<p>Until soccerguy, I had forgotten about the grocery store. For a student who lives off campus, that certainly does make a car a significant convenience. But that wouldn’t include most freshmen.</p>
<p>I don’t dispute that a car makes trips home easier (unless you go to, say, Stanford and you live in, say, Wichita), but I wouldn’t want my freshman to make too many of those. Ditto, those other trips out of town.</p>
<p>When I was an upperclassman and needed a car occasionally, I used the services of a small rental car agency near campus that had a fleet of really basic, inexpensive cars that they rented cars to students. I am sure that Brody Auto Rental has long since gone out of business, but a student who uses a car only occasionally may find Zipcar (if it’s available) much less expensive than keeping a car at college.</p>