \dfrac{5 mi}{8 km} \cdot \dfrac{3.785 L}{1 gal}\right)t$

Set $x_1 = x_2$ and solve for t. The trap in this question is that the European car's consumption is in km/L and the American in miles/gallon. Obviously to compare the two must be equal