What's best for a first car? getting a old crappy one or one with a 5 to 4 star safety rating?

Mind you the five star safety car does'nt have to cost a fortune you can get one for around 15k and if you earn 17k a year would it be best to buy one?|||Why get a 5 or 4 star safety rating crash? Are you actually planning to crash the car or drive it? I'd say,get the best of both worlds,a slightly used car!Passive safety is secondary,you should always look at Active safety feautures.You drive the car first of all,not wait to crash so as to be safe.Get a FWD or 4WD slightly used car....around 2003-2006 you can found many good cars for that price tag.Even RWD cars are great and give you more pleasure,but they aren't that safe on difficult weather conditions|||The payment should be aroun 15-20% of your total monthly income...if more yu don't wan to go in debt