<prompt> Human: I make around 15-20k a year right now and plan on going to medical school Fall 2018. I have 4.2k in undergraduate student loans currently. I know the general advice on this thread is to not finance a car and to never buy a new car and to pay off my student loans. I wanted to buy a Used 2016 Honda Civic EX-L with like 20k miles for a little under 20 grand that I really like and would last me quite a long time. I could get a 60 month loan at 2.25. I would like to put around 5k down on the vehicle. This would make the payment around 264.56 per month when I make around 1300. I live at home and have a 70 cell phone payment. Currently I spend around 80 on gas a month. I have heard that medical school aid and loans will cover my expenses including a car loan. Thanks for your advice. Assistant: Advice: You are attempting to purchase a car that is almost equal or greater to an entire years salary. This is an insanely poor financial decision. Find a civic 5-10 years old, 100K miles for 5K or less. Human: Do you have any other used cars youd recommend? I really need a reliable car because any school I will get into is at least 2.5 hours away.Assistant: Sure. A 5 year old civic will be just as reliable and not cost you an entire years salary. Human: Is 5 years old the sweet spot as far as buying a used car goes?  <response>: I drove a 1992 Buick Century for the past 9 years that I purchased for 1000 and had no major repairs. I am not the one to answer that question. Im just telling you that spending 20K on a car when you make 15K a year is an incredibly stupid decision, financially. 