Threxx

Very interesting article with some eye-opening statistics:
Do Kids Hate Cars?

King Moose SS

Makes sense to me. In High school the only feasible time you can own a car is Jr and Sr year, its expensive and kids are generally broke (if the parents don't assist). Then when many kids go to college, public transport is sufficient. Why bother with the expense when you don't need it?

OutsiderIROC-Z

Getting raped at the gas pump might have a lot to do with it as well. Back when I was in HS, gas was around a $1/gal and I made minimum wage which was $5.15/hour I think. Now minimum wage is in the $7-$8/hour range but gas is almost 4 times what it was back then. 1 hour of work would buy almost 5 gallons of gas back then where the same hour of work now would barely by 2. Sucks...

I would hate to be in HS now and want to be able to drive anywhere...

Cat Girl

My daughter will be 16 in August and expects to have a car and a drivers license on her birthday.

She has always talked of wanting a 3rd gen Camaro. I guess taking her to car meets played a large part in that.

USHotRod

I turned 16 in the mid-90's.

My money priorities were:

1) Car
2) Car insurance
3) Stereo system for car
4) Money for dates

Not much else to worry about. Whatever else went towards whatever. CD's and the like.

Today's kids money priorities:

1) Smart Phone
2) Laptop
3-5) 1 of each video game system
6) Video games for the systems
7) Maybe a car and all its expenses

You see where I'm going with this. Its not that kids dont have the capability to be into cars. There's just much more crap out there that every single kid is trying to get. When we were kids, a car was pretty much it. Your car was where your friends hung out, your movie theater (drive in), the only place you could crank up the music that drove your parents nuts, etc. All that has been replaced by these technology toys that every kid seems to have.

I'm just glad I got to be in what seems like the last generation to grow up before all these gadgets got really crazy.

guionM

Minimum wage went up to $5.15 in 1997. 1997 and 1998 were also the years where gasoline reached historic low prices when adjusted for inflation. Gasoline in 1998 reached an all time historic low price of $1.50 in 2011 dollars (or a mere .60 cents in 1979 dollars... that's below 20 cents in 1960 dollars).

Gas prices have nothing to do with kids not being into cars, and any mention of the price of gas in the past must be adjusted for inflation. Last year, gas averaged about $3.50 per gallon, pretty close to what it was in 1981 in constant dollars. If you want to look on the flip side, gasoline today is about $1.15 to $1.20 in 1979 dollars.


Inflation adjusted Gasoline Price Chart
Gasoline Price History


The real reason kids aren't as intrested in cars today (as mentioned already) is perfectly simple. There's far more gadgets today that they can buy themselves which unlike cars don't need parental help, don't need months and months of saving, don't need multi year commitment to making payments.

The final thing is that we've had a period where in their early teen years, there weren't any real exciting cars that sparked their imagination. Instead of flaming chickens on hoods, cars named after cartoon characters, or even bright eyecatching colors, we had streets full of family SUVs and toyota or Honda sedans. Both economy as well as performance cars lacked any styling impact outside of those things with huge wings and overly complex engines.

Personally, I think the pendulum will swing back the other way. Kids who were in elementary school when "Transformers" came out are the ones who are also having their view of cars formed in this day where car styling is king over function and bright colors (and variety) are hitting the streets.

Although this upcoming group don't make up nearly the numbers of previous generations, I suspect that as this group reaches car buying age, they will be more open to cars than those now reaching car buying age.

soul strife

The talk of TransFormers is funny because as a kid, I loved Transformers. For me, My Dad was/is a Mopar guy and always had a bad *** car. Our neighbor at the time had a beautiful third gen Trans Am and I loved that car. In School I drooled over sport cars. Then I finally bought one many moon ago.

What's nice is that I can see it happening all over again. My five year old daughter has cruzed with me more than anyone. She loves my car and will probably want a sports car as she gets older.

Bob Cosby

I don't think the styling of cars (or lack their of) has anything to do with it. Rather, its the fact that teenager A can communicate all day/night with teenager B by simply pushing some button's on Mr Spock's communicator, all the while fighting Klingons and Romulans (ok, Zombies) on Kirk's big screen using Mr Chekov's and Mr Sulu's phaser and photon controls.

In short - they don't need and thus don't have the desire to actually go "out" anywhere near as much as we did.

At least that's my opinion...

Z28x

Very interesting article. I would agree with most of it. Electronics are burning up younger peoples disposable income, plus they don't need to drive to see their friends, they can talk to them online (kind of sad to me as I am one of the last non internet kids).

Being so used to cutting edge technology/electronics I can see them preferring a car like the Volt or a hybrid to the Camaro. The car is just another tech toy to them so they want the latest tech.

Code 130R would probably be more popular with the 1.4T eAssist combo than a 3.6L V6 with this group. EVs with their instant torque will be fun to drive while the quiet motor gives them a futuristic feel.

Wild Willy

A car, in my mind, represents freedom to come and go. Able to meet friends, pick up people, not be dependent on others for access or rides. And, yeah, some responsibility, too. Expense, but what pleasure doesn't cost money?

JasonD

Thanks for linking this one. It helps me understand what is going on in my son's head.

We have been helping him save money for a car since he was a little kid. For every straight "A" report card he would get, we would give him $100...and half of that went into a bank account. When he did work like mow his grandfather's yard or something extra for a few bucks...we would have him put half of it in a bank account. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The reason for this the wife and I didn't get a car handed to us. We had to work for it and make it happen...and we did. We had some help, but nothing like what our friends had. Our friends had free cars given to them by their parents the day they turned 16. As you might expect, they didn't appreciate them. One of my buddies went through three cars by the time I went though one. All his parents did was complain...and then buy him another one.

Anyway...so my son is 15 this year. He enough money in the bank for a decant starter car.

Lucky for him, my wife's brother-in-law got a new Malibu, and was selling his old car...a 2003 Pontiac Bonneville SLE with around 90k miles on it. He is an engineer for GM, so he knows how to take care of a car. I did my research and it seemed like the perfect car for my son. It is overall in very good to excellent shape. Even better, he said he would sell it to my son for a deal that cannot be refused...WAY under book value.

So my son and I go over to his house to look the car over, even though he has ridden in it a few times recently and knew all about it. I helped him make the deal, with the understanding that it would come out of his bank account. Here's how it went...
So...I made the deal "official". Standing there, looking it over a bit more...the conversation went something like this...
I was very confused. When I got my first car, which was a POS, I wanted to sleep in it that night. I almost did. We made the deal on my son's car last fall, and he hasn't said a thing about it since. It is still in the same parking spot in my relative's driveway.

But take away his XBox or Facebook or cell phone....and the world will come undone.

I must be getting old, because this is among a few things I don't get. The appeal of monotonous rap music, Lady Gaga, and now this. Yup...I must be getting old.

Chrome383Z

The first auto company to partner up with Apple and incorporate iCloud into the cars systems will dominate the younger generations.

iCar.

Just think what you could do:

1) Select a contact and it automatically navigates to that contacts address
2) Select a contact and it automatically calls that contact
3) Start your car with your iphone
4) Play music via wireless from your iphone (already being done, but make it easier)
5) Customize your car (Selectable color LED interior/exterior lighting done with your iphone)
6) Select your ride height via iphone
7) Select your performance or mpg via iphone.

etc etc etc.

There's a market out there for this and I think it could be huge, but at 31 I'm starting to become the old man out of touch too. I do know if they plaster the Apple logo on the side of the car it will sell like hotcakes!

Seriously, if I was in a decision making position at GM, Ford, or Chrysler I would already be in talks with them.

soul strife

Exactly. My first car was an 1987 Toyota Pickup with a 2.4L four banger. The slowest truck in the world. I did and still do love that truck. I was free.
Sure it had no options and the speakers were busted and the radio didn't work. But, in the summer, driving around with my friends was a great time.

I guess for us the saying was always true, "A **** poor drive was better then a great walk anyday."

JasonD

My first car? A 1983 Dodge Charger. I was 17 and I paid $700 for it and later had a near head-on collision in it. I lived and we repaired the car. One day I was driving it home and it started going slower the more I pushed the gas. It was making a very weird smell and some odd smoke, too. Parked it, pulled the valve cover and discovered that the previous owner had broken the cam somehow and actually welded it back together. The weld didn't last and at that point, neither did the car. Sold it for scrap.

Now I look at my son's car...

Looks a heck of a lot like this...


He does, however, want an iPhone...pretty bad.

routesixtysixer

My first car was a 1969 Camaro. I worked all summer to earn enough money to pay off the $1,200 90-day note my dad consigned for me at the bank. And, yes, I virtually lived in that car all that summer (1977). Before I got that car, I think my dad wanted to clobber me on a weekly basis, cause all I did was bug him about a car I saw in the "Bargain Post" that was perfect and I just had to have it.