Advantages/disadvantages to having car on campus

Parents Forum
1

<p>My D goes to a large school which happens to have a town right outside campus. She wants to bring her car her senior year and Her dad and I are less than crazy about the idea.</p>

<p>We think it is unecessary for her to have a car. Her argument is that if there is an emergency, if she is sick, or if she "needs to get away and come home" for a weekend she can just do so. We live a full 4 hours away from campus.</p>

<p>We feel that driving under upset emergency situations, or when exhausted is EXACTLY what we don't want her to do. She also would be expected to use her car for fundraising activities which take place on weekends and involve driving 3-4 hours each way, having a tiring weekend of activity, and then driving a carload of students back.</p>

<p>Her rationale too is that she could use her car for trips to Walmart, which, quite frankly, we feel is no good reason to have a car as it is a quick cab ride or ride with her many friends who already have a car on campus.</p>

<p>I would love to hear other parent's opinion, as well as student opinion on this matter.</p>

2

<p>We owned the cars our kids used. Since the cars were ours, we simply said NO. I would suggest that if this car is not a necessity, that your daughter be asked to pay ALL expenses related to the car…gas, maintenance, INSURANCE, car payments if any. It can be mighty pricey to own a car!</p>

3

<p>Is there a Zipcar on her campus? As a compromise, you can offer to subsidise (to a reasonable degree) her rentals. It was much cheaper for D to rent a Zipcar than to have her own car on campus. $8/hour, up to max $65 bucks a day - including gas, tolls, insurance, maintenance, the whole nine yards!</p>

4

<p>If she doesn’t have her own car are you ok with her riding with some other exhausted volunteer?</p>

5

<p>Go with your gut on this. With my Dd, the older of my two, I would not have wanted her to be able to drive, much less have a car, while she was at college. She wasn’t a very experienced driver, and her college was in a busy east coast city where weather and driving conditions were difficult. Fortunately, she never pressed us. She didn’t need to drive, but there were times I’m sure it would have been a convenience. We took her off of our policy while she was away at school, and put her back on when she was at home for summer and vacations.</p>

<p>My son, on the other hand, went to school an hour + from where we live and he grew up, he was used to driving in the city, is extremely responsible and an excellent driver. He took his car to campus as a Freshman, and it worked out just fine. He would drive home himself over vacation, used it for his internships, and sometimes would drive his friends to stores or to the airport. He never let anyone drive his car (our rule) and never had a problem.</p>

<p>If the car is not in her name, and not insured by her ( I assume it’s still on your policy, and the car is actually yours, legally) you can tell her you don’t want the liability. Until my kids had their own insurance, DH and I had rules about their driving and had no qualms about that. If she is independent, the car is legally hers and she’s paying for her own insurance , then it’s out of your hands- but I gather that’s not the case.</p>

6

<p>"…she wants to bring HER car her SENIOR year…" Is her car, well, hers, or do you own/pay for it? Senior year of college – so she’s 21 or 22? Will she be graduating from college in the spring? Then what? Will she be working, and if so, will she be allowed to have her car to drive to work? Is she an experienced driver? And what about the volunteer expectations – is this part of a sorority or club she’s in? Does she have to announce she has a car to the group? </p>

<p>My d is 2 1/2 hours away, a sophomore. She did not have a car on campus last year, and there were some things that were quite difficult for her. Now, part of her situation is that the bus system there is not great, esp. on weekends and there really isn’t a cab service available. </p>

<p>This year, she does have her car there, and we’ve all seen several advantages. One of the biggies is that we don’t have to take a day off work to go pick her up for breaks, etc. Those shopping runs have been helpful, as she’s able to get her own prescriptions (rather than have things mailed to her), and other simple things, like supplies for the breakfast she eats in her room, cleaning supplies, etc. </p>

<p>It has also opened up several options for her major – as a journalism major, she’s been able to travel to off-campus locations to interview and photograph folks for student media. She’s in the process of applying for some on-campus work that would require her to travel for news gathering.</p>

<p>I was concerned she might become the “doormat-taxi” for friends who always wanted taken places, but that’s not the case – she’s just quite quiet about the fact that she does have her car there. You say she can ride with her many friends who have cars on campus. Does she chip in for gas and expenses? Is that an okay situation for all? I thought that might be a solution for d as well, but she found that her schedule and commitments didn’t necessarily match up with the availability or interest of a chauffeur. She’s been able to drive herself to the medical office that’s a 40 minute walk for the ongoing appointments she has w/her ENT, and yes, occasionally out to dinner (on her dime).</p>

<p>As for the cost of the car…it’s paid off. We do cover the insurance and any maintenance as an ongoing gift to her. She’s in charge of gas, parking, etc.</p>

<p>Recently, we were able to “meet in the middle” at an impromptu special event. Without her having a car, that so would not have happened. She’s showing great responsibility with the car, and it has opened up some practical doors for her. It’s also a part of letting her grow up…sigh.</p>

<p>Now, every family and every college situation is different. We had high hopes for the advertised public transportation to be sufficient (it’s not) and for her to be able to get/do everything she needs to on campus (again, not). She talked with the U about getting Zipcars, they weren’t interested. You’ve got to know your kid and their comfort level w/driving (her bf has his license, but he’s in no way ready to take over a car…yet). You need to figure out what the need/desire is, who will pay for what, if there are “terms and conditions” for a car on campus.</p>

<p>When college life started for d, I did not imagine that she would have a car on campus. But I will look forward to coming home from work on Tuesday, and seeing her pull into the driveway that evening for Thanksgiving break.</p>

7

<p>Both our kids attended schools over 2,000 miles away. They both had / will have a car all 4 years. They started driving at 16 and slowly worked up to be able to drive longer distances on bigger freeways. Also city driving in a variety of locations. I liked them having the mobility and not having to rely on others.</p>

<p>Your child is graduating college soon. How do they get to an internship, a job interview? They have to learn sometime.</p>

8

<p>If she owns the car, she pays for insurance, gas, repairs, parking (which can be expensive on some campuses), etc., and she’s a senior in college, then she should be able to have the car whether you’re crazy about it or not.</p>

<p>Advantages -

  • mobility
  • sense of freedom
  • ability to drive to interviews/internships
  • easier to just drive home if desired</p>

<p>Disadvantages -

  • cost of parking
  • cost of gas
  • probably increased insurance if she drives more
  • being bugged to drive other students around
  • being bugged by other students to borrow the car along with liability if permitted
  • increased chance of vandalism to the car
  • greater chance of an accident (since she’ll drive it more)
  • cost of potential parking tickets
  • safety issue if she drives when she shouldn’t - too tired, been drinking, is sick, etc.
  • according to you - implied obligation to drive extensively for volunteering which adds cost
  • increased responsibility in carting passengers around</p>

<p>From what you said it sounds as if it’s more that she just ‘wants it’ there probably for the freedom and potential mobility. She should be able to if she wants but hopefully she’ll think through the advantages and disadvantages and costs first.</p>

9

<p>A couple big negatives:</p>

<p>1) The other students who don’t have cars will constantly be asking her to give them rides to various places, and/or she will be expected to be the driver to various events (at a significant gasoline expense).</p>

<p>2) Other students will be asking her to borrow her car, and it may be hard for her to say “no” out of fear of seeming “mean”.</p>

10

<p>Does she need one, no, does she want one, yes. It’s like high school kids that have a bus option to take to school but want to drive because the bus just isn’t cool. Not wanting her to drive long distances is NOT a good reason for her not to take a car to school however. It’s something she should already be experienced doing as a senior in college.</p>

<p>Our DD will have a car all 4 years for the exact reasons your DD is pointing out–if she needs medical care, she needs a way to get there but she has chronic health issues too. At a couple of the schools she was considering she would not have needed a car because of other ride options for her or proximity to medical care.</p>

<p>Let her take the car, score big bonus points for being reasonable parents, just make sure that under NO circumstances is she to allow other students to drive that car and if you find out she is allowing that, the car comes home. As for her giving rides to other kids-charge them gas money if they want a ride.</p>

11

<p>D1 had her mini cooper at school for 4 years. It was very convenient for her. She was responsible with her car. She gave people rides if they were going her way, but she never allowed others to drive the car. The big plus was she didn’t have to worry about transportation home on break. She also had a job off campus and the car made it possible. We paid for everything except the gas.</p>

<p>D2 doesn’t have a car in school because she can’t drive and where we live now there would be no place for her to park it. D2 is less mobil, but not unhappy about it. She also has things to do off campus, but we pay for her taxi and that’s $15 round trip. It is not necessary cheaper not to have a car.</p>

12

<p>If your daughter were living at home now or, better yet, if she were not in college and was living in her own place right now at her current age, what would your policy about the car be? That is what I would do in the present situation. Though she is still in college, she is living in her own “home” outside of your house, leading and regulating her own life. She is a college senior and presumptively 21 and unless there is some significant reason to the contrary, needs to be treated like an adult. So, without regard to the fact that she is living at school, what would your policy be about the car with your adult daughter?</p>

<p>We got our daughter her own car, in my name, when she was in high school. Her mother and I both worked and our daughter needed her own transportation for her own job and a myriad of after school performing arts classes and related activities. We could not be her chauffeurs. When she went to college, in a major city 13 miles from our home, the car went with her. Again, she needed transportation for her weekend jobs and to give her the full ability to live independently. While we always had some degree of apprehension and concern that any parent would have as their kid increasingly “leaves the nest”, we felt it important that our daughter be able to control and regulate her daily living, and her car was a part of that, and that she be shown that we trusted her to make responsible decisions.</p>

13

<p>DS#1 did not take a car until his senior year, but by then he just felt like he’d had to ask too many friends for rides. DS#2 took a car his sophomore year. We had one to spare (4Runner with 260k miles) and were either going to get rid of it or let him take it. At a minimum it’s saved us a couple of trips to move him out/get him home. It is something of a hassle at many schools living on campus–parking restrictions etc. He has to move it periodically but is moving off campus next year.</p>

<p>My thoughts are if you have an available vehicle, why not?</p>

14

<p>I had a car at college my senior year, but it was my car and I paid all expenses. I would not provide a car to my kids at college (didn’t for the first 2, won’t for the 3rd), but if they purchased a car with their own funds and paid the expenses, I don’t see what argument I would make against their doing so.</p>

15

<p>I had a car on campus during two periods when my family had an extra car available. When I had it as a sophomore, it was basically useless. But when I had it as a senior, it provided easy transportation to job/graduate school interviews that were within a few hours’ drive away from my campus. That was a big plus for me.</p>

<p>Neither of my kids had a car at college. Neither of them applied for jobs or graduate programs near their colleges, so they wouldn’t have benefited from a car for travel to interviews the way I did. But both lived off-campus and had difficulty buying groceries. If they had cars, they could have gotten to supermarkets and relied less on on-campus food and takeout meals. This would have been cheaper and possibly more healthful.</p>

<p>On the other hand, they have developed considerable skills in living without a car in various environments. One is now 26 and the other 23, and neither has ever owned a car. The older one is moving (today, as it happens) to Los Angeles, of all places, and still does not feel the urgent need for a car. (I realize this is bizarre.)</p>

16

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Let’s see how quickly he changes his mind once he’s there!</p>

17

<h1>1D took a car to school last year when #2D started college. It is the “kid car” and we believe no freshman needs to have a car at school. Instead of it sitting in the driveway, we let her take it.</h1>

<p>Pros: It was handy - she could come home (4 hour drive) if she wanted to without worry of train tickets, picking her up at the station here & getting to the station in the city near college, could easily get to the Max station (no convenient bus service) for trips into town. Grocery shopping and other misc errands could be done at once instead of bits and pieces due to riding her bike. We didn’t have to pick her up at breaks.</p>

<p>Cons: Gas. Insurance went back to normal as she had the car full time.</p>

<h1>2D took a car this year. We “bought” a very, very lightly used car from MIL as she was no longer able to drive. She goes to school only 75 minutes from home, so we were still paying the higher insurance.</h1>

<p>Pros: Grocery shopping/errands no longer dependent on her bike or bus schedules, she can come home for a quick trip if she wants to, we don’t have to drive up and get her & then drive back on breaks. She doesn’t drive on campus, so minimal miles are added to the car.</p>

<p>Cons: none, really. Maybe the cost of adding another car to the policy.</p>

<p>Both daughters have been driving since they turned 16. They’re good drivers and know their limits. Neither will let anyone else use the car. Neither will drive after drinking. (#1D walked 1 mile home after a party a couple of weeks ago, then had to let the car stay where it was as she caught the flu.) We don’t have any problem affording the insurance and maintenance. Both will keep the cars they have so it will be one less payment for them to have once they are out of school.</p>

18

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<p>He may not change his mind. </p>

<p>He found an apartment within walking distance of his job, in a neighborhood that has a walk score of 97, has ZipCars available, and is within bicycling distance of the beach. I didn’t know such places existed in Los Angeles. </p>

<p>I also didn’t know my son was that skilled at apartment hunting.</p>

19

<p>zeebamom–our DD will need a car on campus, yes NEED for several reasons. Had she picked a couple other schools she would not have needed one, but she needs one at the school she is attending.</p>

<p>For those with kids with cars on campus–if the campus is in a “less dangerous” place then your home, say you live in the city and this campus is in the country, there is a good chance you can get a reduced rate on the insurance on that car being “garaged at” the school. Now, if the opposite is true, your rate might go up :D.</p>

20

<p>I think it really depends on your son/daughter and the school. In our case, older d had a car for a post-bac extra year art program when she lived about 25-30 minute drive from campus and really did need car to get around. Younger d had a car her senior year, she lived off campus, not a long walk but because she was in theater, most nights she did not leave campus until after midnight so having a car helped avoid long walks in the cold at night. She had also stayed that summer and needed a car to drive to one of her part-time jobs. When they had cars, it was convenient for grocery shopping and driving home on vacation. Major problem with having a car on campus other than whatever the particular parking situation might be was having to deal with car maintenance like shoveling car out from snow, oil changes, etc.</p>