What is the ideal road trip car for a college student?

Hey all,

I just discovered this site and it's really blown me away. Great work to everyone who's contributed to this place! I'm just starting to browse and get a feel for it.

Now, I bet this has already been answered, but I'm posting anyway. Here's the deal, I currently go to college in Evanston, IL and I'm planning on a road-trip for next year from here to Berkeley, CA. It's kind of a calling for me as a college kid to do something of this nature with a few friends.

At any rate, what I need now is a car for this adventure. We're planning on getting one for the year for general use, but I also want to know what car would be good for general every day driving as well as long term cross-country driving. Keep in mind, that we're looking on getting a used car(college tuition being what it is, a new car just isn't in the works) possibly an old Volvo or Saab.

Any thoughts? Thanks much in advance!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The perfect roadtrip car has been discussed before, but of course there never is a one size fits all answer.

What I'd recommend is finding a car that you enjoy driving and passes close inspection by a good mechanic as your most important criteria. Certainly, size and cost to drive would play a role in it too.

I will say that I might have some slight hesitation about getting a Saab or Volvo, simply because it could be a little more challenging to find parts if you'd have a breakdown in a rural area. This isn't a huge problem, but the odds of having to wait for parts with those cars are certainly going to be a lot higher than an American car or even a Japanese brand.