Favored Cars Driven In The Big Ten

I work outside in the daytime in Eugene. One naturally sees a good number of vehicles, and I do see a trend as to what is popular in Eugene as a result of being outside, day after day, on one of Eugene’s busiest streets (W. 11th Ave., if that matters). That set me to wondering what vehicle I might see time after time if I was doing the same in a Big Ten city, so I did some online querying and this is what I found.

Eugene – Toyota Prius

Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

The Prius is everywhere. It seems to say a lot about the general nature of the town. Coincidentally, one of the cars that I own (as well as my son) is a Prius. You see a lot of RAV4 in Eugene as well.

Columbus, Madison – Honda Civic

It doesn’t seem very surprising that Honda is popular in college cities in Wisconson and Ohio. Madison is also keen on Chevy Silverado.

Ann Arbor, Bloomington – Chevy Equinox

I have to admit to not knowing much about the Equinox. In fact, I know nothing about it, and have no opinion on this vehicle.

College Park, East Lansing, West Lafayette, Omaha, Iowa City, Chicago, Minneapolis – Ford F-150

The Midwest sure loves their pickups. I’ve always found a pickup as a curious choice for a commuting vehicle or the vehicle to drive down the street to pull $20 out of the ATM. College Park also likes the Toyota Camry, and Iowa City seems to be fond of Chevy Silverados.

New Brunswick, Champaign, State College – Honda CR-V

My only opinion on Hondas is that the ones I owned were notorious for having the EIC unit fail regularly on them. I’ve driven mostly Toyotas since.

Seattle – Tesla

I have no words. The Tesla Model Y being the most popular car in Seattle confirms everything I’ve ever believed about washinton.

Westwood – Mazda Mazda6

I was surprised on this one. It’s curious how local trends in a huge greater metropolitan area like LA can play out.

Los Angeles – Toyota Camry

It’s also interesting how local trends can play out in a big city like Los Angeles. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I asked Google to help me with the favorite car in LA – maybe the rental car companies favor Camry? I couldn’t say.

Of course, I have not visited most of these cities and cannot speak to the veracity of Google claims. Can anyone confirm the popularity of these brands in the Big Ten cities?