1. AutoNexa's car loan calculator
Welcome again!
2. AutoNexa Motors
Imagine you are the financial analyst at AutoNexa Motors, a leading car dealership specializing in new and pre-owned vehicle sales.
3. Problem
You've been tasked with solving a critical problem: the sales team frequently provides customers with inconsistent or inaccurate loan estimates due to manual data entry errors.
4. Problem Examples
These mistakes, such as typos in VINs, unrealistic APR rates, or payment terms outside company policies, have led to frustrated customers and lost sales.
5. Solution: Data Validation
To address this, you've been asked to redesign the company's car loan calculator spreadsheet (2_1_car_loan_calc.xlsx) into a user-friendly tool that guides the sales team to enter valid data.
Your goal is to enforce business logic through Excel data validation rules — ensuring VINs follow standardized formats, APR rates stay within lender-approved ranges (e.g., 3%–15%), and monthly payments align with AutoNexa's financing policies.
6. A reminder on Data Validation Steps in Excel
Before we start, remember that there are four key steps to building an error-proof calculator in Excel.
- Define clear validation rules based on the business requirements.
- Implement these rules using Excel’s Data Validation tools.
- Test your validations by deliberately entering invalid data.
- Finalize the calculator to ensure it guides users clearly and consistently.
7. Project outcomes
By the end of this project, you'll transform this error-prone calculator into a reliable tool that empowers the sales team to generate accurate, compliant quotes for customers — strengthening trust in AutoNexa's services while showcasing your ability to build scalable financial tools.
8. Let's practice!
Now, it's time to open the file and begin! Good luck!