The Student Room Group

a car at Exeter?

Is it essential to have a car? I unfortunalty can't drive yet and my parents want me to take lessons in Exeter, have any of you done this? ( non uk residents).
I was told by some unhelpful adult friends that I won't survive without a car because most people in their second year move out and go live in a cottage outside town.
What do you think?:redface:

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Reply 1
Humm....from what I've read on here its not really necessary in the first year at least, because everything is within walking distance because youre living on campus / or public transport suffices, when necessary. But I'm thinking of possibly getting one for the second year because like you said, we might be located slightly further away from campus / town etc. But I dunno, I'm sure someone already there will give more useful information.

Oh and also, parking on campus is apparently quite limited, so you wouldnt be able to bring a car anyway
Reply 2
See how you get on in the first year, public transport is decent and everywhere is pretty much walking distance in Exeter :smile:
Reply 3
i think you may have to sign a form saying you are NOT going to bring a car if you live in certain halls (its like this at other universities because of lack of space). Exeter's small enough and the public transport is enough.
Reply 4
you don't need a car down here as everything is in walking distance. people do tend to bring them down though, and they're handy to have for at the weekends when you fancy going on a bit of a roadtrip/ late night run to 24hr tescos for some food cos you're bored and co-op is shut!

other than that, the main student accomodation in exeter for 2nd and 3rd years etc, is like an extra minutes walk from campus. its all really near.

i do know a few people who had driving lessons at uni though. this isn't a prblem, and you don't need a car to have the lessons, just go in your instructors?x
Reply 5
I only know a few people who have brought cars. The furthest out that people tend to live is Monks Road, which is half an hour's walk, and most people live much closer to campus than that. Everything is within easy reach either by walking, biking or using public transport, so personally, I don't think I'd bother even if I could drive.
Reply 6
How many students could actually afford to run a car anyway?
Reply 7
macrodollar
How many students could actually afford to run a car anyway?


at exeter?! you'd be surprised
Reply 8
aye.
Reply 9
boho
at exeter?! you'd be surprised


Well yeah lol, but still not most.
Hey im from Exeter, basically its a pretty small town, you wont be living in a cottage in a town miles away. Theres a load of student accomadation(houses) just behind the high street, near exeter city football ground. Trust me you wont need a car, theres not exactly a load of stuff to see outside exeter anyway. P.S Exeter's a pretty good place to live, plenty to do and the people and friendly too.
Reply 11
Apart from Monks road, are there any other free car parking streets? I don't care where I have to park my car, but I need it to get home (4 hours on the train, 2hours drive) once a week.

Anyone know? I've given up google-mapping carparking at street view!
I wouldn't bring your car down first of all, but it definitely comes in handy. Especially in the summer term; getting the train and walking to the beach is too much of a hassle. You'll find parking somewhere. we could always manage to get spots when you turn left out of st germans and then take the first right. Also, you get lots of warning tickets before they actually fine you. Although I know last year most of us got lazy and ended up getting ticket fines every week.
Reply 13
sprupe: why on earth do you need to go home once a week? I think that would strike most people as being pretty excessive...
Reply 14
There are a fair few non permit bays around the city, especially in the student areas, so as long as you don't mind walking, you'll always be able to find somewhere to park. Maybe don't bring your car down to begin with and scout out the parking, at least then you can be sure you'll find somewhere,
Sprupe
Apart from Monks road, are there any other free car parking streets? I don't care where I have to park my car, but I need it to get home (4 hours on the train, 2hours drive) once a week.

Anyone know? I've given up google-mapping carparking at street view!


I wouldn't rely on being able to park around the Mount Pleasant area (i.e. Monks Road and all the non-permit roads that lead off and around it). I heard rumours that those roads are going to be made permit roads soon too. You don't need a car in Exeter and I don't understand why you'd want to go home once a week :confused: I think after a few weeks in Exeter you'll understand why and change your mind.
~Hena.87~

I was told by some unhelpful adult friends that I won't survive without a car because most people in their second year move out and go live in a cottage outside town.
What do you think?:redface:


WHAT! Hahahah that's hilarious. No you don't go and live in a cottage outside town, most people live somewhere nasty like Monks Rd or Vic St, a huge road of terraced houses all containing students.

And no you don't need a car at all, Exeter isn't very big- you can walk everywhere or get the bus if you're having a lazy day. A car is useful for discovering Devon/the rest of the country but there are buses and trains for that.

And nooo I hope the roads around me aren't being made permit only I'm about to buy a car! (And no I'm not being hypocritical haha- my first car died just before I moved back down so I scrapped it and am going to buy a replacement while I'm down here so I can drive myself home at Christmas)
Reply 17
I lived on Monks Road and had my car with me for the last two years and loved it, if you are living in halls having a car is fairly pointless because of the hassle of parking and the only reason i used my car was for driving into campus when it was raining/i was hungover and for doing the weekly sainsburys shop

I also went home most weekends to keep my mum company and check on my dog so it definitely made that easier

Parking is very easy to find as long as you are around the Mount Pleasent area, any closer to the centre or to the uni tends to turn into permit only. I think there are a few roads off of union that are free parking as well but only know Sylvan is for sure
Reply 18
The thought of moving into a cottage out of town sounds so lovely and inviting....but no...whoever told you that was winding you up!

I have a car in Exeter simply because it's a 4 hour train journey home and I find it nice to stop off at my mum's on the way and not have to book my train tickets 7 million years in advance to be able to afford to get home! I'd still be paying tax, insurance etc if I was at home so the petrol usually works out less than the train fare.

Anyway, first year there's not much use in having a car. I certainly wouldn't have had anywhere to put it. Uni accommodation isn't far away from amenities and local transport is good.

2nd year literally used my car to go to Tesco maybe once a month (I lived on Pennsylvania Road so closer to town than most Halls) and for random moments when housmates demanded lifts. So it was a little pointless but nice when I wanted to go home and didn't have to have a parent to come down to take everything home (OK so I did because I'd accumulated a lot of stuff....but if I'd tried hard enough it probably would have gone in my car!) Permit parking drove me crazy! The people who lived there last failed to take their permits back so we couldn't get one for the first couple of months. NIGHTMARE!

This year I'm taking my car again but will be using it a little more to Explore the south west! I'll also be living near to Monks Rd so might use it for late night trips to the library...though I'm prety certain parking is more of a nightmare than it was at the end of last year!
Anyone using a car the year? What's the parking like in Exeter in 2020. Places to park without permits? Any parking on Campus?

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