Too fancy of a car?

[chisness]

I'm in college right now and in a couple years I'll probably get a new car (right now I'm in a '98 Corolla).

I don't generally spend too much and am trying to put almost all of my money away, but I figure it'd be nice to treat myself to a nice car when the time comes.

The question: Does it look dumb to get a $40k car when my first job out of college probably won't be earning much more than that? Would this work against an employee because the others would feel like maybe he doesn't "need" a promotion?

I'm concerned that it would look very wasteful in this situation. So what is the "nicest" car level that should be gotten in this case ($20k, $30k, $40k)?