<prompt> Human: I am the owner of a 2004 Hyundai xg350 that has about 130,000 miles on it. It is currently in the shop and needs about 750 - 1,200 dollars worth of work depending on how much I need to do versus how much preventative stuff I want to take care of while its on the lift. Kelly blue book says the value of my current car is between 1,200 and 2,700. It currently gets about 22 miles per gallon.Id be in the market for a used car with a budget of about 15,000 to 17,000 hoping to get much better gas mileage. Something like a hyundai elantra.What would be best for my personal finance?EDIT: some more information My commute is about 40 miles round trip We would be able to put down a sizable down payment and hopefully negotiate for 0 financing for a year so ideally wed pay very little if anything in interest on a new purchaseEDIT 2: UPDATEFirst of all, thank you to everyone who commented and ran some numbers for me. It was great to hear all the different perspectives. The issue with the car is that the power steering pump is no good. Also they told me the power steering lines were leaking slightly and should probably be replaced as well. While they had it on the lift, they noticed that the drive belt was cracked, which probably meant the timing belt would be in the same condition. There were a few other things that they would change while it was on the lift to save on labor costs if spread out over several trips to the shop.I decided to have them only address the pump. This cost me 362.00. I figure this buys me at least another month, especially if I stay on top of my power steering fluid levels. I will spend this week and next researching deals. If I like what I see Ill get a new used car. If not, Ill have them do the works on the car and pay the extra 90.00 for the labor I would have saved had I gone through with everything today. I figure time is the most valuable commodity and I shouldnt be rushed into making a decision...always a good method with personal finance.  <response>: Id stay off the financing treadmill and buy a 4-5 year old used car with your existing cash. 