A buyer paid $19,875 for a new car, which was $1,025 less than the sticker price. What was the sticker price?

1. Let s be the sticker price. The price paid was $1,025 less than s. 2. Translate into an equation: 19,875 = s - 1,025. 3. Add 1,025 to both sides: s = 19,875 + 1,025. 4. Combine: s = 20,900, so the sticker price was $20,900. 5. $18,850 is the trap of subtracting the $1,025 from the price paid instead of adding it back. _Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities", section 2.1 Solve Equations Using the Subtraction and Addition Properties of Equality_