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divhin
Many car purchasers choose to buy cheap, used vehicles in order to spend as little money as possible. Unfortunately,
cheap, used vehicles break down more often and require more extensive maintenance, including the replacement of
essential parts. Often, in such cases, short-term savings are outweighed by greater long term expenses. The author
is arguing that ______
A. The money saved by purchasing cheap, low-quality products often eventually results in an increase in the total
amount of money spent by the owner.
B. Knowledge of the added long-term expenses of cheap, low-quality products will lead to a decrease in sales of
these low-quality products.
C. Many consumers who purchase cheap, used vehicles will decide to trade them in for more reliable vehicles.
D. Most car purchasers cannot afford the added expense of higher quality, more reliable cars that will not require
extensive maintenance.
E. Consumers will not save money by purchasing cheap, used vehicles because they will need to buy their own auto
maintenance tools to save on maintenance costs.

People buy used cars to save money, but end up spending money on maintenance. Hence the short term savings are outweighed by long term expenses.

The author is trying to say that people spend more money that they save
We need to find an option that talks on the same lines. Of the given options, only option A and E talk about this, but option E is out of context as it talks about buying the maintenance tools.

Correct Option: A
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A. The money saved by purchasing cheap, low-quality products often eventually results in an increase in the total
amount of money spent by the owner.

The argument talks about cars, whereas option A generalizes it to "products". Isn't there a scope shift in this option?
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Many car purchasers choose to buy cheap, used vehicles in order to spend as little money as possible. Unfortunately,
cheap, used vehicles break down more often and require more extensive maintenance, including the replacement of
essential parts. Often, in such cases, short-term savings are outweighed by greater long term expenses. The author
is arguing that ______.


Notes
(P) spend little --> buy cheap/used car
(P) cheap stuff +$$$ maintain
(C) short-term gain < LT exp.


Analysis
This stimulus presents a straightforward scenario: spending less now might make you suffer more later. The author uses individuals who buy cheap, used vehicles as an example. He argues that maintaining cheap things in the long-run is more expensive. We are tasked to figure out what the author is arguing. In short, the goal is: what is the author's main point? ("Don't buy cheap things because you'll suffer later..." something along those lines maybe!)

A. The money saved by purchasing cheap, low-quality products often eventually results in an increase in the total
amount of money spent by the owner.

Looks pretty golden to me...but forging onwards for the 100%.

B. Knowledge of the added long-term expenses of cheap, low-quality products will lead to a decrease in sales of
these low-quality products.

All we know is that the owner will spend more on maintaining the cheap vehicle. Never once does the author discuss "decrease in sales".

C. Many consumers who purchase cheap, used vehicles will decide to trade them in for more reliable vehicles.
The answer choice is focused on "trading in [cheap, used vehicle] for more reliable ones...." and that's not what the argument is stating at all!

D. Most car purchasers cannot afford the added expense of higher quality, more reliable cars that will not require
extensive maintenance.

The information present doesn't discuss affordability of higher quality cars. This is not part of the argument. If anything, this could be a reasoning behind why car purchasers in this scenario behave the way they do.

E. Consumers will not save money by purchasing cheap, used vehicles because they will need to buy their own auto
maintenance tools to save on maintenance costs
.

This first part goes against the grain. The author never once mentions that the purchaser won't save money because of "buy[ing] maintenance tools"....which is far too specific for the argument, which is way more broad.

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A. The money saved by purchasing cheap, low-quality products often eventually results in an increase in the total
amount of money spent by the owner.

The argument talks about cars, whereas option A generalizes it to "products". Isn't there a scope shift in this option?

PriyankaPalit7
The argument is actually broader than it seems. The author is using the cheap, used vehicles as an example to support the main point of the argument that lower-quality products, though cheap, fail us in the long-run. So, the "car" part is really still under the "umbrella" of the argument about products.
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