Good car for going to school...

[Poor Realist]

My 2 cents...

If you really are looking for a car for school, I would highly suggest the TDI if you can afford it, or any diesel for that matter. I've never owned any water pumpers, but here's why I say to do this:

Depending on how much driving you do and what climate you will be in, you will save lots and lots of money. Basically, you can get your fuel for about $0.10 per gallon by adding a T-valve, some hoses, and a vegetable oil tank. It's a common conversion with many kits on the market. With your TDI and the conversion, you can run dinodiesel, biodiesel, and veggiediesel. Why? Mr. Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut oil. You just have to be willing to gather waste vegetable oil form restaurants and filter it so you don't get french fries in your fuel tank. My next car will be a diesel engine no matter what the price of fuel is.

Check out these links:
www.greasel.com
www.greasecar.com

There's plenty more info out there...