Splitting the Hire-Car Cost on a Weekend Trip
Four friends hire a car for a two-night trip. The rental company charges $58 per day for the first two days and $46 for each extra day. A one-off cleaning fee of $35 applies, and the friends also pay $0.22 per kilometre for every kilometre beyond the first 300 km included in the deal. They drive 412 km in total. One friend, Priya, joins only for the second day, so the group agrees she pays half a share. The other three pay equal full shares. They also split a $24 parking charge equally among all four people, separately from the car costs.
1. Calculate the total car cost (rental, cleaning fee and extra-kilometre charge).
Read the worked answer
Rental: 2 days × $58 = $116. There are no extra days because the trip is two nights, which is covered by the first two days.
Extra kilometres: 412 − 300 = 112 km. Charge = 112 × $0.22 = $24.64.
Total = $116 + $35 + $24.64 = $175.64.
2. Work out how much each of the four friends pays toward the car cost, given Priya pays half a share.
Read the worked answer
Let a full share be 1 unit. Priya pays 0.5, and the other three pay 1 each, so total units = 3.5.
Car cost per unit = $175.64 ÷ 3.5 = $50.18 (to the nearest cent).
So each full-share friend pays about $50.18, and Priya pays $25.09.
Check: 3 × $50.18 + $25.09 = $150.54 + $25.09 = $175.63, which is the $175.64 total once rounding is allowed for.
3. Explain whether splitting the $24 parking charge equally among all four people is fair, and state each person's parking contribution.
Read the worked answer
Each person pays $24 ÷ 4 = $6.00.
This is reasonable because the parking charge is not tied to how far each person travelled or how long they used the car; it is a shared cost of the trip. An equal split is simple and easy to collect. A person could argue Priya should pay less because she joined for only one day, but the question asks whether the equal split is fair, and for a small fixed charge the difference is minor. A defensible answer notes the equal split is acceptable, while acknowledging a usage-based split would also be fair.