Many young adults start learning to drive as soon as they are 17, it is a rite of passage and affords young adults a level of freedom and independence that they have never experienced before. Having a car is great and if your child heads off to start a degree after A-Levels you will want to consider the pros and cons of taking a car to university.
Our 17-year-old was very keen to learn to drive and had already had a go behind the wheel with a Young Learners Lesson, this had given her a taste of driving when she was 15. We had bought her the theory books for her birthday too, which you can buy from Amazon.
Our daughter had a car for her 17th birthday, a pretty extravagant gift but we had many reasons for wanting her to be able to drive. By having a car at 17 she was able to practice driving in it each week between her lessons with her driving instructor. I took her out regularly which vastly cut down the number of driving lessons that she needed. This was financially good for her too as driving lessons are not cheap!
Chloe passed her driving test the first time after about four months of having lessons. When your child passes their test it takes a couple of weeks of adjustment, at first, I asked her to text me each time she arrived at her destination. This gave me peace of mind and helped me feel relaxed about her driving herself.
In my opinion, learning to drive continues well after the test, the test is a benchmark but confidence and experience grow the more they drive. We put a few rules in place including how many friends she could drive and how far she could drive for that first month, no big road trips!
I remember not long after she passed she got a couple of parking tickets, one for going into a bus lane and one parking fine. It takes time to learn all the rules of the road. We made her pay the fines so that she learnt the hard way and made sure that she knew those fines were her responsibility.
Learning to drive gave her lots more freedom and also helped me out. After a couple of weeks, she started driving to sixth form and also took her teenage brother to school. This immediately saved me over £25 a week in bus fares.
Being able to drive also meant that I wasn’t mums taxi anymore, well at least for her! It meant that Chloe could drive herself to hockey training and matches plus see her friends with ease, it was a whole new experience for both of us.
When it came to going to University she was a very confident and able driver and the decision on whether to take her little car to university was one that we discussed. We thought about the pros and cons of taking a car to university and whether it was something we wanted or not for the first year. Deciding whether or not to keep your car is a daunting decision as many young people do not want to give up that independence but there is more to consider than just independence. You need to consider parking spaces, insurance premiums and petrol money.
It is a big dilemma; do I take my car to university or not? For some, taking their own car to university is a no-brainer because of the freedom it represents. But for others, it’s just an extra cost during an already expensive time. We have laid out the pros and cons of taking a car to university.
The Pro’s of taking a car to university
Firstly the convenience of having a car is huge. Once you have got used to having a car it is really annoying not to have one! At university students will be doing their weekly food shopping and carrying their shopping home. Carrying from out-of-town stores like the cheaper supermarkets of Aldi and Lidl is a pain! It hurts your hands as it is heavy and awkward carrying bags of tins.
Secondly, if you join a sports club then getting to training or playing matches can be a trek. We certainly had concerns about Chloe walking home in the dark winter evening after hockey training. A car can be a safer alternative. The same can be said if the new accommodation is not close to the university.
Some courses like teaching, paramedics, or other health-related courses have placements and they could be some distance away from where you live. Relying on public transport when you need to be at a placement setting twenty miles away for an 8.30 am start could be problematic.
Thirdly visiting friends at other universities for a long weekend is much easier if you have your own set of wheels. You are not subjected to expensive trains, out-of-town train stations and annoying timetables. The same can be said for coming home for a weekend, it is much easier if you drive, but it is often more expensive and inconvenient to rely on public transportation.
Many students also take on a part-time job during their studies, many jobs will be in retail parks or further away from their halls or shared house. In this instance, a reliable car can help college students get to work which helps students manage the cost of university life.
If you already own a car and have paid insurance and MOT it can be seen as a waste of money if your car is sitting empty on your parent’s driveway. If you sell the car, then when you come home for the summer, (which is now 3 months remember) you are back to relying on lifts or sharing your parent’s car. Also, older cars need regular runs and sitting idle at your parent’s is not good for cars.
Finally having a car at university, allows you to explore your new area in your free time. When I was at university in Middlesborough it was so good to be able to escape the city and visit other areas like Whitby for some fish and chips at the seaside! Those day trips give you some breathing space from being in close proximity to the same people all the time.
Cons of taking a car to university
The biggest concern is parking and the cost of parking on a student budget. Many universities encourage you not to bring a car to university citing parking restrictions as a reason. If you are parking at universities you will be charged for a permit which can be an expensive additional cost.
Secondly, very few students are blessed with access to free parking at their accommodation (especially in Halls). In big cities, parking can often be costly and inconvenient. There may be opportunities to rent out someone’s garage or driveway but, there is no guarantee that this will be affordable or close to where you’re staying. It may be easier in the second and third year when students typically live off-site and have privately rented houses.
Another con of taking a car to university is that if you’re the only one with a car in their possession, you can bet that you’ll be asked to drive housemates and new friends about. You will become the designated driver for your sports team training and fixtures. However, there may be mileage paid for that which is a nice little bonus!
If you are not in a sports club many students are less active when at university, they start eating more fast food, drinking more and moving less! When you have a car sitting just outside the front door, it’s very easy to sack off walking to campus in the cold and wet and just drive instead! Having no car forces you to walk or get the bus, which is not only an easy way of getting in your daily steps but also gives you an opportunity to keep fit and healthy.
It is worth noting too that many cities including Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester are bringing in ULEZ charges. This is a fee that is a daily charge if your car does not meet certain conditions. Many older cars and diesel cars will be charged on entering zones. The purpose is to improve air quality, but this cost will definitely impact on students living and working in some of the main cities. Student cars are often older cars and therefore they are unlikely to be exempt from these charges.
Finally running a car is expensive, there are obvious costs including fuel but also the hidden costs, what if you break down, etc as many students will have older cars that are less reliable. Cars can quickly get expensive when they are older and need repairs or fail an MOT test.
The cost of running a car is a large financial commitment when at university. I have written previously about the true cost of university Money doesn’t stretch far as it is and you should evaluate whether or not it would be a reasonable financial decision for you to continue to run your car whilst managing to eat and play.
Choosing whether to take a car to university or not is a big decision. What we decided, in the end, was not to let Chloe take hers in the first year. We felt the con’s outweighed the pros. However, she did take it in the second year when she lived off campus. This made travelling to and from university easier, although at the start and end of each year we did have to do the journey too as she couldn’t fit all her belongings in her little car in one journey!
For the second and third years, she paid £35 for a parking permit in the street outside her rented house. This was an annual fee and although you don’t have a designated parking space she was always able to find some suitable parking. If living in a city, you will quickly become accustomed to parallel parking!
You should also consider getting a car that is cheaper to run, Chloe has a little car which is lower insurance and lower tax which made taking a car to university more affordable yet provided her with a sense of freedom.
We hope that this post helps you consider the advantages and disadvantages of taking a car to uni, having the use of a vehicle does have its advantages but it can certainly add on additional costs to the uni experience.
