Car Crazy: Student car owners say having a vehicle is worth the headaches

It's a big black Volvo station wagon outfitted with flashing blue lights, the interior littered with cans and bits of trash. But its name is Black Shampoo, and it is the pride and joy of Joshua I. Weiner '03.

Weiner doesn't use his car every day--he spends most of his time on campus, and it can be inconvenient to retrieve the car from the garage. But having his own transportation has proved useful in a pinch.

"Black Shampoo's most memorable moment was when it carried Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) and his wife Ann from the IOP to Harvard Yard when they were running late for an event last year," Weiner writes in an e-mail message. "Since the emergency car ride was not expected, the inside of the car was very messy.

"Although they tried to be good sports about it, Ann, riding in the back, looked frightened of the empty cans on the floor, and the senator ended up sitting on a bunch of melted M&Ms while trying to squeeze his tall body into the front seat," he added.

Weiner is one of the elite minority of students who keep their own cars at Harvard. They suffer the everyday hassles of car ownership: expensive parking permits and minimal curbside space, unpredictable traffic and fearless pedestrians, even too-close encounters with wild animals.

But Harvard's car owners say the annoyances are well worth it--having a car can save time, cut costs and provide expanded opportunities.

"I love my car," Weiner says. His fellow car owners couldn't agree more.

Start Your Engines

There are no firm numbers on how many students keep cars, since many park off-campus or surreptitiously on nearby streets. But those who do say their vehicles have become an important part of their lives at school.

"Having a car here is great. It allows me to go places in Massachusetts and beyond that I would ordinarily never get to," writes Ogden N. "Denny" Lewis '01 in an e-mail message.

Lewis says his car is far more convenient than other modes of transportation, especially for out-of-state trips.

Joshua L. Viertel '01, who boasts a red car affectionately named Clifford, after the big red dog, finds it "very useful for going on adventures like backpacking in Vermont and New Hampshire, visiting relatives and friends or going to Chicago or New York."

Students also note the usefulness for student activities.

"I've taken my team, the women's club tennis team, on road trips to Yale and Tufts," Brook C. Wilkinson '01 writes in an e-mail message.

Lewis says groups like the outing, shooting and mountaineering clubs are always eager to use members' cars for expeditions.

Cars quickly become an essential part of daily life.

"My car is part of my schedule," says Wilkinson, who finds her car necessary to "drive across the river to play tennis, to run out to the Star Market for milk and cookies or on liquor runs to New Hampshire"--where alcohol can be as much as 40 percent cheaper.

And driving excursions don't have to be anti-social--in fact, some students say having cars has enhanced their social lives.

"Some of the best bonding time I've had with other Harvard students has been driving somewhere with them in my car or someone else's," Lewis says.

Parking, Permits... and Deer

But there are obvious drawbacks to having a car at Harvard. In its guide to "The First Undergraduate Year at Harvard," the Freshman Dean's Office notes that "most students find it inconvenient and expensive to keep a motor vehicle in Cambridge."

For one thing, many students feel that driving in and around the Boston area is challenging, to say the least.

"Driving in Boston is far more harrowing than driving in New York," Lewis says. "Drivers here are very inconsistent. You don't know what they're going to do. In New York, at least you know they'll cut you off and you can plan accordingly."

Wilkinson has encountered similar difficulties.

"It's certainly not hard to learn how to drive well, but most people in our country don't bother and treat it instead as a mindless activity," she says.

Even crossing the state line doesn't necessarily ensure safer driving conditions, as Daphne M. Reeve '02 well knows.

"Last year, driving up to Maine for Thanksgiving, I hit a deer," she writes in an e-mail message. "I totaled the hood--hit the deer on the front passenger side."

"It was really scary, and I hope never to have a repeat of that experience."

Moreover, friends can be all too willing to share your vehicle.

"Some people are noticeably friendlier once they find out that I'm a potential chauffeur," Wilkinson says.

But the most common problem encountered by car-owning Harvard students is simply finding a place to put their vehicle.

Parking in the streets can be tricky because the parking spaces are unreliable--and anyway, it's against College rules. And for those who do try their luck with the streets, street cleaning can lead to frequent tickets--or worse.

"Cambridge does street cleaning once a month on either side of the street at about 10 a.m.," writes Mary E. Bridges '01, a Quad car owner, in an e-mail message. "If you forget to move your car, it will be gone by about 9:30. You have to pay a visit to Phil of Phil's Towing and pay about $65 to get it back."

On the other hand, parking in the school's lots can get costly, according to many students.

"I parked in the Soldier's Field lot in the Business School freshman and sophomore year, and that was $650 per year and very inconvenient," Lewis says.

"On the basis of my personal experience of having a car and driving in Cambridge," he writes in an e-mail message, "I would recommend that Harvard students keep their cars at home, take public transportation whenever possible, use the Shuttle Bus Service and perhaps have a bicycle."

The Wheels Are Worth It

But with a bit of Harvard creativity, some students say it's not all that difficult to find a way out of this multitude of costs.

"If your car is registered to your campus address, you can get a resident parking permit from the city of Cambridge," Lewis says. "The cost is $8 per year. It's a great deal that very few students are aware of."

"I park right by the path by Leverett Towers to Dunster House, less than 100 yards from the entrance of Old Leverett," he adds. "It's rare that I can't find a spot and it's closer than [most other] Harvard parking."

And Lewis says his insurance costs are lower in Cambridge than in his native New York.

The costs can be beat. The traffic can be endured. Sometimes, students say, the intangible benefits of having a car at Harvard just can't be dismissed.

"When school gets irritating or frustrating or dull, I can just leave," Bridges says. "Being able to get distance from school has been one of the greatest perks of having my car here."