The 1% Club Players Face Head-Scratching $100,000 Puzzle That Looks Like a Car Price List — But the Trick Has Nothing to Do With Cars

A string of used-car prices left The 1% Club contestants facing one of the toughest challenges of the night — with a shot at $100,000 resting on whether they could spot the hidden rule in just 30 seconds.

The puzzle appeared in the FOX episode “Shout Out to Maddie,” which aired on June 17, 2025, with Joel McHale hosting 100 contestants hoping to work their way toward the coveted 1% question. FOX described the show as a test of how contestants think rather than conventional trivia, with up to $100,000 available.

And by the time the final challenge arrived, the remaining players were confronted with a pattern that looked deceptively straightforward.

The $100,000 car puzzle

The question centered on a fictional used-car dealer named Jerry, whose prices apparently followed the model year of each vehicle.

Contestants were shown:

2023 – $4,005
1999 – $2,027
1972 – $2,018
1951 – $?,???

They then had to work out what price Jerry would put on a car from 1951.

At first glance, the figures appear almost arbitrary.

A 2023 car somehow costs $4,005, while a 1999 model is priced at $2,027 and a 1972 vehicle comes in at $2,018.

The obvious temptation is to search for a conventional mathematical sequence connecting the years and prices.

But, as so often happens on The 1% Club, that instinct can send players down the wrong path.

The trick lies in treating each year separately.

A tiny rule hidden inside every year

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The first example provides the key.

For 2023, take the first digit — 2 — and double it. That produces 4, the first part of the price.

Then add the remaining three digits:

0 + 2 + 3 = 5

Written as the price shown on screen, that becomes $4,005.

The same method works for 1999.

Double the first digit:

1 × 2 = 2

Then add the other three:

9 + 9 + 9 = 27

That produces $2,027.

And with 1972, the calculation is:

1 × 2 = 2

followed by:

9 + 7 + 2 = 18

giving the listed price of $2,018.

Once that rule is spotted, the mystery surrounding 1951 disappears.

So what should a 1951 car cost?

For 1951, the first digit is once again 1.

Double it:

1 × 2 = 2

Then add the remaining digits:

9 + 5 + 1 = 15

Put the two parts together and Jerry’s price would be:

$2,015

That was the solution to the episode’s 1% question.

The puzzle is a classic example of the format’s ability to make a relatively simple operation feel far more complicated by disguising what contestants are actually supposed to be looking for.

There is no need to know anything about cars, depreciation or model-year values.

The years themselves contain everything needed to find the answer.

Only the sharpest minds make it this far

The car-price challenge came after contestants had already worked through a succession of increasingly difficult puzzles.

Earlier rounds included identifying a children’s item from two pictures, working out which restaurant customer was breaking the most rules, rearranging colored beads, spotting a symmetrical snowflake and calculating which total could not be made from a limited selection of play money.

Another challenge asked contestants to determine a shape created by walking equal distances in a series of directions, while the 5% question required them to manipulate the first letters of a list of colors to spell RAINBOW.

Eventually, the competition came down to Julie Monroe and Eric G, according to an episode record, before the 1% challenge brought the game to its climax.

The episode itself was part of the show’s 2025 run with McHale, who replaced first-season host Patton Oswalt when the programme moved into its second season and began airing exclusively on FOX.

Could you have spotted it in 30 seconds?

Seeing the explanation makes the answer look remarkably manageable.

But that is precisely the trap.

With $100,000 potentially at stake, a countdown running and three strange-looking examples staring back from the screen, contestants don’t have the luxury of knowing whether they should be multiplying, adding, comparing years or searching for something else entirely.

Once the pattern clicks, 1951 = $2,015 feels obvious.

Finding that pattern before the clock expires is the part that separates everyone else from the 1% Club.