My sister wants to gift her daughter a car for her graduation as kiddo is giving up her dream of attending UT Austin and taking a full ride at UNT.
Which affordable cars are ideal for college students? She wants it to have all safety and safety related techy features, no concern about looks or frills.
Son looking at cars. Subaru Impreza and some Hondas. In TX AWD not as important, so I’d go Honda. Insight is Hybrid and touring has great safety features and gets great gas mileage . But pricey. He’s probably going to get the Gofit if he goes new.
Define “affordable”…
A web search should turn up pages like this one:
https://www.consumerreports.org/teen-driving/best-cars-for-every-life-stage-teen-drivers/
Don’t forget to check insurance costs for each model before deciding.
We got a great deal on a Jetta. Our D loves it.
Hyundai makes some very good, affordable cars - with amazing warranties.
I bought a Honda Civic, with the intention of giving it to my daughters once my Tesla arrived. Since I ended up driving it for a year while waiting, I having no concerns with having them drive it when they’re ready. It’s safe, reliable, and sporty.
She wants to keep it around $20K. Are hybrid gas savings really worth the higher upfront cost? As a student her gas budget would be very small.
She likes Honda Fit, Honda Insight, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Prius, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra. Which one would be a better value after safety & navigation features?
Depends on which hybrid and which non hybrid car, and the type and amount of driving (hybrid cars improve most in city driving).
You can check EPA fuel economy numbers and then estimate fuel costs for various cars based on driving patterns and prices at the pump.
Insurance price difference may be as large as fuel cost difference.
@Riversider My previous two cars were both Prius. While I didn’t put on enough miles to justify the additional expense (versus a comparable non-hybrid vehicle), my purchases were more about my concern for the environment. That being said, it’s really a simple math problem, and the answer depends on the additional cost, the difference in MPGs, the miles driven per year, and the length of expected ownership.
I wouldn’t pay extra for navigation features. I WOULD get a car with Apple Play (assuming an apple phone, otherwise
Android Auto). It lets google maps come up on the navigation screen, which is far better than a pre-installed navigation system. I have a navigation system in my vehicle and never use it, I just use my phone and google maps because it is so much more accurate. For a college age driver, the less she needs to touch the phone the better.
Safety features are like eyesight and reversing cameras/lane alarms/blind spot mirrors, not apple play or fancy screens as such.
Does your niece’s school allow freshman to have cars?
Our daughters’ schools’ did not allow cars for freshman since neither school had the parking to accommodate freshman drivers.
Texas schools might be different, given the large amount of land.
Needs a good used car along with a parent contract.
When my eldest took her car to school for Junior year, a dorm mate snuck out with the keys to our daughter’s car. Fortunately, the girl had no idea where our daughter had parked (across campus) AND the girl had previously pleaded with our daughter about a loan of the car for a particular night. Daughter ran down to the RA when she needed to repack. The RA was also asked, by the same girl, for a loan of the RA’s car. Daughter and RA filed theft charges and the girl was dismissed from the university. What was so important? The dorm mate promised a young man that she would drive him to someplace in the city for a night out.
If she is living on campus, I’d generally recommend no car. Freshmen year is time to get involved in on-campus activities and get used to the dorm and college, not to spend a lot of time outside the college. Furthermore parking may be complicated; many colleges have special rules to discourage students cars; and having a car can lead to a variety of expenses, time lost, and complications.
I see ?19% of kids live on campus. I suspect cars on campus are not a problem in a school with a lot of commuters. I would expect that having a car is more the norm than not.
We’ve had good luck with the Honda Civic. It had to be totalled after our d was rear ended on the expressway graduation weekend. Fortunately, the car’s safety features protected her. Mileage is about 34 or 35 mpg. She’s now driving a Toyota Corolla SE which also provides good mileage but the SE has more get up and go. I’m currently leasing a 2018 Civic and will probably purchase it when the lease expires. Insurance is expensive in Dallas but with her full ride to UNT, I’m sure there is room in the budget to cover it. ?. Was visiting Dallas Memorial Day Weekend. Drivers are aggressive, especially on the highways. I wouldn’t want to be in any vehicle smaller than the Civic there.
The school website at https://housing.unt.edu/housing_how-to/overview_housing mentions that typical first time freshman are required to live on campus, such as the student described in the original post. It also describes various benefits of freshman getting immersed in on-campus activities in non-quoted sections of the page.
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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranks cars every year. We test drove three of the top safety pick vehicles on the list and D chose a Subaru.
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/top-safety-picks?tspPlusOnly#award-winners
Check out a Chevy Cruze Hatchback and Chevy Sonic Hatchback. Both are at about the price point you mentioned.
UNT waives housing requirement for students who have to live with their parents and commute to the school. Her mom is a self-proclaimed control freak. There is a reason, she agreed to give her a car.