U.S. News Cites 2023 Toyota Corolla and Camry as Two Top Choices for College Students

Two milestones for a parent come terribly close to one another. If getting their driver’s license provides your teenager with their first taste of independence, it is just a few years later when they are heading off to college and the whole independence plate is theirs. One thing is certain. You don’t want them to have car trouble. Not on their way to and from their school and not while they are there. 

Perhaps that first car you bought or helped them buy after they got their license is adequate for college. Or maybe you don’t trust it at all. If it’s the latter, or even somewhere in between, Valley Hi Toyota has two suggestions for you: the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Camry. And the suggestions don’t come from us, they come from U.S. News & World Report.

Late last year, U.S. News & World Report published what they have determined are the 10 best new models for college students. These were all considered good vehicles for college students looking for something safe, reliable, and affordable. In addition, the models had to have strong safety credentials and perform well in their rankings. 

Corolla’s on the Deans List

U.S. News states that the Toyota Corolla is a regular leader in its compact rankings and that it has been no stranger to college campuses for decades. The car is nothing if not practical with the fold-down seats of the sedan and the even more cargo-friendly hatchback ready to be stuffed with one’s life from bedroom to dorm room and back. A notable feature of the Corolla that is common to all new Toyota models is that they all have the Toyota Safety Sense suite of safety and driver assistance features, which for the Corolla includes:

• Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection
• Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
• Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist
• Lane Tracing Assist
• Road Sign Assist
• Automatic High Beams
• Proactive Driving Assist

All are great features to keep your scholar alert as to their surroundings, but of particular note is Road Sign Assist which can identify speed limit signs and display them on the dash. So there goes that excuse.

Magna Camry Laude

The Camry, of course, carries many of the same positives for this mission as the Corolla, but in a larger package. As the report notes: “The Camry is consistently one of the best-selling cars in the United States simply because a lot of shoppers want a well-rounded car that doesn’t necessarily stand out in any area but does everything pretty well.”  While there is no hatchback body style, the Camry does feature a 15 cubic foot trunk and folding seats which college kids have been known to fill up to the headliner in September and June. 

Like the Corolla, all new Camrys are equipped with Toyota Safety Sense with the same systems listed above. Also like the Corolla, all models come standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so your college student can listen to their songs, talk on the phone, find their destination, and even hear text messages without ever picking up their phone. 

If the Corolla and Camry seem like obvious choices for this list, that simply speaks to their reputations as vehicles that do everything they are expected to quite well and have rock-solid reliability. Who wants to send their loved ones off to college with anything less? It may also state the obvious that the Valley Hi inventory is full of Corollas and Camrys for you to see. And if you think you mostly know what these models are all about, you’re probably mostly right, but we bet each will still have something to surprise you.

Tags: Camry, Corolla, Safety
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