This is my short essay of the day, inspired by some math and cars.

I recently heard an advertisement by Toyota that said “80% of the Toyotas sold in the past 20 years are still on the road today”. I first thought what the ad wanted me to think, Toyota cars are long-lasting, dependable cars. After a little thought, I realized how deceptive this statistic was. That phrase leads people to believe that Toyotas will on average last 20 years, this may be true but I will explain why this is misleading.

Toyota’s may be good cars, but this statistic must be taken lightly. Consider the trend of car buying. If fewer cars were purchased in the past than the present, then this statistic doesn’t seem so surprising. Consider the following thought experiment, suppose 2 million Toyota cars were sold from 1990 to 2000, and 8 million Toyota cars were sold from 2000 to 2010 due to more people needing and buying cars. A view of this hypothetical data shows that of the cars sold in the last 20 years, 80% of them were sold in the last 10 years. Viewing the statistic in this light reveals that Toyota’s may only last 10 years, rather than the 20 years that the ad suggests. While the actual sales data of Toyota cars may not be this dramatic, due note that products can take this change in sales to their advantage. Some product may only retain it’s value for five years but with rapid increase in sales a company could make a similar claim that suggests their product lasts much longer.