Is your car a failure?

If so, you can probably relate to many other drivers on campus. From dead batteries to flat tires and noisy mufflers, car maintenance while away at college can be just as stressful on your wallet as your bursar bill.

Getting a car, whether it be from a birthday, graduation, or another way is often done without full knowledge of what cars need. Drivers are often caught off guard when their maintenance lights begin blinking.

But Aaron Carr, freshman, didn’t have the benefit of a blinking light to warn him of his car trouble.

“Just yesterday I had to jump my car, it was miraculously dead,” he said with a half smile. His solution, however, was not out of reach.

“The front desk [in the dorms] has jumper cables,” Carr said.

Along with the front desks in the dorms, campus police are also able to supply jumper cables to anyone with a valid I.D.

Tom Wray, manager of Tuffy Auto Center, said a common problem students have with their cars is “everyday maintenance.”

He also said the summer is usually the peak season for car troubles. Students often take their cars on roadtrips and vacations, neglecting to have them checked before, during and after their time away. Unfortunately, getting a break in this way only puts more strain on students’ cars.

James Maloney, sophomore, had problems with his car last year.

“The fuel injectors were clogged,” he said.

And, who pays for all of this?

“The only major difference is they don’t have any money, they’re broke,” Wray said, comparing college drivers to the average driver in Bowling Green. “I often have to deal with the parents, not the students.”

A lack of money is a major reason why college students, when compared to other drivers, have more problems with their cars. When faced with the option of paying to fix their car in order to save it from bigger expenses later on, most students opt to pay for something else.

Ultimately, students’ cars are often in much worse condition than if the same car would be owned by someone out of college.