This was on line at Auto Trends Magazine Submitted by Matt Keegan on May 6, 2011

Personal Transportation Choices

One important considertion for new college grads is transportation from home to work. If you live in or around a major city, you may be able to rely upon mass transit, taking a train, bus or even a taxi cab to work. For everyone else, having access to dependable personal transportation is a must, but one question must be asked: is the car you had while attending college sufficient for your current needs? If not, then buying a new car may make sense especially if you’re not overly burdened with student debt and you have the means to afford a monthly car payment.

To help get recent college grads into a new car, a number of automakers are offering incentives in the form of a rebate on new rides. The way these deals work is as follows: you find the car you want and negotiate your best deal. Once you’ve reached your best price, you ask the dealer to apply the manufacturer’s rebate in accordance with the company’s college graduate program.

New College Graduate

As of this publication, several manufacturers are touting special offers for recent college graduates. The following is a sample of some of the programs available and what you can do to get a rebate. At the end of this article are some resources to help you learn more.

• Toyota and Scion are offering rebates of $1,000 on select new models. Under its “College Graduate Finance Program” Toyota Financial Services is offering rebates to grads who have a job in hand, provided they start their job within 120 days of buying a vehicle. Toyota will defer payments for 90 days and won’t require a down payment. If leasing, a security deposit is waived. There are some other restrictions present and you still have to be proven creditworthy to be eligible for a new car.

• If you’re shopping for a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac, the GM College Discount program offers varying levels of discounts on new cars. Instead of a flat discount, you can receive “preferred pricing” on select new cars and in some cases have “consumer cash” applied. For example, the Chevrolet HHR is discounted and $4,000 in consumer cash is applied.

• The Ford Motor Company allows eligible graduates to claim a $500 discount on a new car and that’s on top of whatever other discounts are available at time of purchase. Ford’s program is open to recent college graduates, people who will be graduating within the next several months and to students enrolled in grad school.

• Hyundai Motor America is offering new grads $400 off of the price of any new Hyundai and is waiving the down payment requirement to help you get behind the wheel of a new car. Hyundai Motor Finance will defer your first payment for 90 days upon approval of a loan and proof that you have a job. If you graduated from school as far back as two years ago, you’re eligible for this bonus incentive.

Hidden College Rebates

Not every car manufacturer touts its college rebate program as loud as other car companies, but that doesn’t mean that these offers aren’t available. Hidden from plain sight, you may be able to get a discount on a Nissan, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Honda or other new car if you ask.

You can also search the manufacturer’s website for current incentives and drill down to find out what special offers are available to recent grads. With that information in hand, you’ll get your rebate once you negotiate your best deal. Again, you must be eligible to buy a new car which means having proof that you have a job offer in hand.