[mikefocke]

Cars depreciate and they may impress your buddies but few girls give a darn what you drive. In fact my wife told me once if I had been driving the Porsche I had before the sedan I had when I dated her, she would have been warned off me as not husband/father material (she is also the one who told me to go buy the 2 recent Porsche Boxsters I've bought so she isn't against my toys, just for me waiting till the kids college tuitions were paid for and the retirement secure).

Get that career going. Invest in your education. Put a little aside for the next layoff.

Buy transportation now and defer the gratification for later. Buy the car that depreciates the least and drive it into the ground. Take any $ you save by doing that and invest it. My kids had 401Ks before they were out of high school.

Buying a higher maintenance expense car that is 9-10 years old makes little sense in your situation IMHO. Not that they aren't great cars.

Eventually, you'll probably want a house, kids (talk about an expensive hobby!), trips, etc.

And when you have all that paid for, the fun of being able to pay cash for a toy car is darn near nirvana.