Why are you reading a page about student financial survival if you’re even contemplating owning a car? You must have money to burn if you think you can afford it. You can’t. Enough said.

Oh, alright, Push will say a little more, but only a little.

If you own a car, as we already said, the single biggest cost after the vehicle itself will be the insurance. Then there’s petrol, which ain’t cheap either (approximately £37 to fill a medium-sized tank), plus you’ve got road tax (from £100 to £400 annually – though unless Daddy bought you a range rover, student zip-arounds will be at the low end pricewise), maintenance and an annual MOT test on top of all that. If (excluding the cost of the car) it doesn’t cost you an extra £1,300 a year, you’re very lucky or you’re using it so little you probably don’t need it anyway.

Should you be lucky enough have a car as a student, you could always offer lifts to friends and get them to chip in for the petrol – so long as it’s less than the price of a bus or taxi, everyone should benefit. However, don’t set yourself up as a minicab unless you’ve got a licence. It’s illegal and they’ll take away your driving licence if they catch you.

Apart from the expense, possibly the biggest problem with owning a car is that it’s always you who has to drive whenever you go anywhere with your mates and that means you can’t drink.

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