I'm at ridgeview and I love it. It's doable without the car, the buses are once every hour (for some reason the university decided to cut it from once every half hour... - the new SU president has a commitment to increasing the bus service to ridgeview though, so we'll see!), but as was said, it's much easier with a car. If it's anything like this year, people will be willing to give other people lifts etc, I've often taken people to the forum, and even picked people up before, as have other people with cars. One bonus is there are a lot more communal areas, so you get to know more people (who you can scrounge lifts off
).
Edit: I'd show you pictures of my room, but it's rather messy at the moment - if you are desperate to see one, you can PM me though!
The rooms here are bigger than college lane/de hav and we have a communal TV room and pool room, which is nice. Housing also bought us a BBQ, which can be hired out for free, providing you agree to clean it and ensure it's over by 2330. We also occasionally have uni owned parties and BBQs, as it is slightly more difficult to get to clubs, we had one for the royal wedding which was quite fun! If you do have a car, ridgeview is ideal really as there is free parking available, which makes a huge difference (the uni want over £100 for the year otherwise).
I also find that it's easier to get into london from here, since buses go direct to high barnet tube station on a regular basis. It is also located next to sainsburys, which makes food shopping a LOT easier - it's a nightmare for people on campus since they have to go all the way to asda, which is quite a trek without a car!
Having a car at uni isn't too bad, once the insurance cost is out of the way - petrol prices are a bit of a nightmare at the moment though! I do kind of need one for my course, since my placements could be pretty much anywhere in london (north of the river).
The main issues with the place are that it is off campus, which can be a bit annoying if you do miss the bus, that it's quite difficult to go clubbing (unless a few of you go, then you can get the taxi back for ~£5 each) and that you have to go outside to make a cup of tea... (I'm in D block, so there isn't a kitchen until I go to B block!)