1. **State the problem:** We need to find the purchase price of a car given the sales tax amount and the tax rate. 2. **Formula:** Sales tax = Purchase price \times Tax rate 3. **Given:** Sales tax = 2536.14, Tax rate = 8.6% = 0.086 4. **Find:** Purchase price 5. **Set up the equation:** $$2536.14 = \text{Purchase price} \times 0.086$$ 6. **Solve for purchase price:** $$\text{Purchase price} = \frac{2536.14}{0.086}$$ 7. **Show cancellation:** $$\text{Purchase price} = \frac{\cancel{2536.14}}{\cancel{0.086}}$$ 8. **Calculate:** $$\text{Purchase price} = 29490.00$$ 9. **Answer:** The purchase price of the car is **29490.00**.