It’s time for a major shift in household dynamics: The youngsters are headed off to college after 17-or-so years of growing up. The four-plus-year academic journey ahead could be quite tough in myriad ways, including sharing a tiny room with two or three fellow teens.
While many university towns tend to be accommodating for those without a car, the journey home for the holidays and summer is often a lot easier when you have your own transportation. Maybe not a rambunctious sports car or lifted four-wheeler, but rather a safe, reliable automobile with enough cargo space to haul a semester’s worth of dirty laundry.
A new vehicle is great, but for the purposes of this article, we figure your money’s better spent on state and private institution tuition. We recommend keeping your eyes open for used vehicles that are older with somewhere between 70,000 and 125,000 miles, a documented service history and clean title, and a decent set of tires. We’ll expand beyond the standard, go-to Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, too, as there are other options definitely worth considering.
Check out our list of recommended vehicles that hover somewhere around the $7,500 mark and won't break the bank in terms of car insurance costs. They’re also generally considered cheap to maintain, but if you have the option, it never hurts to look into third-party warranty offerings.
The Best Cars for College Students 2025
- Subcompact Car: 2010–2014 Toyota Prius
- Compact Car: 2014–2018 Mazda3
- Midsize Car: 2008–2017 Volkswagen CC
- Full-Size Car: Ford Crown Victoria
- Compact Crossover SUV: 2014–2019 Kia Soul
- Midsize SUV: 2008–2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
- Three-Row SUV: 2009–2012 Ford Flex
- Hot Hatch: 2009–2014 Volkswagen Golf GTI
- Pickup: 2005–2014 Nissan Frontier
- Minivan: 2004–2010 Toyota Sienna
Subcompact Car: Toyota Prius
Price range: $4,500–$12,000
No matter where you live, you're likely to find dozens of Toyota's hybrid Prius model available for sale. We’re recommending the generation sold between the 2010 and 2014 model years, not only because it was an affordable car, but also because Toyota sold more of these cars during those four years than it did any year before or since. The Prius reached its peak popularity in 2012, selling over 236,000 units that year. You should be able to find one anywhere.
Unlike buying an economy car in the 1980s, you don’t have to reset your expectations to buy a Prius. These are well-equipped cars with excellent gas mileage and come loaded with standard features like climate control, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), power windows, cruise control, and decent connectivity, even in the lowest possible trim level. The Prius is a great choice for college students because it provides stellar fuel economy, especially if the chosen university is in a city. The hybrid drivetrain is most efficient at city speeds, allowing the electric motor to do most of the work and return an EPA-rated 52 mpg. Best of all, your student will get the nod from all the progressive environmentalists on campus for their green vehicle.
Compact Car: Mazda3
Price range: $6,000–$20,000
There’s a pretty wide spread of prices here on the 2014-2018 Mazda3, and it’s because, at the newer and more-expensive end, we’re including the relatively rare, somewhat sought-after Mazda3 Hatchback in the Grand Touring trim, which was pricey when sold as a new car. The Hyundai Elantra and Honda Civic are direct competitors, though they aren’t as fun to drive or as nice to look at.
You’ve got two Mazda3 models to choose from here: a sedan or a hatchback. For college students who move every year, the hatchback is a nice score, but as we’ve noted, it's probably going to be a bit more expensive. You could also find either the sedan or the hatch with a six-speed manual transmission, but it’s not completely necessary. Connectivity is good, with great sound systems, available Bluetooth, and often an AUX and USB input.
At the top of the trim ladder, these are hilariously fun and reliable vehicles, even with the six-speed automatic transmission, but even the lesser trims are pleasant to drive. For our money, they’re also among the best-looking small cars out there.
Midsize Car: Volkswagen CC
Price range: $7,500–$17,000
This is an unconventional choice, for sure. Most parents are going to be seeking out the ubiquitous Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, or maybe even the Hyundai Sonata or Kia Optima, but far fewer will be looking for a Volkswagen CC.
Yet, it has a lot to offer. Unlike the more popular choices, the 2008-2017 Volkswagen CC is basically an entry-level luxury car. If VW had a brand analogous to Lexus, this would be one of the models. The CC is larger than more conventional options, and it's a lot more pleasant to drive and to look at.
The other surprising thing about the CC is how few people complain about owning it. You’ll find close to zero complaints for the later model years. Part of that, of course, is due to the fact that there weren’t many around, but even among people who did complain about them, it was frequently an illuminated check engine light, which can often be quickly diagnosed by a good mechanic.
Full-Size Car: Ford Crown Victoria
Price range: $3,000–$9,000
When a car goes to college, you have to figure it’s probably going to live a hard life. So, what’s the point of spending more than you absolutely have to? You want something that’s going to be capable of putting up with some abuse, so why not choose something that was designed to withstand use by law enforcement officers and New York City cab drivers?
The Crown Victoria is a throwback to a different era of automobiles, when the assembly line would lower a body onto a frame rather than building the body and frame as one. The world simply does not build cars like that any longer—direct competitor Chevrolet certainly hasn’t in a really long time. If you can swing it, buy the latest one you can afford, because they were better equipped than the earlier cars. This generation also had a bolt-in cast aluminum subframe that mounted the powertrain, an overhauled front suspension that provided much better handling, and a steering rack to replace the recirculating ball setup from the previous generation.
Compact Crossover SUV: Kia Soul
Price range: $8,000–$17,000
Again, we've got a big pricing spread here, but we’re talking about Kia Soul models sold between 2014 and 2019, so the newest may still feel somewhat new. At the lower end of the price range, this small SUV is essentially the exact same vehicle, so find the cleanest one you can. Another candidate in this space is the Subaru Crosstrek, though examples in similar shape will carry a premium in price and a deficit in fuel economy.
The Soul might be the ultimate college car. It's got everything: fuel efficiency, room for a few other kids when necessary, tons of cargo space with the seats folded down, a decent stock audio system, and plenty of room for personalization from the aftermarket. Later models even included features like adaptive cruise control, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto.
Midsize SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe
Price range: $6,000–$13,000
Midsize SUVs are by far the most popular vehicle segment in the United States right now, so if you’re shopping for one for a college student, you’re going to be looking at one that’s significantly older, with higher mileage. That’s the case with our 2008-2013 Hyundai Santa Fe recommendation. You’re not going to find the current generation, and you’re not going to find the generation before it. To hit the $7,500 price point, you’re looking at a Santa Fe that’s around 10 years old.
Of course, these aren’t generally cars that have been drag-raced or beat up off-road, so you’re more likely to find one that’s been a good family car, and you may be fortunate enough to find one from a single owner.
You’ll want to look out for an SE or a Limited trim, with the 3.3-liter V6 and a five-speed automatic transmission. The common all-wheel drive (AWD) system is a stout Borg-Warner Torque Management setup, which should provide decent service for the (expected) four years of college.
Three-Row SUV: Ford Flex
Price range: $6,000–$27,000
We’ve recommended the Ford Flex to a lot of people since it arrived in 2009. Most drivers find they absolutely love them, thanks to their impressive passenger capacity, their cargo space, and their good track record for reliability. It’s a good car for sure.
If a student needs room to haul more than a couple of people, the Flex offers seven- or eight-passenger configurations. The seats stow nicely and provide a massive amount of cargo room. The Flex wasn’t what you'd consider “fast,” until the Ecoboost engine came along after 2012, but it's very quiet and very nice to drive. And in AWD configuration, it's nearly unstoppable in bad weather, even if you leave the all-season tires on all winter.
Of course, the Flex also looks like a Brinks truck. So, just strap a surfboard to the roof and roll with it. It's cooler than it has a right to be, especially if your kid happens to be in a band.
Hot Hatch: Volkswagen Golf GTI
Price range: $5,000–$15,000
The Volkswagen GTI used to be half the reason kids went to college in the first place. They were everywhere. Not so much these days, but the things that made the Volkswagen GTI popular amongst college students and recent college graduates in the 1980s still hold true. We recommend 2009-2014 models, known among enthusiasts as the Mark Six (Mk6). The GTI is immensely fun to drive—especially in six-speed manual form—and it still offers great cargo space and functionality if you’re not wedded to using the rear seats. You’d be shocked at how much stuff—from soft bags to furniture—you can cram in the cargo area.
The Mk6 VW GTI is also amply safe. It had up to eight airbags, depending on the model year, and always scored well in Euro NCAP crash testing, earning as many as 36 out of 37 points for occupant protection—very strong safety ratings, indeed. It doesn’t provide the safety features of a more modern car such as blind-spot monitoring or lane-departure warning, but wear a seat belt without fail, and you’ve got a really good chance of walking away unharmed in a crash.
Pickup: Nissan Frontier
Price range: $8,000–$18,000
Here’s a news flash: Nissan still builds the Frontier. In the dark days when companies like Ford and GM were convinced that nobody in their right mind would ever want a truck smaller than the USS Nimitz, Nissan sold tons of these creaky old pickups from the Pleistocene era. They were popular with people who wanted both a pickup and some hope of actually fitting it inside their garage.
Nissan has since redesigned the Frontier, but older models built between 2005 and 2014 still represent good value for college students. The only major issue these trucks had was transmission-related, and it wasn’t actually the transmission at fault. In trucks with an automatic transmission, the oil cooler runs through the radiator; when it fails, the transmission fluid and the coolant can mix, which spells certain death for the transmission. A good shop can install an external oil cooler to bypass the radiator and avoid the problem altogether.
The other thing that might be a concern with the aged Frontier is its outdated safety features, which contributed to is slightly concerning safety ratings. If safety is of primary concern, you'll want to review the Frontier's performance in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash tests.
Minivan: Toyota Sienna
Price range: $6,000–$11,000
Yeah, minivans are uncool. But try moving a drum kit in a Miata.
The second-generation Toyota Sienna, sold between 2004 and 2010, is packed with safety equipment like anti-lock brakes, brake assist, and traction control, along with plenty of airbags to protect passengers.
And here’s an interesting statistic: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) collects all kinds of safety-related data beyond its own crash tests. For this generation of Sienna, the IIHS found that the death rate of Sienna occupants involved in crashes was zero. Not a single Sienna occupant died in multi-vehicle, single-vehicle, or rollover crashes in 2008 or the equivalent model year.
Note that the earliest models of this generation had transmission complaints, but by the time it drew to a close, those issues had been all but resolved.
