page_title: Analytic hierarchy process – car example
section_title: Maintenance costs
hierarchical_section_title: Analytic hierarchy process – car example / Pairwise comparing the Alternatives with respect to the Criteria / Maintenance costs
caption_attribution_description: Part of a series of images to illustrate an article on the Analytic Hierarchy Process
context_page_description: This is a worked-through example showing the use of the analytic hierarchy process in a practical decision situation.
  See Analytic hierarchy process#Practical examples for context for this example.
context_section_description: The Jones family researched maintenance costs for the cars under consideration, but they didn't find any hard figures. The closest they got was Consumer Reports magazine, which publishes 17 separate maintenance ratings for every car on the market. Their Hondas ranked very well, with all ratings "Much Better Than Average," except for a few on the Pilot and Odyssey. The Pilot got "Better Than Average" for its audio system and the user rating, and "Average" for body integrity. The Odyssey got "Better Than Average" for body hardware and power equipment, and "Average" for brakes, body integrity, and user rating.
  The Joneses also asked their favorite mechanic to evaluate the maintenance costs for their six cars. Using tire prices and mileage estimates, he came up with figures for tire costs over 60,000 miles (97,000 km) of driving. He didn't have figures for brake costs, but he said they'd be about twice as much for the SUVs and minivans as they would for the sedans. He also cautioned them that the battery in the Accord Hybrid was an expensive repair item, and that the engine placement on the Odyssey made it a more expensive car to work on.
  The family created this worksheet to keep track of all their information about maintenance costs:
  Even though every column on the worksheet contains a different type of information, the Joneses can use it to make reasonable, rational judgments about Maintenance Costs. Here are the judgments they will enter:
  When the judgments shown above are entered, the AHP software returns the following priorities for the six alternatives with respect to Maintenance Costs:
  The local priorities show how much the projected maintenance cost of each model contributes to the subcriterion of Maintenance Costs. The global priorities show how much the maintenance cost of each model contributes to the overall goal of choosing the best car for the Jones family.
caption: Maintenance Cost judgments entered by the Jones family. From the Fundamental Scale, 1 means that A and B are equally preferred, 3 that A is moderately preferred, and 5 that A is strongly preferred. Intermediate numbers express intermediate preferences.
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