Best Cars for College: 5 Overlooked Models to Consider

While secondary education is insanely expensive nowadays, your college ride doesn’t have to be. The best college cars are affordable, reliable, and capable—in that order.

It’s all about making tough choices. Years down the road, you probably won’t remember your college car for running a 10-second quarter-mile. But your car also shouldn’t make bad memories like breaking down right before a road trip, homecoming, or finals.

Here’s a cheat sheet for choosing the right car for college:

• Only choose models with a stellar reputation for reliability.
• Select simplicity over luxury features that are expensive to repair.
• Expect a few compromises you can fix on the cheap—like throwing in aftermarket seat cushions to soften uncomfortable seats.

Here are five of our favorites. Of course, you can dunk on four, but the fifth might make sense.

Dodge Grand Caravan: Mom’s Minivan

The Dodge Grand Caravan and more luxurious Chrysler Town and Country (shown here) offer Stow ‘N Go seats.

Minivans are so uncool that they’re cool college cars. You can haul 4×8-foot plywood sheets or seven of your college chums. When driving a FlexFuel Grand Caravan in the right state, you can take advantage of a lower cost per gallon for a mid-range ethanol blend, like E30. If you’re a math major covering a lot of distance on road trips, the calculation is cost-per-tank of fuel divided by the number of seats.

Honda Element: An AWD Hauler

Most Elements are two-tone. The EX-P monochrome trim option was introduced in 2006.

The Honda Element has a cavernous and versatile interior. That makes it an ideal vehicle for students with an active lifestyles (and for transporting dorm mates). An AWD Element, which costs a little more, is perfect for snowboarders, trail bike riders, and students lucky enough to have a dog. The Element is a niche vehicle, and the sales figures reflect that. Nonetheless, a good percentage of used Elements are still on the road.

Kia Soul: Roomy Compact

Look for a Soul that’s still covered under Kia’s 10-year/100,000 mile warranty.

The Kia Soul provides oodles of interior room with a compact footprint. Kia sold over 1.3 million Souls since 2009, with the 2014 through 2016 (second generation) being the most popular model years. This abundance of used Souls means they are affordable. If you’re on a tight budget and like to row your own, older manual Souls can be found for less than $5,000.

Toyota Prius: Thrifty Hybrid

Never mind that it looks like a piece of cheese. The Toyota Prius (in all its forms) is a solid choice for college car duties. They have remarkable fuel efficiency and legendary reliability. That’s why Toyota has sold roughly 2.5 million Prii since the 2000 model year make  You’ll do well to avoid the first-generation Prius that’s smaller and slightly less efficient. But regardless of vintage, the Prius is tough to beat when it comes to a transportation appliance for college kids.

Volkswagen GTI: Hot Hatch

Nothing beats a five-door manual hatchback when you tally up the scores for versatility, efficiency, and pure driving enjoyment. Of course, the Volkswagen GTI defines the genre, but you’ll want to pit it against the Subaru WRX, the Ford Focus ST, and Fiesta ST. The GTI, an enthusiast vehicle, will be more pricey than most of the cars on this list. But, if you’re a driver, it’s worth every dime, even as a college car.