<p>2 months ago, right before I started my sophomore year, my parents bought me a new 2009 fully-loaded Nissan Altima Hybrid. Very nice car.</p>
<p>I was wondering how many of you parents bought a new car for your kid in college or about to enter college.</p>
<p>Good heavens, no.</p>
<p>Considering the amount of money we were already spending, and considering that at most colleges, a car is not a necessity, buying a car for either of my kids would have been the last thing I would do.</p>
<p>In fact, I even discouraged them from buying cars with their own money.</p>
<p>A new CAR??? I bought her a laptop. Seemed useful. ;)</p>
<p>We replaced a Jeep Wrangler with a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the middle of our son’s junior year. He’s living off campus and we wanted him to have a more appropriate vehicle for the weather and hills of Ithaca. The Wrangler was never intended to go to college. The Grand Cherokee can follow him into his first job if necessary or be handed down to younger brother – or can be used by Mom or Dad as needed if S1 decides to live and work in NYC.</p>
<p>No cars for my kids. They’ll get one when they can afford to buy one themselves. My friends won’t let their kids take their cars to college in cases where the kids do have cars. They don’t want their kid driving others around. That is a heavy responsibility. In the early college years, particularly, it can be hard to say no. Many vices are enlarged greatly when driving is involved and the liability skyrockets.</p>
<p>right. laptop. no car.</p>
<p>lil<em>wayne</em>fan, you are one very fortunate student; I hope you appreciate it. Most parents are already going into debt just to pay the college bills. There’s no way we could ever consider buying our son a car – much less a new one!</p>
<p>You’re kidding, right? We bought our kids an education for college!</p>
<p>Wow, will your parents adopt me? </p>
<p>I’m letting two kids share a 5-year old car at college, which they need for their academic programs.</p>
<p>Nope. They both have cars (where we live and both towns where they go to school there is no public transportation at all - none). But they are both old cars. My daughter’s has a piece of rope you pull to open the hood and the trunk was held closed with bungie cords until my husband found a replacement lock at a junk yard.</p>
<p>First new car will be for me and that is not even a blip on the horizon.</p>
<p>Did buy them both computers.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently a high school senior who wasn’t ready to drive and finally get her license until April of this year. We had been taxi-ing her around for what seemed like a long time. My husband and I both work, she works, does various weekend activities, we do various errands etc during the week and on the weekends and eventually (beginning of this year) it got too crazy and there were times when where she needed to get to really interfered with where WE needed to be, etc. etc…SO, it just turned out that our “older” car, a 2002 Honda Civic was finally paid off (ugh) and it turned out…that it would make a great car for her. She contributed somewhat to it to get it some age related service, and now she pays her insurance / most of her gas - and she has been driving since right before the summer of this year. It made a big difference…she was able to get her self to work all summer, to her volunteer job all summer and to a few activities with friends. Now she gets her self to school at 7:15a.m. and I can get myself off to work at 7:30 …its working out, she doesn’t have a car loan and WE don’t have a car loan…it just worked out that way, although we did have to get a “newer” car as both myhusband and I need cars…but she works, contributes and it makes sense and made things easier for all of us.
If she needs to take it to school if she “goes away” (some where instate) it will most likely go with her…we shall see :)</p>
<p>D doesn’t need a car at college, and if S winds up needing one he’ll take our 9-year-old station wagon.</p>
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<p>lol - way to start a new thread just to brag about your new car :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Same here.</p>
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<p>Same here again.</p>
<p>We have a 1997 Sable that we bought used with only 14,000 miles on it! It has been the teenagers’ car for the past 3 years, with great success. I expect if last child needs a car for co-oping at college, it will get him there.</p>
<p><em>I</em> don’t have a brand new car. The likelihood that I would buy either of my KIDS a new car before <em>I</em> get one is a big fat goose egg. Our kids can use public transportation where they are in college (or in the case of DS where he WAS in college). We loaned DS our oldest car when he was in grad school. He’s done with grad school and we just sold the car (and not to him). </p>
<p>Sorry…but we’re paying for college, and even if we weren’t…the kids can pay for their own cars when they can afford to buy them.</p>
<p>D1 took her mini to school. It was her 17th birthday present.</p>
<p>I did not know it was so uncommon, most people where I live, including myself, get a new car for college. It is like a right of passage</p>
<p>Hah mommusic we got you beat. We have a 1993 Taurus that all three kids will happily drive. S1 had it first until 2007 when he left for college, then S2 took it over and will drive til he leaves for college in August 2010 and then S3 will drive it until he leaves for college in 2013. My husband and I both also drive ancient vehicles that we are praying will hold up for a couple more years. WE will get the first new cars! My oldest son just bought a used car (he’s 21). and S2 and S3 can buy their own cars when the time comes that they actually need one. Lil Wayne you are a lucky dude. You must have a very good GPA.</p>
<p>onthefly, one great thing about college is the opportunity to know and learn from people with different backgrounds. I trust that you will soon realize that you and your friends enjoy comforts and privileges that many others do not.</p>