Fellow Millennials, we’re back in the news again, and this time it isn’t for being a bunch of layabouts with degrees in Interpretive Dance who refuse to buy cars because we hate cars. No, this time, it’s because we suck at fixing our cars, apparently.
Tech website PandoDaily cites a new study from RepairPal of 162 auto shop owners that says The Youths are terrible at keeping their jalopies in shape. Here’s what they wrote:
According to a survey released by the company RepairPal, young people may not care so much for their cars. At least not in many mechanics’ estimations. The survey queried 162 auto repair shop owners about trends in their services and general awareness of their clientele. And, I guess unsurprisingly, millennials aren’t the most attentive car owners.
One question asked which generation the mechanics thought were the least “car-care conscious.” A whopping 48.67 percent of the respondents said “those between the ages of twenty and thirty-four,” with the “sixteen to nineteen” crew trailing behind with 47.33 percent of the votes.
Now, I’m always kind of skeptical of “studies” like these. I never know how much weight to give them, since they depend on the survey size, the questions asked, the intent of the study, and a billion other factors.
By now we’ve pretty firmly established that the main reason younger people aren’t buying cars as much as older folks — besides a desire for urban living among some — is economics. Record unemployment for college grads, rising costs of cars and other goods, stagnant wages, yadda yadda yadda.
But if that’s the case, then maybe it follows that the Millennials don’t have the cash to maintain their vehicles properly, which is crucial to keeping older cars on the road — something we’ve hit record levels of lately. Are younger folks really bad at maintaining their vehicles?
I know I’m not. Just like every good Jalop should, I change my oil every five years, I keep my transmission case free of any fluid and I only patch my tires with the highest-grade masking tape you can get at CVS. Stuff you’re supposed to do.
Joking aside, maybe it’s inexperience. I know far more about maintaining a car now than I did when I was 18. A lot of this stuff you just learn as you get older, whether you fix a car yourself or you just get faced with routine (or not so routine) problems. Or maybe it’s a cost issue. Or maybe the whole study is bullshit and we’re as good at keeping cars working as anyone.
What do you guys think? Do the kids really suck at keeping their cars in shape?
Photo credit Shutterstock
Hat tip to Dan!
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