Our sister blog, Money Crashers, ran this post commenting on Smart Money’s take on the 5 Best Cars to Buy for College Students. But who comes up with such kind of “smart” advice anyway?

Come on! Buying a brand new car for your college kid? Sure they based their take on Kelly Blue Book’s list of cars to buy both used and old. But picking brand new cars for their list? Not all parents can afford $40,000 a year and throw in $15,000 (minimum) for a brand new car? This is just the reason why there’s a growing culture of kids expecting cars from their parents.

Gone are the days when getting a broken down Chevy Nova bought for a few hundred bucks complete with the “Sure it’s old, but it’s got character” motivational speech upon handing a kid the keys. No wonder kids are a lot brattier these days.

View Smart Money’s picks with my comments after the cut.

Best Value: 2008 Mazda 3. I have to disagree. I’d say the Honda Fit is the best value car here. It’s cute, it’s fuel efficient, it weathers out pretty well.
Safest: 2008 Subaru Impreza. Definitely not a hatch for the purposes of crumple zones.
Best Fuel Economy: 2008 Ford Focus. Why the heck did they overlook the Honda Fit in this choice?
Most Reliable: 2008 Honda Fit. You have to swap this with the Focus which was chosen fuel economy. Or perhaps consider a Toyota.
Coolest: 2008 Volkswagon Rabbit. Given the choices, probably. The Golf sure has a lot of character to it but I wouldn’t discount the Civic here too.

As for KBB’s list (in no particular ranking):

New

  • 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt
  • 2008 Ford Focus
  • 2008 Honda Fit
  • 2008 Hyundai Tucson
  • 2008 MAZDA3
  • 2008 Scion xB
  • 2008 Subaru Impreza
  • 2008 Suzuki SX4
  • 2009 Toyota Matrix
  • 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit

Used

  • 2008 Chevrolet Aveo
  • 2007 Dodge Caliber
  • 2005 Ford Crown Victoria
  • 2004 Ford Focus
  • 2004 Honda Civic
  • 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  • 2004 Mazda Tribute
  • 2004 MAZDA3
  • 2004 Nissan Altima
  • 2004 Pontiac Vibe

My take on the best back-to-school car? Something that’s earned through a summer job bought with additional funds from mom and dad. Decent cars can still be bought for a couple of thousand bucks. A lot of mileage, a lot of character, definitely due for maintenance but factoring everything, it would be worth every penny it was bought for the next four years.

It’s not all about driving the swankiest car in college anyway. Go earn a degree and make a living and then go dream of buying a freaking Ferrari.