Honk’s Top 21 Best Cars for College Grads
Spring is finally here. Birds are chirping, flowers are in bloom, and thousands of new college grads are anxiously waiting to throw their hats in the air.
Here at Honk HQ, we decided to get ready for commencement day by heading to the library and researching the most popular cars for new grads.
Our final paper is full of coupes, sedans, and hatchbacks with plenty of personality. Compared to previous years, however, you may notice that this list of top cars for the Class of 2010 comes up short on pickup trucks and SUVs.
Given their general sensitivity to the environment and the sky-high fuel prices this class experienced at the end of their Sophomore year, the shift to smaller and more fuel efficient cars makes a lot of sense. Who wants to spend hard-earned cash on a gas guzzler when there are expensive student loans to pay off?
What you’ll find in place of off-roading gear is technology – and lots of it. Gadgets and software are a way of life for these members of the Echo Boom generation and it shows in their vehicle choices.
The winning Mazda 3 on this year’s list can be had with a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, satellite-based navigation system, keyless engine start, rain-sensing windshield wipers, automatic climate control, and high-intensity discharge headlights that can swivel to illuminate corners at night. These kinds of features used to be reserved for mom’s Mercedes, not fuel-sipping junior sports sedans.
So finish cleaning out your dorm room and take a look at Honk’s 21 Best Cars for College Grads:
1. Mazda 3
2. Nissan Altima Coupe
3. Honda Civic
4. Scion tC
5. Toyota Corolla
6. Subaru Impreza
7. Ford Focus
8. Mitsubishi Lancer
9. Volkswagen GTI
10. Ford Mustang
11. Honda Accord Coupe
12. Chevrolet Cobalt
13. Scion xD
14. Jeep Liberty
15. Volkswagen Jetta
16.Lexus IS250/350/F
17. Hyundai Elantra
18. Mini Cooper
19. Toyota RAV4
20. BMW 1-Series Coupe
6 Comments
These are, of course, new cars. I know that I drove my ‘88 Supra into the ground until I got a new one. It’s pretty expensive living in SoCal at 21 years of age
Thanks for buying American, and we wonder why we’re in the shape we’re in. 4 cars out of 21 pathetic!
Interesting comment, Randy. I wonder if the vehicle list will change next year with the domestics launching many new sharp looking and affordable vehicles? I also wonder if the Toyota recalls will impact next year’s list?
Hey, just wondering if the ranking was subjective or if you picked the top selling cars or some other metric.
Thanks!
Ethan
Hey Ethan, that’s a great question and one that I’ll try to be more clear about in future posts. I based these rankings on sales and index data from actual college students over the past year. The sample was made up of several thousand students across the US.
Happy Honking!
Randy, I find your comment interesting considering the fact that the reason that these cars dominate the list is because of their affordability and reliability. These foreign cars don’t get on lists like this just because people are unpatriotic, they get on these lists for a reason.
We live in a global economy, and we can see that in the fact that many car manufacturers have assembly plants in the United states. And though the money may be going overseas, guess what? When people develop the wealth they are pursuing, they will come to the United States and spend it on goods here, thus bringing it back into our economy.
There should be no regret from anyone for buying a quality product, GM and Ford need to simply step their “game” up sort of speak to get back into the market and they don’t need pitty purchasing, they need to learn a lesson.