Why don’t teen boys work on cars anymore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

You might think about 'small engine repair' - like lawn mowers, weed wackers, etc. That's how my brothers' started and it's what my older DS (15) is doing. DS is now working on a chipper/shredder I got off Craigslist. The principals of a combustion engine are the same across most engines and it's a lot cheaper than buying a car! There seems to be a YouTube video to repair just about anything.

[Anonymous]

OP - I think in part because they can not customize cars like they use to. Not any more. It's not legal anymore, for example, to install different seats, do a lot of changes to a car.

[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.

Okay. And I graduated in ‘96, and all the guys worked on cars. DH used to flip old Camaros in his teens.

[Anonymous]

Who has a car anymore though? I feel like most people I know don't own a car.

[Anonymous]

Cars weren't as computerized back then, even in the 80s. Most kids now aren't car crazy.

My nephew works on his expensive old car, but he is also training to be a mechanic. And he chose an 80s car to rehab.

[Anonymous]

My ds is going to take auto shop next year. I don't expect him to become a mechanic but he is interested in the class and we are all for it. He took woodshop in middle school and loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who has a car anymore though? I feel like most people I know don't own a car.

Almost every American, that's who.

[Anonymous]

Who has a car anymore though? I feel like most people I know don't own a car.

Are you really this clueless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's partly the area. I see this where some of my family lives in rural WV, but not around here.

Well, and let me add-- it's class, too. I still see this here and there among working class folks (around here that means mostly people of color), but not so much middle class+.

Boys I grew up with tinkered with cars. All had college educated parents but it wasn’t DC, where do it yourself is looked at with disdain. 3/4 of them now have engineering degrees. Some multiple degrees/PhDs. But there’s a limited amount they can on their own cars these days, though there’s one we still all go to for advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ds is going to take auto shop next year. I don't expect him to become a mechanic but he is interested in the class and we are all for it. He took woodshop in middle school and loved it.

There’s still a wood shop? Lucky kid. I saw them torn out of middle schools for trash computers about 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who has a car anymore though? I feel like most people I know don't own a car.

Almost every American, that's who.

Almost 40% of households in DC don't own a car. Presumably if you regard yourself as being in the "urban" part (not, say, Palisades), that number is higher. The teen boys that I know don't work on cars because it would be prohibitively expensive not only to own a car but to pay for the insurance and the space to park it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who has a car anymore though? I feel like most people I know don't own a car.

Almost every American, that's who.

Almost 40% of households in DC don't own a car. Presumably if you regard yourself as being in the "urban" part (not, say, Palisades), that number is higher. The teen boys that I know don't work on cars because it would be prohibitively expensive not only to own a car but to pay for the insurance and the space to park it.

Ah, so you think what's going on in your teeny, tiny, insular bubble is what's going on in the wide world - or even in nearby Palisades. Got it.

[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.

True, but my DH has taught my boys how to change the oil, change the break pads, check and top off all fluids and how to change a tire. I got a flat a few months ago and my 15yr old put the spare on for me. I had no idea how to do it (or even how to access my spare!) but my 15yr old son did. My DH also brings my boys in whenever he is doing anything around the house, such as plumbing, minor electrical, or any other mechanical work.

I'm grateful my boys have a traditional masculine role model to be patient with them and empower them to be knowledgeable about their surroundings.

[Anonymous]

I was a teen in the 1990s and I don't think I knew any boys who worked on their cars. We were upper middle class if that makes a difference.

I remember my father, who'd grown up in a classic American small town of the fifties, commenting that my generation didn't seem to be interested in cars the way his generation was. And I would go further and say today's kids are even less interested in cars. Cars aren't seen as a sign of freedom or status symbol they once were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My brother always worked on cars growing up. He then got a job at a BMW/Merceedes dealership doing basic helper stuff. He showed an aptitude and they sent him off to Mercedes Benz training in Germany for 4.5 months. He returned to the US and worked as a certified MB mechanic and made in his first year omissions of 89K, he was 21 and it was 2003.

He then went back to Germany on his own dime and went to the collision repair training course and got certified to do body work. He then went to work (outside the dealership) at a collision repair place.

In 2012 he bought a collision repair shop with a loan from the bank and his home as collateral (because as blue collar mechanic he owned a home in Vienna, as he didn't have student loans). His shop is insanely successful and he is racking in over 600K/yr in NET PROFIT after all expenses.

Statistically he is better off than 99% of college educated in this area. He is not only a homeowner, but at age 37 he is the owner of a business that he owns free an clear (including the land it sits on) and a line of customer out the door a mile long. Lots of helpless white collar workers that frankly he could tell anything to and charge anything for and they wouldn't know better. I can only dream that my boys follow in his footsteps.