Financial advice aside, US MSRP is $17,000 fully equiped and $14,000 for base new Focus. That is pretty cheap, but as someone who also worked their way through college and still strived to own a "cool and fun" car during those years, I bought this hot little souped up 280ZX that was quick and handled great! I sacraficed reliability for pure fun, and just wrenched on it myself when it broke down.

The smart guys on the forum will tell you to be patient, save your money and look to the future...but all the money in the world can't bring back the times I had at that age in that car. You have your whole life to be responsible, hard working, and save money. At that age, I didn't care if the car had cigarette burns, coffee stains, as long as it ran like H#LL, I was in!