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bringing car to uni - recommended??

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
ive got the option to bring my car down to cardiff with me when i go to uni in september but i dont know whether to bring it or not!!
there are points why i SHOULD bring it liike - handy to have if i need to get somewhere quick, can pick people up, go out whenever i want etc etc

but theen theres the bad points like - limited parking spaces on campus, possibility of getting it broken into if i go into city center, cost of petrol etc

to people who are at uni/have been, do you think it is necessary to bring a car? is it handy to have or is it not really needed?? at glamorgan uni where im going there IS a train station nearby which takes 10 minutes to get into cardiff but.. im still not sure!
opinions are appreciated thanks :)
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    only if you want to be a free taxi service for everyone you know :p

    it's great for getting your shopping, or for rainy days, but i kinda wished i hadn't taken mine, cause i was always broke, it got broken into nearly every month, and everyone else had a laugh on the bus/walking to uni.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My brother is planning on taking his if he passes his test next month.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i couldnt take mine the 1st year cos i couldnt park at halls or at the uni and i managed fine on the bus and stuff. i guess it depends where you're gonna be staying, i was practically in town and next to a supermarket and the bus stop to uni was outside the front door so it was fine.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Freshers living on campus more often than not are not allowed to take their cars to uni anyway. All students living in halls at Durham were banned from having cars without special dispensation from the uni because of the lack of parking, and the utter pointlessness of having one.

    Useful for trips to Tesco and the beach, but you probably won't need one. It depends where you are going to live.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Shizer, wrote a long post about Cardiff University when your going to Glamorgan, so I really don't have a clue. Sorry. But i'd say driving is bad and expensive. Travel with everyone else and make more friends!

    Bopz
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i wasnt writing about cardiff uni - i just meant that the uni im going to is NEAR cardiff.. only 10 minutes away so i just tend to call it cardiff anyway :p

    and from what youve all said it sounds as if i shouldnt take it!! the idea ive had just now is that maybe i should go to uni for the first term and see how i get on without it and then if after that term ive found its quite hard without one ill bring mine down! :)

    it doesnt help that my mum and dad have different opinions on the matter! my dad is adamant that he doesnt want me to take it and my mum wont stop going on about how i should! *sigh* confusing
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well, I took my car to uni and it was fine, I needed it to drive home most weekends as I had a job at home but I rarely used it when I was at uni. Some unis are quite arsey about first years bringing cars, some will charge you for a parking permit, luckily my hall had loads of parking spaces and although you were supposed to get a permit they weren't at all strict on it.

    To be honest though you probably won't need it. You don't have to end up as a taxi service, no one I know who brought a car did - everyone who brought cars had brought them for a specific purpose and only gave lifts when they were already intending on driving somewhere themselves, and everyone was cool with that. Bus services etc. around most universities tend to be quite good, or it won't be that expensive for you to share a taxi with people. If you're going out in the evening you might want to drink and stuff anyway in which case you won't be driving.

    Also near the end of term at my uni there was something ridiculous like 6 break-ins in one week, so the security of the car park is something you might want to check out if you car is decent or has anything worth stealing in it.

    Ultimately I would say take a car if you need it for a specific purpose (eg getting to work somewhere further away from uni), but otherwise don't bother - if you deicde you really need it after the first term you could always bring it back with you after one of the holidays.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i had mine for most of the time i was at uni, didnt use it most of the week. used it a lot at the weekends for visiting home, going to work and used to go to the lake district a lot which was handy for.

    i could have probably lived without it tho, petrol money was just another thing to worrry about.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    be a good person and use your initiative, learn to use a bus timetable
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    soraliah wrote:
    the idea ive had just now is that maybe i should go to uni for the first term and see how i get on without it and then if after that term ive found its quite hard without one ill bring mine down! :)

    good plan, batman :thumb:

    if after a couple of weeks you find you're desperate for it, you could always go back and get it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I havent taken mine to uni either 1st year or 2nd. It aint done my car any good leaving it sat at home unused though, things have started to seize up...thank god my garage like me or it could have just cost a fortune with what they've done.

    But I also wouldn't take it to uni. Certainly don't need it, or I haven't in Manchester. I mean this year I've been living a long way out, but buses are just as convenient and reliable here on the whole, I've been living with my brother who has a car, but think I only ever asked him to take me anywhere once in the whole year. Having a car 1st year would have meant being everyones personal taxi service but that ended up being one of my house mates instead :) Whats the point in going into town in a car or into uni and spending £4-5 quid on parking for the day and petrol money, when for the whole year I could have a bus pass for less than £150 that gave me unlimited travle on any stagecoach bus. Oh and with supermarkets doing home delivery now ya don't need to go there ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I didn't bother taking my driving test purely for the fact that I'd spend a fortune on insuring a car that I'd hardly use when I'm at Uni.

    A friend of mine at Staffs Uni took his car, but he's about the only Uni student I know that did.

    I didn't think of supermarket home deliveries. I'll bear that in mind Kazbo! :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Scarlet wrote:
    I didn't think of supermarket home delivieries. I'll bear that in mind Kazbo! :D

    aye, it's a fab idea.

    it costs about a fiver, usually, for them to deliver, but if you club together with a few housemates or friends, it works out cheaper than bus fare :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's what I thought when she suggested it.

    Fab idea. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I took mine to Uni (in Salford) the parking was plentyful and reasonably secure within the accommodation. Even when i parked it in the glass strewn streets at uni it was never touched. Though that say more about my car than anything.

    You may think that you will get used as a taxi service, but one you get to know the people your living with its good to offer communal shopping trips and day trips out (Alton Towers anyone?). Thats what I did and it worked out fine, plus we got to sing-a-long-an-iPod on the way to.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Scarlet wrote:
    A friend of mine at Staffs Uni took his car, but he's about the only Uni student I know that did.
    i know lots of people at staffs uni with cars. :p
    the only thing is if you are taking your car, is you really will be a "taxi" or other students... esp. if you are living off campus?! its not essential to take your car... but its handy if you do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Scarlet wrote:
    I didn't bother taking my driving test purely for the fact that I'd spend a fortune on insuring a car that I'd hardly use when I'm at Uni.

    A friend of mine at Staffs Uni took his car, but he's about the only Uni student I know that did.

    I didn't think of supermarket home deliveries. I'll bear that in mind Kazbo! :D

    so those people who dont go to uni,what do they take their driving test for?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MrG wrote:
    so those people who dont go to uni,what do they take their driving test for?
    That's their choice. I didn't condemn them, did I? :nervous:

    I just decided not to spend all that money when I wouldn't be getting much use out of it yet, although I may take my test at some time in the future.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i take my car to uni 'cause i commute home every weekend to work. but i'd be able to manage fine without it in all honesty. i'm sure you would be able to manage without it, but like you say..give your first semester a go without it and see how you get on. you might struggle to keep it going i.e. petrol/tax/mot/insurance but depends on your finances and whether the usefulness of having a car justifies it. also, you might be looking at paying stupidly large amounts to park your car at uni.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    where abouts in cardiff are u living? i lived i roath off city road and parking was always ok on the streets. it's handy for shopping and there's loads to go and do around cardiff so good for weekend trips! all transport around town is fine though so don't need a car for that
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    soraliah wrote:
    ive got the option to bring my car down to cardiff with me when i go to uni in september but i dont know whether to bring it or not!!
    there are points why i SHOULD bring it liike - handy to have if i need to get somewhere quick, can pick people up, go out whenever i want etc etc

    but theen theres the bad points like - limited parking spaces on campus, possibility of getting it broken into if i go into city center, cost of petrol etc

    to people who are at uni/have been, do you think it is necessary to bring a car? is it handy to have or is it not really needed?? at glamorgan uni where im going there IS a train station nearby which takes 10 minutes to get into cardiff but.. im still not sure!
    opinions are appreciated thanks :)

    IMHO it is completely unecessary. It just isn't economical. Add together Insurance, MOT, Tax, Petrol, maintenance......... and it really isn't worth it. My mate soon realised this and sold his car! You will also end up feeling obliged to take people places. Even if you reckon you could be stubborn over it, you would end up feeling guilty and carting your mates around.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm glad I brought mycar to my first year because it allowed me to get away whenever I wanted to.

    Very well needed if you want to party away from campus.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We aren't allowed cars in halls, so very few people had them. The only 3 people I know who brought cars did so because they went home every weekend. The lack of cars might also be something to do with the fact that you couldn't drive far in Oxford even if you wanted to :yeees:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We weren't allowed them but if you had a good reason to take your car up there, you were able to get a permit. I had mine fo the last 2 terms because I had a job in a nightclub and it was costing me £9 for a taxi to get home at 5am every night. Also, my parents dont have time to take me to/from uni at the beginning and end of terms, and cant use trains/ buses cos we had to empty our entire rooms every time.
    To be honest though I only really used my car for work, going to Sainsburys and a few day trips with my mates.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd advise against taking it, unless you know NOW that you're really going to need it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I want to go home pretty much most weekends, but seeing as I live in leicester and want to go to warwick, it's about a 40 minute coach ride :p.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I went to UWIC in Cardiff and Id say probably not the Valley Line trains are heavily subsidised and cheaper than most UK trains and are normally on time, but they dont run very late at night. The couple of ppl I knew at Glamorgan seemed to get on fine without one. The chances are if you want to get into Cardiff late at night you will be drinking and a car will be no use anyway!

    South Wales is very pricey for car insurance. One of my course mates tried to avoid this by saying he had the car at his home address. He then had an accident in Cardiff and the insurance company found out he was not living at home (he still doesnt know how) and invalidated his claim and policy. The guy he drove into put in a whiplash claim and it cost his rents they had to settle it out of court, so if you take your car to Uni tell your insurance company!!

    Anyone going to UWIC dont bother taking a car, the UWIC Bus and Cardiff Bus is dirt cheap compared to First, Stagecoach etc. and each campus has about 1 parking space per 1000 students with car. It can take longer to park your car at a UWIC campus than to get from one end of Cardiff to the other on foot!!
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