<p>Good morning folks, As the months count down and fall is rapidly approaching, we’re having a debate in our home about our incoming freshman’s car…to take or not to take. Here’s they way I see it:</p>
<p>Pro:
Easy transport to and from airport (we live in IL)
Easy transportation to go see cousins in B’ham, Aunt in Atlanta & Grandparents in Mobile
Easy transport to local stores</p>
<p>Con:
Pressure from other students to borrow, even though the rule will be absolutely no
Won’t have his small SUV here for bad winter days, for Dad to appropriate</p>
<p>Also, although we’ve been quite lucky so far (knock on wood), who knows what will happen with the whole drinking thing in college. The thought of him making a dumb decision as a freshman is frightening. He’s a responsible kid, but I still wonder if it’s not best to send him carless for the first year, let him make any mistakes walking.</p>
<p>Our D didn’t take her car this year (first year student) though others who came from her HS did. In fact, she’s ridden with them to the airport or even back to TX. D wants her car next year. </p>
<p>For my D, it was just one less thing to worry about. She tends to fret if anything goes amiss with her car (as opposed to her brothers who don’t bother to know when their next oil change is due). But for a friend from HS, her D would have fretted if she didn’t have a car. We chose the path with less stress, which meant no car. They chose the path with less stress, which meant bring the car. </p>
<p>As for the airport, unless it is a quick trip, your student will probably not want to leave the car there so he will still need to find transportation. </p>
<p>The possible drinking and driving is a valid concern. It appears to me that the freshmen tend to walk to parties and the strip (where they are too young to get a drink, I’d think) but others might be able to chime in here with more knowledge. </p>
<p>We got D a zipcar membership but she hasn’t used it. For that matter, I don’t think she’s used the shuttle for shopping on the weekend. She goes with a friend if she needs to shop. But it is all doable with what is provided by the university, with supplementation by zipcar or friends.</p>
<p>My D -also from IL - took her car, and I know she’s glad she did. She’s been able to do some things she might not otherwise have been able to do (such as rent kayaks from the Rec Center and go kayaking). She’s not one who would be comfortable bumming rides from people, so for shopping and going out it has worked well. She’s also a last minute shopper, so the school shuttle probably wouldn’t work for her. She drove to the airport and parked there for both Fall and Thanksgiving breaks, and she drove home (with another student) for Winter Break. She’ll probably drive to Florida (again with another student - I don’t want her driving long distances alone) for spring break. I offered to fly down to help her move home at the end of the year, but she declined and said she could handle putting her stuff in storage and driving home without H or me. There are extra expenses for gas and the parking permit, but I’d rather have the car being used rather than depreciating in the garage at home. Maybe I’m naive, but I didn’t worry about her making poor choices or lending the car out.</p>
<p>Pressure from other students to borrow, even though the rule will be absolutely no</p>
<p>this ^^^</p>
<p>It will be very hard for your child to turn down requests. Everyone wants to get along and make friends. Your child will either be pressured to lend or feel pressured to drive everyone all the time.</p>
<p>My son took a manual transmission car to college…that eliminated a lot of borrowing requests. lol</p>
<p>If your son does take a car, I’d recommend that he NOT tell people he has one. Park it, and not mention it. Treat it like it’s not there.</p>
<p>Look into the cost for insurance in a different state. You will likely need a separate policy, your agent may not be able to provide it for you through your current policy. </p>
<p>mine took her car. she lived in ridgecrest, so it was in covered parking, which it wouldn’t have been at home. she doesn’t drink, so i was not worried about bad choices. nobody has ever asked to borrow, that i know of. that’s weird! do people actually ask that?</p>
<p>i like her having a car and having the freedom to do what she wants/needs to do and not having to depend on others for rides. she parked at the airport once or twice, but now she is easily able to get a ride with someone who is going that way or even a friend who is happy to take her and return to campus.</p>
<p>you can justify it to make whatever decision you want be the right one, but it all comes down to what is right for your family.</p>
<p>for us, her having a car there is the right decision.</p>
<p>We have been hemming and hawing about letting our DS bring his car down to school with him. He isn’t insisting and we have decided to skip it for the first semester. If he decides that for good reason it really would alleviate some pressures by having it then we will revisit the idea. Not worried about him being pressured about loaning it out, he is a strong willed kid and not readily pressured particularly when it comes to his car.</p>
<p>My kid is in his 2nd year at Bama. He drove his truck there his freshman year. I don’t believe anyone has ever asked to borrow his truck and I feel certain he would not loan it! He does make a weekly trip to Walmart, usually on Sunday and sometimes friends go along. As far as parking, it sleeps in the covered parking garage, so it gets better treatment in AL than in does in TX. I really dont worry much about him having a vehicle there. My worries are when he heads to AL or home to TX. Its the road trip that worries me the most.</p>
<p>My son managed without a car (and he really doesn’t want one) but it did cause some issues when it came to needing transportation for volunteer work (which was required for at least one of his classes). He pretty much refuses to figure out the bus system (tried it once…didn’t like it)…his loss, I guess. Hopefully, he will figure it out if he ever needs it.</p>
<p>Son is a freshman at Alabama this year, and since we live in Tennessee, he uses his car primarily to drive back and forth for breaks. He does use it for the occasional Publix run on game days, and it definitely came in handy when he and a roomie needed transport for volunteer work. He doesn’t drink, so that is a non-issue. I would say, other than transpo home, he could have survived very nicely so far without one. That being said, HE feels better having it at hand, ‘just in case’. No problem with ‘askers’ so far, although as M2K mentioned, even if he would lend it out, having a manual (and only two seats) probably makes it a non-issue.</p>
<p>My son will be taking his car to school with him as a freshman next year. I’d rather he have the flexibility the car offers, and it will be safer parked on campus in the covered garage than parked on the street in front of our house here.</p>
<p>I asked whether a girl needed a car of the panelists at Panhellenic Preview, and the sorority girls there said overwhelmingly NO.</p>
<p>It is probably very easy to ride with another girl anywhere you might be headed, or even have a ride to somewhere specific as a favor. This is what they indicated.</p>
<p>After driving eleven hours Thursday, and eleven hours yesterday, partly in dark and rain both times, tired and sleepy to and from T-town, …I’m not comfortable letting DD make that trip alone. It is a whip.</p>
<p>I wont let him make the trip from NY to Tuscaloosa by car alone, its just too far for a somewhat new driver to make. 17 hours I believe. Perhaps a few years down the road. We have friends in the car transportation business so I think that we would have it brought to him and then back home.</p>
<p>It is definitely possible to get by without a car and I considered not letting my S take his, but since he got a few outside scholarships that more than covered the costs associated with him taking it, I felt he’d ‘earned’ the right to make the choice.</p>
<p>He is not much of a drinker and I agree with the above which said most students will walk to parties, so that was never a concern for me. Also I don’t believe he’s ever been asked to loan his car to anyone (and don’t think he would loan it as he’s pretty protective of his car), but has been asked to provide rides to friends on more than a few occasions. </p>
<p>As others have posted his car is mainly there for him to get home for breaks and so far that’s worked out great. The drive is about 7 hours for us, so he can leave at lunch time and be at his destination by dinner time. If he had a longer drive and had to drive late or I was concerned he’d get too tired during the drive, then I would have had second thoughts. Also the gas money for a 500 mile trip is much cheaper than the airfare.</p>
<p>If he weren’t going to be driving home for breaks, I’m not sure I would have wanted him to have it because there are very limited reasons to be driving other than that. </p>
<p>Next year he’ll be off-campus in an apartment and so now I also like the fact that he’s had his car there and knows his way around town a bit.</p>
<p>It does give you a little more peace of mind for airport runs. Of course, there are also private taxis for that.</p>
<p>If he takes the car there, it won’t be here for when he comes home for breaks. </p>
<p>There are pluses and minuses to each side. You can always start off without and then let him bring it for second semester, or drive it there back from fall break. Just because he doesn’t have it day one does not mean that can’t change later.</p>
<p>We keep having this problem with D’s car in our driveway. It is dead right now. </p>
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<p>Good advice, as usual, from Class2012Mom (she also cleans toilets well). </p>
<p>I would think another thing to consider is whether you’d want your student to have to drive through winter weather to/from Christmas. Isn’t the OP in northern Illinois?</p>
<p>My ds did not take a car this (his Freshman) year and I’m glad for all the above-mentioned reasons. It has been a hassle at times in terms of getting to a supermarket to get healthier foods than the cafeteria serves but he managed to get rides. The plan next year is for him to take a car which will make trips easier ( 180 miles each way) and not have to rely on others. He’s trying to get an internship during the school year so a car widens his options.</p>
<p>We are currently on the drive home to Dallas, 9 hours. I purposely made this trip in my car as it roughly gets the same gas mileage and similar in size to D’s car. I’m making her do every bit of the driving today. This way I’m with her to see the roads, truck traffic, etc. She know how far she can get on a tank if gas and where she needs to stop for gas. I’m glad the rest areas along the route are all very nice, fully staffed and security guards. </p>
<p>As for on campus, I know my D will feel better having a car to run and get whatever she needs from Target or such. Also an easier ride to the clinic if she gets sick. That’s a long walk or bus ride if one is not feeling well.</p>
<p>I believe that thee are plenty of kids that can easily get by without one. Personally, I think it depends on each kid. A bicycle would be great! Something like a beach cruiser with a nice sized basket for groceries from the Publix. </p>
<p>D will only drive her car home for Winter break and maybe summer. If we come down to help move her out then DH will probably bring his car trailer to haul the car home. That’s how we plan on getting it there in August. </p>
<p>We are halfway across Mississippi and so far D has been handling the driving great!</p>
<p>DD did not take a car freshman year. In fact we didn’t let any of our 4 children take cars their freshman year. Just an opinion but we felt it is part of the “college experience” to have to figure out how to get places and get things that they need minus a car. It forces kids to reach out to others and make friends. It also helps them to deal with what ever come their way instead of hopping in the car to escape. If DD had a car then she never would have met her sweet boy (she called and asked for a ride to the Verizon store because her sorority sister broke her phone).</p>