Several high quality new cars can be bought for less than $14,000.
You can get nice reliable certified pre-owned used cars from Toyota or Honda for that kind of money.
We all tend to generalize about the SUV being a poor handler, top heavy and a roll over queen. There are a few which actually handle better then some cars. An awd car based Lexus should handle quite well. The Subaru Tribeca actually had a commendable low center of gravity as does the Outback. Truck based SUVs yes. Car based…I don’t know and I would not as a class advice you to avoid them on this basis alone.
It’s your decision but … having gone through college on a shoestring, I would say … you’ll have far more important (and ultimately enjoyable) things to worry about than paying to maintain a car like the Lexus. For the next six years, I’d suggest taking the attitude that a car is just a commodity.
I know you want a fancy car but … based on my experience (“sadder but wiser”), I agree with bscar that you should run – not walk – away, and consider a new(er) car. You can find several inexpensive cars that are fine to drive. On the other hand, any car that’s expensive to buy new, like a Lexus, is unlikely to be cheap to run, and it’s unlikely to be a good six year college car.
In 1993, we bought a relatively new, high-mileage Mercedes which was indeed well-taken care of by a knowledgeable owner, and fell for the utter nonsense that those cars were inherently dependable with a higher residual resale value than a newer car (so we’d come out ahead financially). Were we ever wrong!!! Of course, a new car may have more expensive sales tax, registration, and insurance, though, and other intangibles like satisfaction with ownership are also important to consider (although “pride of ownership” can equate to “being overly paranoid about someone putting a scratch in something that’s really only a car.”).