Jane bought a new car three years ago - Edexcel - GCSE Maths - Question 11 - 2022 - Paper 3

For the second year, the car's value further decreases by 10%. Thus, the value at the end of the second year becomes: $ext{Value after year 2} = ext{Value after year 1} imes (1 - 0.10) = (V imes 0.875) imes 0.90 = V imes 0.875 imes 0.90 = V imes 0.7875$

Finally, the value of the car at the end of the third year will once again decrease by 10%: $ext{Value after year 3} = ext{Value after year 2} imes (1 - 0.10) = (V imes 0.7875) imes 0.90 = V imes 0.7875 imes 0.90 = V imes 0.70875$

According to the problem, at the end of the three years the value is £171010, thus: $V imes 0.70875 = 171010$

To find $V$, divide both sides by 0.70875: $V = \frac{171010}{0.70875} \approx 241,000$