Thinking About Getting a Car for College?
Being mobile during college may be a concern for some students and not for others. Individuals that don’t live on campus or close enough to take public transportation could find themselves relying on a car because it’s the only way to get them from point A to point B. It isn’t unusual for students to become commuters during their college years.
Students fortunate enough to live on campus or within walking distance definitely have an advantage but of course the idea of having access to a set of wheels at all times is very appealing. After all, not all students plan on living their lives entirely on school grounds. Those thinking about the possibility of getting a car have a number of factors to take into account that will play a large role in their final decision.
The first thing to take into consideration is what a student needs the car for. If you already live on or near campus, that’s one reason to not have a vehicle. However, are there other destinations you need to reach on a regular basis, such as a job or internship? For activities that take you away from campus, is a car the only way to get there? It’s worth looking into public transportation options first to find out which routes and methods are available.
Want a car so you can go where you want, when you want? The type of freedom a vehicle affords is indeed convenient but it also comes with a number of different costs. You not only have monthly car payments to make but insurance payments as well. The concept of insurance alone means jumping online to compare quotes for the best rates on sites like carinquotes.com , which can be intimidating for newbies. On top of that, there’s maintenance fees, such as oil changes, mechanical repairs, tune-ups and—of course—gas.
Where you attend school could also play a huge factor into whether or not having a car would be convenient or a nuisance. Campuses like Stanford University, for example, take the term “tight-knit community” to a new level of meaning. The city and residential streets are very narrow and tend to be crowded, which could make parking a challenge, even for students that live there. It helps to find out what the parking options are and if there are any related fees involved. This is especially important in large, yet dense metropolitan cities, where even the residents are required to purchase street parking permits. That would be another car-related cost to deal with, including the possibility of getting parking tickets or—even worse—getting towed.
Owning a car isn’t a bad thing but if students don’t budget and plan carefully as to how they’ll maintain and store their vehicle, the cons would end up outweighing the pros. It is totally possible to have a car during the college years but it works so much better when it serves as an asset and not a burden.