Best used cars for college students
If you’re sending a kid off to college, make sure they’re driving one of the safest affordable used cars on the market
It’s certainly not cheap to send a kid to college these days. Average tuition costs in the U.S. range from $9,700 for public four-year institutions to $33,500 for private four-year institutions. And that’s not counting the cost of housing, books, fees and pocket money.
One would like to send a budding scholar off to school in a brand-new car for safety’s sake, but the average new model costs more than $31,000, with even small sedans approaching the $20,000 mark when fitted with essential features.
That tends to make the usedvehicle market the way to go for a cash-strapped student, but helping him or her find the right car at the right price can be a daunting challenge.
Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a fortune in this regard. To help jump-start the shopping process, we found a dozen used cars and crossover SUVs valued at $10,000 or less according to Kelley Blue Book that crash tests and other criteria indicate will be the safest budget-minded choices. Listed in the accompanying box, we stuck with examples from the 2010 or newer model years to help keep the average number of miles on the odometer under 100,000.
Each of our picks was toprated for crash protection when new by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That means they earned “good” ratings for moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and good or “acceptable” ratings in the stricter small overlap front test that replicates hitting a tree or light pole. In addition, all earned four- or five-star overall ratings in crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
What’s more, each model includes electronic stability control that can help prevent drivers from spinning out and/or rolling over in sudden or extreme handling situations. The IIHS estimates that stability control reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle accidents by 51 percent.
Most are midsize or larger cars and crossover SUVs. At that, it’s best to avoid red-hot sports cars that could get even the most passive young drivers into trouble, along with some of the smallest rides on the road, as the law of physics dictates
that a larger and heavier vehicle will tend to protect its occupants better in a crash than a smaller and lighter one.
Of course, the real gamble when buying a 5-year-old car regards its reliability. No matter how highly rated a model, its condition and future need for repairs depends largely on how well the vehicle was maintained by its previous owner(s). To that end, always conduct a title search to check whether it’s been in an accident, flooded or salvaged, and take any used vehicle under consideration to a trusted mechanic to determine what, if any, mechanical maladies it may currently be suffering, as well as those that are expected down the road.