Is the car hobby/enthusiast a dying breed?

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Reddy45
Millennials are the worst

Yep, us [censored] millennials hate cars. Here my boring commuter that I refuse to work on so I don't won't get dirty:

Here's my best friends car. He definitely didn't do a manual swap in his own garage, because, like, what even is a transmission?

This one is owned by a friend in Wilmington. Mommy and Daddy definitely bought it for him:

Oh yeah, can't forget John in California, who dreams of owning a Tesla because they drive themselves, and driving is too stressful:

I'm so sick of hearing about what millennials are "ruining." Every part of America has online car groups. All of them are a mix of young and old. Working on your car just to keep it running is no longer a necessity for your average owner, but plenty still do it for fun - and us darn millennials don't complain about electronics "spoiling everything," either.


This, absolutely all of this. "Millennials ruin everything!" Well that says a lot about the generation who raised us then doesn't it?

Yeah, my cars may be a 2016 300 and a 2018 Grand Caravan and don't really have any "cool" factor, but I do my own repairs/maintenance. As do all my friends. And guess what? I'm currently looking for a project car to start working on with my children. Maybe if your generation could figure out Facebook you'd see a HUGE car culture.

 

[Mr Nice]

Both my sons are millennials and also work on their vehicles.

 

[dave123]

Yes
And reasoning for declining auto sports interest.

 

[Mainia]

Originally Posted by Red91
This thread will be locked before long, lol.



Why would they lock it? I see zero reason to. Tell me why.

 

[Mainia]

Oh... we are talking about millennial's, and if the Mod is a democrat they can't hear anything that is questionable about their elk, so they will lock it....never mind.

 

[Red91]

I can confirm that I definitely don't get a smile on my face while rowing a five speed ton truck through the gears on a test drive, and that Mitsubishi lancer ralliart was absolutely no fun at all in the corners of county roads. I couldn't stand the feeling of accomplishment when I got the hang of using both the on car and the off car brake lathe. It's absolutely terrible, just terrible when that front end gets put back together and the road feel is better than it was before the front end job. I'm a millennial so all those things are just "wuuuut?????" To me. Totally and completely clueless to cars. Like, dude, where's my Uber?

 

[talest]

My pappy tells me all the time how he never has to even open the hood of his new car anymore. He used to have Stingray corvettes a lot in the 70s and took a turn the other day, a very tight right hander. I asked him how it would compare to the Vette and he mentioned it would feel like you were on rails. And that this was a good turn.

He then showed me the sport shift on his vehicle where you tap it forward for downshift and back for upshift and realized, the new car is probably faster than that Stingray was. He may trade it in for the Early Buyback as his lease allows him to do.

Maybe one can be a car hobby/enthusiast without putting in the work? Only being enthused, and driving them, with a sense of purpose.

 

[supton]

Yeah, I'm tired of the "millenials ruin everything" vibe. Every generation has to run the gauntlet of disapproval from the older generations; nothing new there. Raise their mettle, they'll raise to the challenge, and then later on we'll all find yet another generation to pick on.

People used to wrench on cars because they had to. But was the enthusiast movement ever that huge? Like, percentage of population. Movements come, movements go, but have we really abandoned our garages in droves? Or was it always a small movement/group in the first place?

Not that I consider myself an enthusiast; my sig line gives proof otherwise.

 

[IndyIan]

More "kids" in their 20's at our local autocross events this year than I ever remember. And most of their car have manuals and they seem to know how to use them... Also quite a few have put some serious know how and money in their cars, like twin turbo 350Z's, and an single turbo FD RX7 that just runs fast and trouble free every event for years now.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by spavel6
My sense is that working on cars out of necessity is falling partially due to the increased reliability of modern cars. However, hobby/tinkering is staying strong. There are still plenty of folks that turn out for car meets, etc.

The notion that Millennials ALL want to be driven around by self driving cars while watching cartoons in the back seat is not true.

Interestingly, 80s and 90s cars are now becoming cool or collectible. It makes sense - cool old cars are usually the ones that are 30 years old, which is what these cars are becoming.

On the BMW forums, many of the 3 Series owners (I don't know what age range, but probably not teenagers) are heavily into "modding" their cars. "What mods should I do next?" "Have a look at my build!" "What size wheels?" "EBay Front Lip Spoiler," etc. (My reaction: If you didn't like the car when it was sitting on the lot, if you wanted to change it this much, why did you buy it? But then, I've added a couple of interior trim pieces myself.)

Certain cosmetic things are big, but then people are planning tunes and exhaust system mods. So I'd guess that a certain amount of hobbyism is still alive.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted by Red91
I can confirm that I definitely don't get a smile on my face while rowing a five speed ton truck through the gears on a test drive, and that Mitsubishi lancer ralliart was absolutely no fun at all in the corners of county roads. I couldn't stand the feeling of accomplishment when I got the hang of using both the on car and the off car brake lathe. It's absolutely terrible, just terrible when that front end gets put back together and the road feel is better than it was before the front end job. I'm a millennial so all those things are just "wuuuut?????" To me. Totally and completely clueless to cars. Like, dude, where's my Uber?



On car brake lathe - is that putting it in gear on jacks and using a flap disc / grinding disc to flatten it out ? I've done that a few times in my day.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The Old Generation laments, as has been opined for millennia

No, it's the Old greasers whom are dying off.

It's a new generation at the helm.

They know how to tune a turbo modified FI engine with a laptop. They know how to stretch tires on wide wheels and camber them in.

Then the rich kids dad will buy them the premium Audi or Mustang. They just Cruise cool in their White framed sunglasses.

I would hazard a guess from my high school class a half century ago, maybe 5-10 percent were car guys and gals.

Likely the same now. Never the majority. As is so in any hobby.

___________________________________

As a side note, Motorweek just tested a 2019 2liter VW Jetta GLI with a manual trans.

Faster than a '67 Shelby GT500 in the 1/4 mile and same trap speed. 101 MPH.

Astonishing how much better German Power is than others. Like the Ford Focus ST.

 

[beanoil]

A resounding NO.
Now the pursuit of speed, efficiency and ultimate victory is fought with data and computer interfaces instead of a box full of Snap-On.
And that goes for full on race teams as well as the garage guy.

 

[Cujet]

I don't blame the current generation for lack of interest. I see it as there is very little for them to be interested in.

I also see ever more prolific traffic speed enforcement as damping enthusiasm.

 

[novadude]

In a lot of ways, there has never been a better time to be involved in the "car hobby" if you can afford it.

Reproduction parts are readily available and they show up at your door in a few days. No longer do you need to spend a full summer going to swap meets to find that one rare part that you need, as ebay opens up your search to a global market. Fellow enthusiasts on forums, youtube, etc freely share experiences and give advice - you don't need to just rely on your biddy at the local garage when you get stumped.

I think the hobby is changing, but I think we've got a ways to go before we can say it is dying. I do think that there is maybe less interest in cars from the younger generations (as a whole), but that is just my perception.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by Cujet
I don't blame the current generation for lack of interest. I see it as there is very little for them to be interested in.

I also see ever more prolific traffic speed enforcement as damping enthusiasm.


Lots of current generation can't afford to be in car hobby... (school loans, rent, bills, etc....).

Both my sons are always working on their trucks but they have good jobs to afford the 'glitter & glam' for their F150 and Ram trucks.

 

[Smokescreen]

I would say no as well. There are what seems people that love cars and those that treat them as appliances. I have 2 sons, the oldest 20 cant wait to pay someone to change his oil so he doesn't have to worry about it. He views cars as A to B machines. My younger son loves muscle cars, hot rods, 3/4 ton trucks, old and new Italian exotics, old and new Japanese turbo cars. I just went to drag strip with him to watch them go ripping at it for the entire day. He loves changing oil, rotating tires and he is 13.

Millenials can be anything like Gen Xers or Yers whatever are. Hang out with who you like, be as enthusiastic as you want.

 

[Pew]

There's no reason for somebody to be a car enthusiast except out of want.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

#4 While performance parts and tuning software are plentiful I see a lot of it being applied to leased vehicles. Enthusiasts with the means go through a constant cycle of modify-return to stock and replace, because they're interested in modding new, hiding said mods from the automaker when things do go wrong and never owning an out of warranty vehicle.

#3 Reliability has increased but so has the cost of maintenance/repairs due to the plethora of plastic components, micro voltage wiring and their associated modules. You need a good scanner, tools, space, and time.

#2 Car sit so much lower that you really need a lift /jack stands. The hurdle to start tinkering is much higher.

#1 Automakers are really good as offering performance models and even standard vehicles today are plenty fast.

 

[HemiHawk]

Sometimes I envy those without a passion for cars. In the end cars really are just a means to get somewhere. And chances are if someone doesn't care about driving or performance or wrenching on their car, they have other passions. Not everyone needs to love cars.

I always have, and hopefully always will. I'm probably on the younger side for this site also. The other thing some may not think about is the cost to get into the hobby now. Sure you can buy a clunker and build it up, many do. But gone are the days of working at a gas station to afford an american muscle car. I also can't blame people (younger or older) for maybe wanting something less exciting that has comfort features. Sure a 2000 trans am may be my choice, but most people would prefer to commute in a 2020 Camry with apple car play and heated seats. Can't argue which is more comfortable there.