<p>dbwes, my statement may not be true, I admit that I don’t know for sure. But I’m not sure why you are so riled up about it. On my several visits to colleges, practically all of them stated that they do not allow freshman to have a car. Based on what they told which I presume to be true, I standby my statement.</p>
<p>HS Sr. Son drives his dad’s old '98 Accord with 140K miles. We really don’t want him to take it away to college next year because his little sis (HS '12) will need it here at home. </p>
<p>But, if he gets that ROTC scholarship and has to commute from an affiliate college to a host college, he’ll need a ride. In that case, he can take the Accord to college and DD will inherit my '02 Odyssey with 140K miles, a Mickey Mouse antenna topper, and “student of the week at Elem School” bumper stickers. Won’t she be the envy of everyone at LHS? ;)</p>
<p>I, OTOH, get something new when the Ody gets passed down. 
It has to be snowboard and dog friendly. Any thoughts on Subaru Tribeca v. Toyota Highander? </p>
<p>Oh, in answer to the OP’s question, we’ll never buy the kids a new car. Used, maybe. But not new. The first new car is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’d like my kids to appreciate it as their own accomplishment.</p>
<p>I can’t see sending a kid off to college in a car with > 100k miles. Yikes. I would be up nights worrying about him/her. Our area is definitely middle-class, but many of the kids here get new cars. Maybe because there is no public transportation in this area and the kids have endless after-school activities. It was DEFINITELY worth it to me to have my older son handle transportation for him & younger son while I’m at work.</p>
<p>There’s a huge price difference in a new Toyota/Honda than a new Lexus/BMW. I wanted something that will get him through college and maybe a year or two of his first job. My parents were NOT at all wealthy - my dad worked in a chem plant, but I got a new ($8k) Toyota for hs graduation! It’s all about your priorities.</p>
<p>ttparent,</p>
<p>Most of the universities my son looked at did not allow freshmen to bring cars to campus; however, they were all urban or suburban private universities. Most of the universities my daughter is now considering DO allow freshmen to bring cars; they are all public universities in college towns. I suspect part of the reason for the different policies is land value. The urban campuses can’t afford to build so many parking lots. I also think there is a bit more paternalism at the private schools, and they are trying to minimize the opportunities for freshmen to hang themselves.</p>
<p>I have mixed feelings about allowing freshmen to bring cars. My son, the owner of a NEW car, parked that car in his grandma’s garage during his freshman year and drove it on breaks only; we got a large deduction in insurance. (He attends one of the urban private schools.) The public flagship in the town I live in did not allow freshmen to have cars a couple of decades ago, but now does. Frankly, although I think there are good reasons for some students to have cars, I also see the alternative point of view–particularly when I am stuck in some traffic mess near the campus, or notice another piece of the skyline disappear behind a new parking garage.</p>
<p>Son has had his car at school since the summer after freshman year–he worked on campus that summer. For him, it is a convenience, but not a life requirement, same as many of the things we adults have. It certainly does make it easier for him to get home on breaks, since the bus option is so bad it really isn’t an option, there is no train, and we live hours from an airport. Freshman year travel added up.</p>
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<p>Ahem…that depends on the car. DS took our Subaru sedan with 150,000 with him to grad school (on loan from us). He put 17,000 miles on it in the two years he had it with him. The car was maintained well, and serviced per the owner’s manual. It was in great shape even with the 167,000 miles it had upon its return to our home. We just sold it…and to friends…with no ill feelings about doing so.</p>
<p>I would let my kids drive newer cars than me. It is a safety issue. H makes sure D1’s car is serviced with new tires before she goes back school every year. A car is not absolutely necessary at D1’s school, but it just makes her life easier to teach off campus, go grocery shopping, and come home when she wanted to instead of trying to get rides with strangers. If she didn’t take the car, it would just be sitting there anyway.</p>
<p>This ‘must be new for safety reasons’ …hmmm. Since when were minis, for example, known for their safety? And with this logic, you must be replacing your kid’s car with a new one every time the odometer hits 10,000 miles or it becomes two years old. </p>
<p>Buy quality and reliability is a non-issue. Buy a few years old and you save tons. I’ve had two Hondas in my life, both of which easily hit 10 years without needing anything but regular servicing. And of course, there is AAA in worse case scenarios.</p>
<p>A question for those of you that don’t want your kids to drive the old car. Did you have a new car yourself when you were in college or college age? Neither my husband or I did and as a result learned how to deal with car problems and repairs and we did it all without cell phones to call AAA. Actually, we didn’t have AAA to call anyway. I’m not saying I wish accidents or car troubles on my kids, but sometimes the bumps in the road are what you learn from. I would just as soon they learn that stuff while we can help them out. If they start out with a new car isn’t that what they will expect and think is normal? In our family, we think of new cars as a big deal, and not something for the younger drivers - they can buy that with their own sweat and tears. </p>
<p>In my college visits (now numbering close to 20), I’ve found a mixed bag of schools that allow cars. My son’s sort of rural private allows them starting freshman year (as did my Daughters private) and since he is 6+ hours away from home it’s been very handy for him to be able to drive back and forth himself. He has a bike that he often rides to College from his off campus house.</p>
<p>I did not get my car until I was a SR in college, I bought it new with no co-signer, but it was bare bones. I traveled every weekend from Philly to NJ by train for the first 3 yrs and never had a bad feeling about it. Honestly, it actually made me proud, because that car was mine, I felt like a “grown up” when I bought it on my own. I was responsible for everything, pmts, gas, insurance and up keep.</p>
<p>When we bought the kids car, it was made plain and clear to DS1, that he would not be taking it to college, it is the kids car that stays at the house. We did not buy used, because when we looked around, it came out cheaper to buy a new Pontiac G5 than a used Honda (the only used car I would consider, because we love Honda/Acura for their ability to stand up to anything). The Pontiac came with 5 yr/100K miles and was only 13.5K It was a no brainer.</p>
<p>I’m with kathiep on this one. New vehicle or old, the kid (male or female) should know how to change the oil, check and maintain the other fluid levels, change a tire, and deal with a number of typical mechanical scenarios that will allow one to either get off road safely or limp the car to a place of repair without causing additional mechanical harm or threaten llife or limb.</p>
<p>But then I also expect both my s & d to know how to put a turkey dinner on the table. :D</p>
<p>I think used is a great idea for new drivers who tend to have some “mis-judgments” when first driving LOL
Unfortunately the used 1997 vehicle we bought for our daughter to use when she was 16 was very expensive to maintain (German make) and outlived it’s value by Senior year of college. At that point we looked at the cost of a new car (with warranty and little to no maintenance) vs used and went new. We aren’t talking about BMW here… an inexpensive new car with excellent safety features can be little more than a good used car.
It was more for me than her anyway- she loved her old car and didn’t really want to part with it but to pour more money in seemed silly. </p>
<p>I drove an old Volare’ in college …it was pretty ugly but did the job! My roomies all loved to tease me about it…until they wanted a ride somewhere!</p>
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<p>Is this really necessary? It is ok to say “we only give our kids old clunkers,” but when someone says “we buy new car for our kid” then it’s open game for snide remark like that? It is with remarks like that, people have different opinion often do not post here. I didn’t have to say anything because how we spend money is no one’s business. I did it to offer as a different opinion.</p>
<p>FYI - Mini is a safe car under various crash tests. D1 also takes my SUV when the weather gets bad, I then drive H’s car and he drives the Mini.</p>
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<p>oh, that must be a different model year than the used Volare H and I once got stuck with. Our wonderful used Dodge Dart was totaled in an accident (that nearly totaled my H along with it), so we picked up a used Volare from a visiting prof. on his way back to Japan. I should have followed the guy. What a clunker. Some kind of unfixable problem with the carburetor. Years later I found it on a list of the ten worst cars ever made.</p>
<p>It was that experience with a used car that convinced me and H that people who are unable to assess the health of used cars are better off buying new.</p>
<p>haha…I hope it wasn’t mine! I don’t even remember what year it was, but it was an ugly peanut butter color. I only owned it for about 18 months because my first job required a lot of travel so a new car was in order. I got my first Toyota then…I still love Toyotas today.</p>
<p>Your last point was also part of our reasoning for the new car. We were in Pennsylvania, she was in Texas and needed a new car. Not a great time to be buying used…</p>
<p>When S found it hard to go to work from school in the rainy spring season, we offered to get him a “new used car”. The two of us drove to a lot, and after test driving a half dozen, picked the year old 30,000 mi former rental. As we were about to go home, he said he really preferred my 160,000 mile '03 because it had stick shift and drove away with it.</p>
<p>On a side note, I found out that he has transported sick kids three times to a local ER.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of parents who tried to sway their kids’ college decisions by offering them a car if they went to a certain school. In one case, it was an older model Lexus, the other, a brand new Audi.</p>
<p>Oh, tt, I apologize again if you felt singled out by me. I was getting so frustrated with what I felt was a judgmental attitude on this thread, and I ended up coming across the same way myself.
Again – peace.
On a side note – is your name a homage to the Audi TT? Because that would be ironic . . .(LOL).</p>
<p>Just because a car has 100k miles doesn’t necessarily mean it’s old…our Ody hit 100k by its fifth birthday.</p>
<p>DH got his first car after graduation – a bare bones, no A/C, no cassette, manual windows $6000 new 1983 Mazda GLC. He used to take the train out to Paoli and hitchhike the last three miles to his office before that when he was still an intern. (Not that either of us recommends this!) I gave DH the down payment for the car, with the proviso he’d pay me back with his first real paycheck. We had been dating almost a year and it was our first “financial transaction.” He passed the test. :D</p>
<p>Got my first car, a gently used Chevette, about a year later. My dad, a whiz at all things mechanical, helped us vet it. Payments were $87/mo. Got rid of it when we moved into West Philly for DH’s grad school and two cars were unnecessary.</p>
<p>Agree that a new grad buying a first car with his/her own paycheck is a rite of passage that should be savored.</p>
<p>Audi TT is a nice car, but no TT is my son’s initials. I’m sorry too, I usually don’t get involved in expressing my opinion like this. Too each its own is usually my mantra.</p>
<p>If I were wealthy enough, I would buy each of my 3 kids a new car in a heartbeat. Nothing wrong with that. Instead, as many of you have said, the money goes to tuition, retirement savings, living and our recent trip around the world (jk).</p>
<p>So we purchased S a used car as college graduation gift (Summer before senior yr. He also needed it for a job.) He had it for a few yrs. and totaled it this past summer. Since it was used and paid for, he didn’t have collision. So he got very little $ for it. He is now looking for another car that he will have to pay for himself. In some ways, I’m glad it wasn’t new. </p>
<p>D2 is driving the 98 Toyota at school until D1 returns from her semester in Switzerland. Then she (D2 ) will have it. D2 starts a job in NYC after graduation this May, so she doesn’t want a car. She does want to take the 98 Toyota on a road trip across the country w/ friends after graduation. I’d prefer she did this in a new car! </p>
<p>So I don’t think people should put down other people who buy new cars for their kids. It does not necessarily mean their kids are over indulged. New cars are usually safer, less maintenance and often easier to buy (you do not have to search for that good deal).</p>
<p>It would be disingenuous of me to suggest we are lower income or even close. It would also be disingenuous to say I wouldn’t buy my kids new cars if it would barely affect my checking account balance.</p>