The first drive of what comes next

Renting a Drive865 car as a graduation gift is a specific format that works: one day in a car they've talked about or always wanted to drive. The Supra for a graduate who watches car content, has mentioned the Supra specifically, or just deserves the most impressive car in the fleet. The BRZ for a driving-focused grad who wants the RWD manual experience they couldn't afford in their own car. The WRX STI for the grad who's been wanting the AWD turbo experience and knows exactly what they're getting.

The gift framing works because it's a finite, specific experience: not an ongoing cost, not a car they have to maintain, just one good day on East Tennessee roads. Most graduation gift rentals are a single day — pick up on a weekend after the ceremony when the grad has time for a proper drive.

For gearhead parents renting for their graduate: book the car you know they'd pick. If they've said 'I'd love to drive a WRX STI' at any point in the last two years, that's the answer. If they're a newer driver who's excited about something fun but approachable, the Civic or BRZ is the better starting point than the more demanding sports cars.

UT Knoxville graduation is a serious logistics event — thousands of families, often with relatives flying into TYS from across the country. The Honda Odyssey seats seven and makes TYS pickup practical for a family of five or six arriving on different flights. The NV Passenger seats 12 for larger extended families or friend groups traveling together.

Maryville College graduates on the hilltop campus in May — a more intimate ceremony in a beautiful setting. The Maryville College campus is about 10 minutes from our Maryville pickup location, making logistics unusually convenient. Maryville area lodging is limited on graduation weekend — families commuting from TYS to Maryville College benefit from a vehicle that handles the back-and-forth without multiple trips.

High school graduation in the Knoxville area — Maryville High, Alcoa High, and the Knox County high schools — typically happens in late May. The rental dynamic is similar: family logistics car for the ceremony day, possibly a gift car for the grad on a subsequent weekend when they have time to enjoy it properly.

The graduation day drive is often what the grad wants to do right after the ceremony. For a drive-focused graduate renting the BRZ or STI: pick up the morning after graduation, take US-129 south from Maryville toward Chilhowee and Deals Gap. The Dragon is 55 minutes from Maryville. It's a proper day on a proper road — the best version of a graduation drive in East Tennessee.

For a more relaxed graduation drive — about the car without demanding the technical challenge of the Dragon — the Foothills Parkway west section is 35 minutes from Maryville. Seventeen miles of ridge road with the Smoky Mountains on both sides. Not the Dragon, but a genuinely memorable drive for a grad who just wants to feel what a real sports car does.

For families: Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville are 45–50 minutes from Maryville. Post-graduation dinner in Gatlinburg in the Odyssey with the whole family is a reliable East Tennessee graduation weekend tradition.