Do college kids even care about cars?

[Steve85]

I have to agree with Dave and to take it a step further...It seems like it's become uncool to be passionate about anything. Relay a story about a ride you got in a cool car (or anything else that excited you) and the response is "cool story bro". Try to explain why a certain make or model really get you excited and you're a "fanboi".

And as mentioned before, you just don't need a car to interact the way you used to. I had to have a bike/car if I wanted to play video games, watch movies, shoot the shit with more than one person at a time. What you eventually found was the time getting there, or even getting lost, was the most fun. It's not that we didn't like video games, it's just the home consoles sucked compared to arcade.

[*insertusernamehere*]

AGREEED!! My parents give me shit about driving down US-33 and through the mountain when going to and from school, but 81 and 64 just gets so damn BORING so fast, that I have to go another way. I don't even care if I get stuck behind a big truck, that makes me even more happy... it gives me a reason to pass on the left with my foot to the floor 8)

Same thing with my job over the summer. I live literally 5 exact minutes from my work. But after a stressful day I'll drive in the biggest 20 min circle through the nice parts of town with all the windy roads and by the time I got home loads of stress were taken off my shoulder. Every now and then I have to factor in gas and it always works out to be worth it!

Even my parents do it without realizing, we've driven to Florida and back about 18 times in 5 years even when we had the option to fly. My dad and I left for Florida once, on a whim, at 2 in the afternoon just to pick up my grandma cause she was complaining she hadn't seen snow in a while and it had just started snowing in rva, so we scooped her up (and a new washing machine at the same time). We left at 10pm for Atlantic City right after a thanksgiving family dinner lol (because my wanted to do something exciting) this is by far my favorite spontaneous trip, cause I drove and we got lost at like 2am in the morning and it was just great!

Driving is just great man.

[kcook]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

Also doesn't hurt that you have a killer car to drive.. :bow: I'd be pretty *meh if my DD was a autotragic Camry..

[Ken]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

I do the same thing, although gas lately is killing me due to this habit haha.

[premiershine9]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

5- 6 hour drive from home to JMU......SURE. I literally don't mind it, I enjoy long drives.

[JPolen01]

Plus juan for long drives. I take the 70 to 340 via harpers ferry when coming to jmu even though 66 to 81 takes less time. Harpers ferry is such a nice drive.

[ViPER1313]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

Also doesn't hurt that you have a killer car to drive.. :bow: I'd be pretty *meh if my DD was a autotragic Camry..

Who says fwd autotragic cars can't be fun?

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[*insertusernamehere*]

That honestly looks more terrifying than fun. With amount of speed they have to pick up to get the car to do that and the spin that they get into at the end, that just looks painful hock: No way buddy

Fun fact: My cousin in Kuwait confirmed they really do drive like this and worse over there all the time. This isn't just for video

[BFisch06]

I found this post on Jalopnik (Opposite Lock) to be sad, fairly accurate, and a good explanation of how and why "kids these days" don't care about cars:

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[GregF]

Driving is just great man.

You can say that again. I'm always the one driving anywhere with my family or friends. I volunteer myself to drive.

5- 6 hour drive from home to JMU......SURE. I literally don't mind it, I enjoy long drives.

This drive is one of the things Im looking forward to most next year. NJ - JMU should be about 5 for me.

I cant wait to be handed the keys to the GC and drive home with the car packed up on Friday.

[WRXtranceformed]

There are a lot of things that suck about the younger generations (nobody here take offense to that, this is a blanket statement) and this is definitely one of them.

[BLINGMW]

I found this post on Jalopnik (Opposite Lock) to be sad, fairly accurate, and a good explanation of how and why "kids these days" don't care about cars:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/an-opinion-on-zipcar-and-the-millennial-problem-483815841">http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/an-opi ... -483815841</a><!-- m -->

The "article" ends with the author just loving what today's tech makes possible, yet he's confused as to why the young folk don't understand his backward attachment to automobiles?
I'm one of the oldest members of this club, and I own and DD a car that's 2 years older than me. I'm also typing this on a bluetooth keyboard connected to a computer, connected to a "television" for which I haven't even bothered to have anything but an internet feed for for the last 3 years, because cable is a ridiculous waste of money and time.
EVERYTHING has changed in the last 10 years. Consider me not shocked if cars don't continue their nearly 100 year run of being "cool" in the US.
I'm really glad that this thread was started, but if there's really a crisis of interest, then we should focus on adapting.
Let's autocross some damn Zip Cars!

[Evan]

I found this post on Jalopnik (Opposite Lock) to be sad, fairly accurate, and a good explanation of how and why "kids these days" don't care about cars:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/an-opinion-on-zipcar-and-the-millennial-problem-483815841">http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/an-opi ... -483815841</a><!-- m -->

great article.

also raises some interesting broader points about how millenials are even more 'use and dispose' than previous generations
(despite their seemingly higher ecological consciousness)


and for the record, how the fuck am I lumped in with these millenials? Im somehow also tail end of gen-x too. I guess I get to pick? :bootyshake:
millenials I think should top out around age 25-26. Ive noticed a distinct change in how this group looks at and interacts with the world than older people.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Quote from another article, which I would say some of my friend's would agree with. I don't see why this is a bad thing? The road is full of idiots, people who can't drive and don't care, and too many cars. Let those prius drivers not buy another car, let those people who don't drive well and don't care jump on a bus. I think "we" (coming from an enthusiast viewpoint) see it differently. Driving is a luxury, and instead of driving, they prefer to spend on travel/smartphones; is that such a bad thing?

Quote from article:

I'm 21, live in New York City, and let my driver's license lapse over a year ago. I don't plan on owning a house, preferring to drive my surplus wealth into assets I understand better and which don't restrict my mobility, and don't care to own a car.

This is not economically motivated - I have comfortable free cash flow and a healthy balance sheet free of personal debt. I pay for a car service and take taxis more than public transportation and pay more than the average U.S. homeowner's mortgage payment in rent. I also spend a great deal more than my parents, who find my behaviour and preferences baffling, on travel and technology.

I won't disagree that a significant fraction of decreasing home and car ownership may be explained by economic factors, but would caution that (a) there is a significant minority that is making these choices as a matter of preference, and, (b) for the rest, these behavioural changes, initially motivated by economic conditions, could become ingrained to where they persist beyond economic weakness. With the second point I'm not saying we will be a "cheap" generation, just cheap traditionally, as we spend in categories we value more than piles of sticks and little steel boxes propelled along asphalt by exploding chemicals.

[D_Eclipse9916]

annddd totally true:

2. The supremacy of the internet as a cultural common and electronic entertainment. Where once teenagers spent considerable effort decorating their room and plastering their walls with posters, now that effort is spent crafting their Facebook pages just so, making sure their walls, status updates, and photos reflect their ideal self. The more time you spend looking at a glowing screen of some kind, the less you care about the environment around it. Translate that attitude into your 20's and 30's, and you have people who are willing to live in a small, barren apartment with IKEA furniture, but will take trips to Bali and $100 restaurants. All documented for their flickr page, of course.

[JPolen01]

annddd totally true:

Translate that attitude into your 20's and 30's, and you have people who are willing to live in a small, barren apartment with IKEA furniture, but will take trips to Bali and $100 restaurants. All documented for their flickr page, of course.

This is too true. I know so many people who are in their mid 20s and constantly in Cabo, Jamaica, California, NY, etc, but live in run down houses/apartments and drive cars that barely run.

[G.Irish]

Well for someone living in NYC, a car doesn't make a lot of sense. A lot of expense, a lot of hassle with parking, and the driving experience simply is not enjoyable. Honestly if the totality of someone's driving is just commuting and what not I can totally see how someone can decide they don't need one. Especially if mass transit is a viable option.

If you're someone who actually enjoys the pleasure of driving or gets to drive fast, drive over things, or drive sideways, then yeah a car is a big source of happiness. But for a young person driving around an econobox, I can see why the allure isn't really there.

For the guy spending more of his money on traveling and experiences, more power to him. Being yet another yuppie with a lease on a luxury car is dumb if you can instead spend your time going places and doing things.

Chan and I actually talked about this tangentially a couple of times. Virtual reality is starting to get better than reality in some ways for some people. Videogames are often more engaging and accessible than playing that game in real life (especially when it involves blowing up shit). Social networking allows you to interact with far more people in a day than you normally could otherwise. The Internet gives people frequent stimulus and a flood of information that makes leaving the home far less necessary for the average young person. Which could eventually be the downfall of our civilization, but in the meantime I think it means that cars are just a lot lower on the totem pole for millenials.

[*insertusernamehere*]

If cars were cheap we would have no problems... or rather changes in interest.

[Goodspeed]

What this all means, in the long term at least, for us "car" people is diluted product offerings. Every car starting to look the same, every mfr's lineup mimicking their flagship to the point where you can't tell them apart (in an effort to woo status-seeking young people who still turn to a car to play a part), a general lack of daring design/engineering, and so on, all in an effort to play the middle/play it safe. It almost makes more sense, when you think of it, that they should do the opposite and instead start offering some "individualistic" models - we've seen some of this with Scion customization and the Korean brands, but still.