First Car Breakdown

by Skylar Soltis

It’s the first day after getting your license, and you are pulling into the student parking lot. You are stressed out, trying to find a parking spot, and even nervous of other student drivers hitting your new car. Once you pull in, you might see an extremely nice car: An Audi, a BMW, a Range Rover, or even a Porsche. But my question is what is the most popular first car here at Southern? I have been driving for over a year, and personally I see a bunch of Jeep Cherokees, Honda Civics, Broncos, and even trucks. A quick survey of the Class of 2024 led me to the following results. In the senior class, the most popular first car was extremely mixed, but the most popular company was Hyundai. Of course we cannot say that this is the most popular make throughout Southern, but we can only provide information from people that participated in the survey. Why is this one of the most popular makes? We can look at cost, miles per gallon, safety features, and cost of maintenance.

A major consideration when talking about first cars is the cost. According to CarEdge, to own a Hyundai for 5 years it costs on average “$30,638… This includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance, financing charges and fuel costs.” This is an extremely good price for the use of a first car, and if you have siblings that the car may get passed down to when you move out, if it can stay in good shape for them it is definitely worth it. Excluding the hybrid models, the miles per gallon is: city- 30.67, and highway- 34. This is around average for a four cylinder car, and I wouldn’t consider this to be a major factor in buying a Hyundai over any other car with a similar motor. Most parents want their child’s first cars to have certain safety features that may help protect them if they were to get in an accident. It is important to check your new vehicle’s crash test ratings. Some of the older models compare with the ratings of their competitors, however “...newer Hyundai vehicles have generally performed well in safety tests. In terms of safety features, Hyundai offers a range of advanced technologies across its vehicle lineup.” Any parent would say that safety of their child is extremely important to them, so if they take a few google searches they might see high crash test ratings with a fair price and consider this vehicle for their future driver. On average adding a child to your insurance policy is about $3,726 per year which may change the amount of money they put toward their car. Another major consideration of buying a new vehicle is financial situations. Some parents may buy their kids a new car, while others might make them pay for the car themselves, or give them one of their older cars to borrow. All of the following comes into consideration when looking at the Southern’s student parking lot, which is why there are so many different kinds of cars we see everyday.

Final Results from data gathered from participants: Hyundai: 6. Honda: 5. Nissan, Kia, Chrysler, and Toyota: 4. Volkswagen: 3. Audi, Land Rover, Buick, BMW, and Mazda: 2. Volvo, Subaru, Mini Cooper, and Saturn: 1.