If a personal car isn’t necessary for getting to a job or to and from an off-campus residence, it may be more of a want than a need. Many colleges limit parking on campus through permits. Some colleges don’t allow first-year students to have cars. Does this particular college experience require a car? If it doesn’t, a car will simply be another fuel, insurance, and maybe parking expense. When considering a car for the college-bound, need versus want is the first hurdle. Other factors to weigh include ownership costs, safety, technology, and practicality. You can find several picks among our used cars that cost much less than the ceiling. That may seem high, but we wanted to include some new models. We started with a price ceiling of $25,000. There are so many variables to weigh in picking any car, let alone one for a college student. Jump ahead to our list of cars for college students Things to Consider When Buying a Car for College We are going to help you tiptoe through this minefield.
Several considerations should influence a buying decision when shopping for cars for college students, but sometimes they conflict. That is, measuring requirements like safety options against fuel economy and price against utility. The real problem with creating a collection of such picks is weighing the qualifiers. When it comes to the best cars for college students, opinions are like belly buttons: everyone has one.
