If you borrowed $17k for a car while making $18k/year, you have paid way too much for your car. The absolute maximum vehicle value you can afford is half your annual income, and in general way less than that would be better. It's just too hard to save money while paying for that vehicle. Even if it were already paid off, the depreciation is costing you too much money.

So if it's a struggle to find a car that fits that limit (or if the only cars available are so damaged that they're costing you tons in repairs), then the real financial advice is to figure out a plan to be making a lot more money in a few years.

Yeah, I'd be paying extra to get rid of this debt; 5% interest isn't terrible but the less interest you pay, the better. And take really good care of that car so you minimize repairs and maximize lifespan, while in the meantime figuring out how to move into a career that will boost your salary. Maybe that requires some education or training, so the smartest financial thing you can do is figure out how to pay for that while keeping other expenses low. The reality is that there aren't a lot of good financial answers while making $1500/month, because no matter how good your financial choices and budgeting are, everything is always going to be tight and unexpected emergencies are going to put you in a big hole.