<prompt> Human: I recently bought a 2003 Land Rover Freelander for about 6K. Its a notoriously poorly made car, but I rolled the dice. The car has just shit the bed - has an irreparable engine issue new engines are very hard to find and cost around 9K. I called Land Rover and explained the situation. In order to potentially keep me as a long term customer, they have offered me 2K cash or 5K toward any Land Rover new or used. I will be needing a car by January when I will be starting a job for 50K a year. I have plenty of money to live off of until then and potentially make car payments, but I dont have a ton saved outside of that. The most reasonable Land Rover options are used LR2s 2007-2009 range, some with pretty low miles, priced from 19-28K. LR2s are much more reliabletheyve worked out all the bugs from the Freelander. So, I guess take the 2 and get a cheaper car or take the 5 since its more toward a car and I need a car anyway? A related question would be whats a reasonable veichle budget for a 50K job I guess. Little laborious with the writing, but any suggestions here would be great, thank you. What would you guys do?  <response>: You say you need a Land Rover, and I dont buy it. Nobody needs a certain make or model. You might need a small SUV, but you dont need a Land Rover. Take the 2k, sell the shitbox, and get a used EscapeCRV4Runner or something reasonable. Dont finance a car if you can buy one outright, keep it for a couple years while still saving, and then buy something nicer down the road. 