<p>A bit of a weird question, but how would I handle a car at Dartmouth? My car is an Audi TTS Coupe. The car is all wheel drive, and is compact. Parking should be a synch... However, my concern is safety and practicality. Could I still make use of my car? Cambridge, MA is not a city where you want to drive. Hanover, NH is a nice little town, but it seemed like there is not much need. Would the coupe still be a good thing to keep? Would others vandalize it? </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your answers!</p>
<p>(P.S - I'm honestly not trying to brag. I sincerely don't want you to get that impression. Anyway, I saw a few Audi S5's at Dartmouth, so I was wondering...)</p>
<p>Google is just so easy to use! A quick search of “dartmouth college parking” brings up:</p>
<p>“Freshmen are not allowed to bring cars to campus.”</p>
<p>and . . .</p>
<p>“Decent parking is in pretty short supply on Dartmouth’s campus. Barring special dispensations, most undergrads are required to park their cars in A-lot—a spacious, off-site lot that is about a mile walk from the center of campus.”</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You can’t “technically” have a car as a freshman (but if you park at a frat they won’t know)</p></li>
<li><p>The long term parking lot on campus (not really on campus) is very far away. (But you can usually park @ a frat which is closer and usually cheaper)</p></li>
<li><p>Hanover winter’s can be pretty hard on a car. (or so I hear)</p></li>
<li><p>It is another expense/ worry.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That said, while there is a free bus service, it can be a pain to figure out the schedule especially for just a trip to Walmart or something and it is useful for a road trip to Boston or something. While we have a couple stores in Hanover there isn’t everything. Best Buy, Walmart and any other big stores require travel. With the internet you can just order most things thou… (BTW: Boston is a bad example since there is actually a coach bus that runs several times a day back and forth)</p>
<p>Long story short… you don’t need a car (which can be a hassle) 99% of the time but sometimes it is helpful. Best idea: Have a friend with a car!</p>
<p>Thanks! I was aware that you couldn’t have a car as a freshman. I was just curious which of you had cars, and which didn’t. Some places essentially require cars (especially here on the west coast). I was just curious if I should bring my car there for sophomore, junior, and senior years. Thanks!</p>
<p>You don’t really need a car. Just become friends with somebody older like the other poster said. The Lebanon/Hanover bus service is free, but the service to Boston, New York, and New Haven on the Dartmouth coach is not. It is pretty affordable though and way more comfortable than driving and has wi-fi and tv.</p>
<p>Would others vandalize it? Who, the envious poor kids? You seem to have an obsession with people vandalizing your car. I think you should leave it at home.</p>
<p>My DS has had a car at school since freshmen winter. He rented parking from a frat. No one has vandalized it. It is a higher end car like yours because he’s a spoiled brat. Actually, it was a family car we didn’t need so it was more cost effective to give it to him than to buy an appropriate college kid clunker. He would tell you he’s a little embarrassed to have a high end sporty car on campus. He plans to trade it in for something less flashy. The only good part is that it has VT plates, so campus police think it’s a profs car and never ticket it.</p>
<p>Actually, you talked about people vandalizing your car and those of others in three threads.</p>
<p>I find it extremely strange that it is something that would occur to you to ask, especially since you have apparently actually been to Hanover and the D campus.</p>
<p>DS has a car because he frequently goes snowboarding on the weekend or on a day with no classes. It’s a convenience for doing something like that, but it’s not a necessity.</p>
<p>Actually, the greatest convenience is that his dad and I don’t have to drive him up and back!</p>
<p>Consolation, I did visit Hanover in late November, prior to the snowfall. However, I was only there for a day, and didn’t have much time to talk with students, other than the tour guide. He said that the car would be fine.</p>
<p>The reason I asked is because we saw a black S5 with a conspicuous scratch along the right. I wasn’t sure if it was keyed, or what. It did have a junior sticker (?) in the back window.</p>
<p>I have no clue why you seem to be on my case all the time…</p>
<p>Also, I’m honestly not a spoiled brat. I paid half of the MSRP with my own, earnestly-earned money. Even then, it was my mom’s car until I got my license (if we were to buy a Civic or Prius for myself, that would have been another major expense).</p>
<p>There is no doubt that a show of wealth is not the greatest idea in Hanover. There are definitely colleges where girls carry handbags worth thousands and many have high end cars. Dartmouth is not one of them.</p>
<p>It does have a phenomenal aid program. DS tells us that while on campus he had no clue who had what, though there are times when the disparity in wealth becomes apparent. There are those who can take low or no paying off campus jobs abroad without being granted extra grants and loans. And when kids on study abroad programs want to travel during and after them, there’s a wide range of what’s affordable. </p>
<p>So I suggest being sensitive to the fact that your classmates might think a high end car is ostentatious and many come from families that have never owned one.</p>
<p>I really doubt, however, that the car was keyed by a student. But I’m not sure I’d want to drive the TTS to Walmart in W. Leb or to WRJ. Especially with OOS plates. Times are tough. Dartmouth has reduced staffing among locals and will lay off more. </p>
<p>Why not get a practical sedan and register it there?</p>
<p>Well, then we’d have to buy another car… That’d be a major expense.</p>
<p>I really don’t want people to think, “Ooh, he’s rich” or “Oh, he’s a show-off.” It’s the coupe version, not the roadster, so I don’t think it will be as ostentatious or flashy.</p>
<p>Again, I wasn’t sure if that S5 (it had a student sticker on the back) was keyed, or just scratched by a tree branch.</p>
<p>I’m trying to be sensible to them. It’s just that we already have the TTS, and we saw a BMW Z4 roadster, and two S5s (one of them was the scratched black one).</p>
<p>I can always explain that it was my mom’s car, and I used that car because it was AWD. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for all your answers! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Douglas: I don’t really think anyone will judge you for your car, at least not seriously. And I really don’t think you should have any issues with it’s safety. Hanover is about as crime-free as they come.</p>
<p>I would highly suggest that you not take your car to Dartmouth. Rather, I suggest that you let me take care of the car while you are at school. I’ll provide you with cab vouchers and bus passes so that you can get around town locally as well as to Boston and NYC. I’ll be sure to take care of the car and wash and wax it regularly. I’m on the West coast as well and will be sure to only drive to the nicer towns such as La Jolla, Pacific Palisades, Palm Springs, Monterrey, Palo Alto, Marin, Lake Oswego and Mercer Island, so as to avoid anybody even thinking about brushing up against the car, let alone trying to key it. Deal? Thanks. Irish</p>
<p>With cars there’s always the trade. You’ll find an A4, A6 or their SUV much handier to drive around several friends. Being able to take 6 on a road trip will do wonders for your popularity.</p>
<p>Yes, but then fuel economy goes down with the A6 and the Q7. I really appreciate that suggestion, and will consider it. But, keep in mind that transporting other youths (aka college students) will raise your insurance costs considerably. And, I’d still be buying an Audi. I think that it was the Audi moniker that was the initial issue. Thanks, anyway!</p>
<p>Not true. Not even sure where you’re coming up with these.</p>
<p>Plenty of people had nice, expensive cars when I was on campus. We’re talking Beamers, Mercedes, Lexuses, everything. Heck, for some people it’s probably an asset, depending on which Greek organization they want to join.</p>
<p>Oh, and to Audi kid - no offense, but don’t be so full of yourself. You’re not the only high school/college-age student in the world who drives a luxury car. This is America, people have seen expensive cars before, and, yes, even seen young people driving them. Nobody at Dartmouth is from Oliver Twist’s orphanage, and no one is going to be dumbstruck, one way or the other, by the presence of an Audi.</p>
(cough, cough)</p>