Top 10 Cars for Students

A car can expand a high school or college student's educational horizons, allowing her to take advantage of opportunities like off-site classes and internships. Car ownership is also a great lesson in responsibility: Kids who pay their car's running costs have good incentive to drive carefully (if they break it or crash it, they walk). Here are ten cars that are reliable, easy to drive, affordable, and well suited to student life.

1. Ford Focus ZX3

















Photo © Aaron GoldThe Focus is one of my favorite small cars. Designed in Europe, it's roomy, cheap to run and a lot of fun to drive. The sporty ZX3 3-door hatchback will probably have the most appeal for young folks; it's good looking, easy to park, and has plenty of room in the back seat to haul friends. It also happens to be the least expensive version. Build quality is dodgy, but in terms of smiles-per-dollar the Focus is hard to beat. Read Review

2. Honda Civic

















Photo © Liz KimThe Civic is easy to drive, extremely fuel efficient, will last forever if well cared for, and boasts an admirable commitment to safety: Antilock brakes, front-seat side airbags and side curtain airbags are standard on all models. The body shell is designed to withstand an impact with a heavier vehicle, with coupes receiving extra bracing for side impacts. Civic is available as a jazzy coupe or sensible sedan; budget-friendly LX model offers great value-for-money. (For young drivers, beware the hot-rod Civic Si -- it's a speeding ticket waiting to happen.) Read Review

3. Honda Fit

















Photo © Aaron GoldWhen I was in college, small Honda Civic hatchbacks were the cars to have. Today the Civic has moved on to bigger and better things, and the hatchbacks are gone; they have been replaced (in spirit, that is) by the Fit. Like the Honda hatchbacks of yore, the Fit is cute, nimble and very frugal. Unlike them, it offers four doors and a back seat that's actually habitable for tall adults -- a much-appreciated improvement. Read Review

4. Kia Optima

















Photo © Aaron GoldNot all students are single teens; many have families of their own. For them, the Kia Optima is a great choice; it has all the room and amenities of mainstream Japanese sedans, but it's significantly cheaper to buy and run. The Optima is packed with standard safety equipment and backed by a long warranty, and the base 4-cylinder engine is fuel efficient and has plenty of power. It's a great car for a young family. Read Review

5. Mazda 3

















Image © MazdaThe Mazda 3 is cool to look at, great to drive, and available in both sedan and mini-wagon body styles. It has all the reliability you'd expect from a Japanese car with a bit more pizzazz. "i" models with the 2.0 liter engine are better on gas; drivers prone to speeding are more likely to get in trouble with the 2.3 liter "s". Read Review

6. Nissan Versa

















Photo © Aaron GoldSeveral excellent subcompacts have hit the market recently, and the Nissan Versa is one of my favorites for two reasons: Lots of space and lots of value. The former comes in handy for hauling a semester's worth of stuff to school (as does the fact that the Versa is available as both a hatchback and a sedan) as well as for hauling friends to off-campus excursions. The latter comes in handy if the kids are paying for the car themselves (or if the parents are weighed down by tuition costs). One word of caution: Though the Versa comes with six airbags as standard, antilock brakes are not standard -- they're a cheap ($250) option, and I wouldn't buy a Versa (or any car) without them. Read Review

7. Pontiac G5

















Photo © General MotorsThe G5 coupe is mechanically identical to the Chevrolet Cobalt, but its unique sheetmetal gives it a smidge more style. The G5 is inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to run, and is an easy car to drive thanks largely to its simple, distraction-free interior. Side airbags are available as an option; don't buy a G5 without them. Read Review

8. Subaru Impreza 2.5i

















Photo © Aaron GoldThe Subaru Impreza 2.5i is the only car in its class to offer standard all-wheel-drive (AWD) -- an important and oft-overlooked safety feature that not only offers great foul-weather handling (a boon for kids raised in the sun belt going to school in the rust belt) but also helps keep the car on course in a panic swerve when the roads are dry. AWD is a life-saver for inexperienced drivers. Warning: The Impreza 2.5i should not be confused with the Impreza WRX and STi, high-performance versions not well suited to young, inexperienced drivers. Read Review

9. Suzuki SX4

















Photo © Aaron GoldSuzuki's pint-sized SX4 is built in Japan, yet it offers a value-for-money equation similar to its Korean rivals. Not only is the SX4 the cheapest all-wheel-drive car you can buy, but it offers four-wheel antilock disc brakes, side airbags, CD/MP3 player and power everything for well under $16,000. Fuel economy isn't as good as other small cars, but all-wheel-drive is a safety feature that should give parents of inexperienced drivers extra peace-of-mind.

10. Toyota Corolla

















Photo © Toyota.You've got a lot of decisions to make in life. Not all of them are as easy as choosing to drive a 2008 Corolla. Its stylish, contemporary design speaks to your aesthetic sense. Its foundation of legendary quality, dependability and value speaks to your common sense. And out on the road, Toyota Corolla's spirited performance reminds you that no matter where you're headed in life, there's a lot of fun to be had along the way. So don't worry. Whether you're eyeing the CE, the well-appointed LE, or the aggressively styled S, you can't go wrong.