Question

"A forklift will last for only 2 more years. It costs $5,000 a year to maintain. For $20,000 you can buy a new lift that can last for 10 years and should require maintenance costs of only $2,000 a year." a. Calculate the equivalent cost of owning and operating if the discount rate is 4% per year? (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to 2 decimal places.) b. Calculate the equivalent cost of owning and operating if the discount rate is 12% per year? (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to 2 decimal places.) c. Should you replace the forklift?

Answer 1

Answer:

a. $2,465.82

b. $3,539.68

c. Yes, we should

Explanation:

Annual cost to maintain old forklift is $5,000

Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC) of new forklift = (Asset price x discount rate)/(1-(1+discount rate)-n), in which n is the number of year for usage of this forklift?

If discount rate is 4% per year, the EAC of new forklift is $2,465.82  

= ($20,000x4%)/(1-(1+4%)-10)

If discount rate is 12% per year, the EAC of new forklift is $3,539.68  

= ($20,000x12%)/(1-(1+12%)-10)

We should replace because with such above discount rate, the old forklift is more costly than the new one