Why don’t teen boys work on cars anymore?

[Anonymous]

My 17 DS is all into cars. He is super shy and quiet unless the conversation is about cars. His PT pizza job money all goes to his car projects. He's going into his third year of Auto Tech this fall in his high school's career center program and is earning college credits and certification in it. He is always watching car stuff on YouTube and downloading diagnostic apps for mechanics. He has quite a few car enthusiast friends as well. But like PPs stated above, cars are different these days. DS has a passion for restoring older cars, which he no doubt gets from his father, and they all agree the newer cars are a pain to work on.

[Anonymous]

My brother bought my nephew a cool old truck that doesn’t run. The only way my nephew gets to drive it is by working on it and fixing it with my brother. I think it’s freaking awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 17 DS is all into cars. He is super shy and quiet unless the conversation is about cars. His PT pizza job money all goes to his car projects. He's going into his third year of Auto Tech this fall in his high school's career center program and is earning college credits and certification in it. He is always watching car stuff on YouTube and downloading diagnostic apps for mechanics. He has quite a few car enthusiast friends as well. But like PPs stated above, cars are different these days. DS has a passion for restoring older cars, which he no doubt gets from his father, and they all agree the newer cars are a pain to work on.

It’s about class. People in this area tend to drive nice cars. No parent wants to let their child drive their nice car, let alone work on it (when it doesn’t need to be worked on anyways). And to this person, it’s class again. I don’t want my kid growing up to be a mechanic. Sorry, not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 17 DS is all into cars. He is super shy and quiet unless the conversation is about cars. His PT pizza job money all goes to his car projects. He's going into his third year of Auto Tech this fall in his high school's career center program and is earning college credits and certification in it. He is always watching car stuff on YouTube and downloading diagnostic apps for mechanics. He has quite a few car enthusiast friends as well. But like PPs stated above, cars are different these days. DS has a passion for restoring older cars, which he no doubt gets from his father, and they all agree the newer cars are a pain to work on.

It’s about class. People in this area tend to drive nice cars. No parent wants to let their child drive their nice car, let alone work on it (when it doesn’t need to be worked on anyways). And to this person, it’s class again. I don’t want my kid growing up to be a mechanic. Sorry, not happening.

Yes! Because knowing how to change the oil/change a tire are the first steps towards the road to blue collar-dom! I'd much rather my teens be proficient at video games than basic car maintenance! Those video game skills are far more appropriate to our class!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cars have become much more complicated. My boys can do a whole lot, but there are limits simply because of the technology involved in newer cars.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It used to be that teen boys loved tinkering with their cars. Now, it seems that boys don’t have anywhere near the same interest in cars in general, much less a desire to mess around with them. Why is this?

Just curious how old are you, op? I've never seen any teen boy work on a car and I'm 52.

This. I graduated high school in the late 90's. I never saw any teen boy work on a car. DH graduated high school in mid-90s. I don't think he has any idea what is inside our car and certainly has never "tinkered" with a car in his life.

I graduate from a midwestern HS in 1983. I could change the air filter, spark plugs, jump a car and change the windshield wipers. These were the basic requirements my had for any kid who wanted to drive one of their cars. Most parents considered these things 'life skills'. My father was a physician and my mother an RN. But, both came from the working/farming class. Many boys I grew up with, including my brothers, were very interested in learning to fix cars because they could only afford to buy junkers. If they didn't know/learn car mechanics, no wheels for them. So, yeah, I agree with PPs that it's a 'class' issue and because parents don't know how to do it.

My oldest DS is 16 and my oldest DD is 14. They both know how to do basic car maintenance because DH and I feel it's a life skill just like knowing how to do laundry, cut grass, take public transportation, etc. They're saving money to buy cars and, when they do, I'm expecting them to buy cheap clunkers so they can fix them up. Or, they can continue to drive our 2000 Honda Odyssey. That van offers a lot of learning opportunities - at least if they want power steering and air conditioning!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cars have become much more complicated. My boys can do a whole lot, but there are limits simply because of the technology involved in newer cars.

+1 My husband misses the good old days when he could fix so much of what went wrong with our cars. Now that so much is computerized he's limited and has to pay someone else to fix what he honestly enjoyed fixing himself.

[Anonymous]

Seems like this was a trolling OP because the answer (cars are no longer mechanical and kids have other stuff to do) is super obvious. I assume some basement boy will jump in with how men should be men, but yeah, tinkering with cars for most teen boys is about as relevant as girls knitting their own dresses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 17 DS is all into cars. He is super shy and quiet unless the conversation is about cars. His PT pizza job money all goes to his car projects. He's going into his third year of Auto Tech this fall in his high school's career center program and is earning college credits and certification in it. He is always watching car stuff on YouTube and downloading diagnostic apps for mechanics. He has quite a few car enthusiast friends as well. But like PPs stated above, cars are different these days. DS has a passion for restoring older cars, which he no doubt gets from his father, and they all agree the newer cars are a pain to work on.

It’s about class. People in this area tend to drive nice cars. No parent wants to let their child drive their nice car, let alone work on it (when it doesn’t need to be worked on anyways). And to this person, it’s class again. I don’t want my kid growing up to be a mechanic. Sorry, not happening.

Yes, I know people are all about class labels around here but I'm not one of them. No need for apologies. I'd rather my son pursue his passion, so I'm happy to support his plans to pursue a master auto tech certification, business degree and driver training in Japan. I'm also happy to watch him restore classic cars with DH and to never get ripped off by dealerships. Last month he rescued my stranded mother and fixed her car in a parking lot in the rain. Worthless to you, but priceless to me.

[Anonymous]

My niece likes to tinker with motorcycles!

[Anonymous]

My son would love to work on cars but we are not buying him one of his own and I am not letting him tinker around with ours. Instead, he does all sorts of work and modifications on bikes and has since he was little and outgrew his. More cost effective and the old bikes and parts can fit in our garage. He can buy a part he wants for much less than parts he would need to rebuild a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because their fathers don’t. I could do just about any repair on a car back in the day, but there’s not much you can do in the driveway with newer cars.

Or mothers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like this was a trolling OP because the answer (cars are no longer mechanical and kids have other stuff to do) is super obvious. I assume some basement boy will jump in with how men should be men, but yeah, tinkering with cars for most teen boys is about as relevant as girls knitting their own dresses.

Actually, lots of young women knit these days. The difference is that knitting technology hasn't really changed that much, whereas automobile technology has. My dad did a lot of his own car maintenance for decades, and now he doesn't do as much, because cars have changed. Knowing how to change a tire and change the wipers and jump a battery are still useful skills, but not really enough for a hobby.

[Anonymous]

I am a female, but grew up fixing cars with my Dad and neighbor. I dream of restoring an antique car when I have more time with my DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like this was a trolling OP because the answer (cars are no longer mechanical and kids have other stuff to do) is super obvious. I assume some basement boy will jump in with how men should be men, but yeah, tinkering with cars for most teen boys is about as relevant as girls knitting their own dresses.

Actually, lots of young women knit these days. The difference is that knitting technology hasn't really changed that much, whereas automobile technology has. My dad did a lot of his own car maintenance for decades, and now he doesn't do as much, because cars have changed. Knowing how to change a tire and change the wipers and jump a battery are still useful skills, but not really enough for a hobby.

DP. I have to say, I don't know anyone who has knitted their own dress - not even my grandmothers and great-grandmothers who could do knit, crochet, tatt and sew. A 'knit dress', as the term is used, refers to a type of material, not the result of someone knitting.

I didn't learn to knit until Trump was elected President and the call for Pussy Hats was put out. DH was 12 at the time and had several friends who already knew how to knit. DD learned right along with me. We're all still knitting. She and her friends have quite the little knitting club. After pussy hats, they made other matching hats and are now working on socks.