<prompt> Human: So I drive a 12 year old car who is coming up on about 150k miles, it stresses me out every day because I know its not long before Im going to need to dump more money into it just to keep it on the road. Its even burning more gas than it should. I want this particular car out of my life ASAP. I have a job offer for a software engineering position with a fat starting bonus and a relocation package that will find my move and transport my car. The start date is 12 months from now, I need to finish school first. There are a few cars in the 12k range that I would be really happy to drive. I can probably get some kind of trade-in value for my old car, and I do have some money I can put towards a down payment, but I dont really want to make monthly payments untill my new job begins. But I would love to be in a vehicle that I can reliability commute in for these last two semesters of school. Am I being greedy? Is there any way of doing this? Im still just toying with the idea.  <response>: You probably arent going to like this answer, but you posted on Reddit. No, I would not buy a new car at this point. You say I know its not long until Im going to need to dump money into it. There is a break even point on older cars, but many cars will easily go to 200-250k miles. So unless theres additional info you didnt give, I would keep the car for awhile longer. A 12k car at 5 over 5 years is 226month. If you take out a car loan, they will want monthly payments. You will also have increased insurance costs bc the new car is newer. Do you have this money? In general, its an unwise idea to spend money you dont have yet. 