<prompt> Human: Hi PF, been lurking here for a while picking up some good tips and implementing them in my life, many thanks to all the contributors for that. i am going to be starting a job next month making 40,000 a year before taxes.I NEED a new car not brand new, probably a 2010, the question is what is the maximum i should spend on it? My parents will be co-signing the financing and have excellent credit so interest rates should be on the lower end.here is the breakdown:Yearly income - 40,000 before taxesMoney saved for down payment: 4,000Expenses: 1,000monththanks everyone!Assistant: I read through the whole thread... you say you need a good four-wheel-drive vehicle. And you have 4k to spend. There is only one answer to your question, and its the XJ Jeep Cherokee.They made them until 2001, some had leather and electric things like power locks and windows and they are damn near indestructible. Get an automatic 4.0L most are configured as such. I promise you can find a few nice-ish ones for 4k or less. Miles dont matter, maintenance does.It will get you most places off-road, it wont break much and it will return 17-19 mpg while doing so.EasyButton.jpgHuman: i will look into it. if i can find one that is in good condition i will definitely consider it.  <response>: Definitely worth investigating.The other thing to consider, that I didnt mention before... do you really want to take your 10k financed vehicle off road to get beat up, scratched and muddy?A good friend of mine does engineering for a few radio stations, and has to drive up to the transmitters often. Know what he uses to get there? A 93 Cherokee that he grew up in, has 220k on it now with peeling paint, and a 98 Ranger with some dents and 150k. They both have legitimate 4WD with low range important, CR-V and Escape dont have this and are worth perhaps 5k combined. He beats the crap out of them both and they just ask for more. 