What happened to young people and driving culture?
- Thread starter oldmansmonte
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Many parents I've known with kids hitting 16-18 years old the last several years have had to fight with their kids just to get their licenses. That speaks volumes in of itself. This is about hotrod or tuner car culture, these are people that want nothing to do with cars period. I've just noticed these same kids want rides everywhere still. They most aren't self sufficient people navigating the urban landscape themselves, they just want to be 18 with the expectations of being 14.
Lets not forget how cars have changed from then to now. If you went shopping for a project car in say 1990, you might find a car that had 80,000 miles on it and had a bad engine or transmission. The body might have the start of rust, but generally would be in good condition. You could pick this car up for $200 to $1500.
If you go shopping for a car now, you might find a car with 175,000 to 250,000 miles on it that has a major drivetrain failure and pretty major rust set in by then if you live in salt country. People want $800 to $4000 for them because "I KNOW WHAT I GOT", and even if you do get one, who wants to change out a FWD transmission or a transverse engine in their driveway.
There just isn't a huge surplus of used, but not used up, cars out there anymore. Trucks are a little different since the aftermarket is better for them, but the cost of entry is high compared to what it used to be.
Combine that with everybody being broke, and computers being cheap and ubiquitous. I can totally understand why most kids are on their phone or computer constantly.
If you go shopping for a car now, you might find a car with 175,000 to 250,000 miles on it that has a major drivetrain failure and pretty major rust set in by then if you live in salt country. People want $800 to $4000 for them because "I KNOW WHAT I GOT", and even if you do get one, who wants to change out a FWD transmission or a transverse engine in their driveway.
There just isn't a huge surplus of used, but not used up, cars out there anymore. Trucks are a little different since the aftermarket is better for them, but the cost of entry is high compared to what it used to be.
Combine that with everybody being broke, and computers being cheap and ubiquitous. I can totally understand why most kids are on their phone or computer constantly.
When cars became "too hard to work on" things went downhill fast. When I was a kid it was customary for all the men on the block to do the points-plugs-and-condenser routine in the driveway. Not all the men did- some just took it in for a yearly tune-up. But the ones that did impressed me the most and I wanted to learn how to do that too. Guess how many of my childhood friends still play with cars? Yup- just me. But I see plenty of kids playing with cars today. I just wish the ones with mega-boom sub woofers and fart pipes wouldn't drive past my house at 3AM. 
I have one buddy that his nephew is 18 year old been around cars his whole life and thinks everthing should be handed to him and was sheltered and had no interest in getting his license they had to make him and still doesn't drive sits and plays video games all day all night
Then I have a buddy that his son is 17 turning 18 still in high school has been around street/strip and race cars his whole life. He has daily driver and a fox body mustang street/strip car and his son pays for 95% of his stuff he wants for the car.
The kid even signed up for points race for high school class at the track he was pissed the car wasn't ready for the first race he blew up the rear end on some test hits so he raced hes daily get to get points
Then I have a buddy that his son is 17 turning 18 still in high school has been around street/strip and race cars his whole life. He has daily driver and a fox body mustang street/strip car and his son pays for 95% of his stuff he wants for the car.
The kid even signed up for points race for high school class at the track he was pissed the car wasn't ready for the first race he blew up the rear end on some test hits so he raced hes daily get to get points
I think its a mix of the modern cars and parent's being most to blame. Most kids in the last 20 or so years don't know the meaning of the word NO .They don't fear any consequences. I work in the construction field, our company can't even hire any young people anymore let alone keep them once they find out what REAL WORK is.
Very very true. There is NO value in used cars anymore. You used to be able to get a very nice condition, decent car for $2000. The economics are just so different now. Cars were cheaper from the dealer, and so many people seemed to buy cars they didn't need. Yes, purchase a car you or your family don't really have a use for. Many times it was an old person but many times it wasn't. Like the car pictured in my original post. I remember rides like that would be 2000 grand with 27,000 miles. Sold by some really nice person who said they just had to have it but never really had the time to drive it. Now POS cars are 4 grand and need 4 grand in work to pass inspection, only to fail the next year. It's a $8,000 one year lease on a 12 year old maxima.
And yes computers are ubiquitous and cheap. You don't have to drive where your friends are at because you're always in touch with them.
Our former Prez got rid of a lot of the cars this gen would be "hooking up"
One last thought. I few of my close friends are auto mechanics. What my one buddy pointed out was when he was in his early twenties working at a local auto garage he was the "go to" guy for people to get their inspections done. I'm not talking about passing dangerous cars that have no business on the road, but cars that are slightly modified are just friends hoping not to be brutally taken advantage of by scumbag shops. Two of these friends both are postal mechanics now, so doing inspections is a definite no-no. But we wonder, where's the young kid now to hook us up? Nowhere to be found. No ones son, step-son, son's friends are useful for anything. None of them have worthwhile jobs or knowledge about anything. But they can brag about their online gaming accomplishments.
Rant over.
Rant over.
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