Top 10: College Cars, Can You Name Them AND What Did YOU Drive?

I drive my moms 99 accord, then for financial reasons, had to drive a later model nissan sentra for a while before buying a clean well maintained 93 infiniti J30. Loved that ride, but boy did it have its share of problems and sucked gas like a truck!

In college, I had a descent 89 Buick Century that taxied my stuff, my friends stuff, my girlfriend's stuff. During my Junior Yr, I bought a 90 Acura Integra manual 4dr (w/the Honda engine) knowing that my girl was going to need her own car --- so a 2nd car was necessary. It was 1998 and I paid $1200 for that Acura. The clutch was replaced, but the speedo did work --- it was fast. A few years later, I sold the Acura for $1500 and paid $2500 for a 90 Cadillac Seville which lasted me about 3 years. It was a small Seville, loaded, but a model year before the STS models were introduced. It had a V8, leather, digit dashboard, and that's all that mattered. We later drove the Century & Seville to MD where they were traded for (newer) used cars until we making enough to buy new.

I had an '03 Lexus IS300 and an '05 G35 Coupe. Guess for the list... Honda Accord and/or Civic... Toyota Corolla... Ford F150.

darn rich kids!!!

right, he was really "rough'n-it" as an undergrad, huh?

By the time I got my first car (1987 Hyundai Excel) I had already graduated from my first semi-tertiary institution. I've worked for several years and owned several cars. I recently started university, though and I currently drive a 1999 Mitsubishi Galant Super Saloon.

I had an 1984 Accord hatchback, lots of x-country including about 35 states. With the seats down I could fit my futon frame at the bottom and tons of other stuff on top. It was cheap, reliable, and great on gas. Not much power, but I did coax it up to 115 once.

Sounds like many folks had reasonably new cars. The newest cars I owned at the time were 10+ years old, like a 74 Celica, older civics, etc. Nothin' super nice for me. However, I also worked on my '69 Camaro at the time, so at least I had some fun!

Oh, and some of my guesses for this list include:
Civic
Corolla
Jetta/Golf
Sentra
Yaris

From my standpoint, I'd rather have my college kid drive a family hand-me-down that has good reliability and safety record like an accord, camry, jetta, etc. rather than something new. AWD would be a great option as well.

I know too many foolish people who bought their kids brand new G35 Coupes, IS350s, and even BMW 3s for their 17 year old high school student's first car that wound up being totaled or at least heavily damaged by their inexperienced kids. Let them get a few years of experience under their belt and then get them something new....

VW jetta, GTI, scion TC, Mercedes C class for the sorostitutes, Grand Cherokee, Accord, Civic...or at least thats what I see a lot of

'60 MGA, '62 MGB, '65 GTO, '68 Alfa Duetto..Those were the days my friend...those were the days ! Spent many road trips in my friends'
VW Beattles, Grand Sports, SS 454's, Boss302's, 442's and Hemi's. All priced under $3,600 new !!!!!!!

I had a jeep wrangler that I went off-roading with almost every weekend when I was at purdue. Badlands off-road park is awesome! I also started the off-road club (PORC). It was the best vehicle I have ever owned, heavily modified of course.

and I was not in a frat, like the article suggested.
It was cheap to maintain and fix. bulletproof too. its good in the winter and fun in the summer. thats why its a great college car.

college '87-91 and drove '77 mercedes 240 D tank. Great but slow.

Miata great college car, as you never have to drive when going out.

01 325Ci

A 1972 Lincoln Continental with a 460. 10 miles a gallon with a tailwind.

1968 Dart GTS 340, Paid for it myself. Wished I would have never sold it.

Here is the short list of cars for my son, who will be a senior in high school this fall (nice used versions available for around $10-$12K):

1. Mazda Miata (late-NB model)
2. Mini Cooper S
3. Subaru Imprezza 2.5RS (not WRX)
4. Toyota Matrix XRS
5. Ford Focus SVT

All are affordable, reliable, and safe (dual airbags, ABS, some DSC)and 1000% cooler than an Accord, Civic, or Camry, etc...