4 ms·

I don't think people care about cars nearly as much these days, in part because they don't have to. Cars last a long time and repairs can almost never be done w

I don't think people care about cars nearly as much these days, in part because they don't have to. Cars last a long time and repairs can almost never be done without a shop, so it's suddenly a lot less engaging to be "into" cars. Now it's more like buying a new refrigerator - a major purchase that is expected to do it's one job very well and for so long that you don't even have to think about how long that might be. So, maybe it's not surprising that cars are becoming the same color as appliances. There's also a noticeable pro-transit, meh-cars sentiment among Millennials/younger people that is in stark contrast to previous generations who seemed to place a lot of personal and cultural significance on their car. But between rideshares and more urban living, Millennials are probably the first generation to have less need of a personal car since there's been cars. Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone I know who owns a car that was not chosen in the same way we'd choose an appliance. There's no sports cars, nothing luxury beyond the average luxury sedan, no pickup trucks or jeeps or anything other than practical 4 door vehicles of various sizes with lots of safety features and good gas mileage (if not electric).

ghaff 2y ago
I wouldn't say that my circles are especially car enthusiast oriented. But pretty much everyone I know--including myself--chose our vehicles pretty deliberately in support of outdoor activities. I did have a small sporty vehicle as well but that didn't make sense once I didn't have a commute any longer. But I don't live in a city and rarely travel to one in which case my priorities might be different--though even the people I know who do live in the city pretty much all own vehicles for weekend activities.
brightlancer 2y ago
> There's also a noticeable pro-transit, meh-cars sentiment among Millennials/younger people I read this a lot but I don't find the data that supports it. There appears to be a very loud group of millennials online who won't shut up about how awful cars are, but I can't find data supporting this among the age cohort. (Also, generation theory is great for napkin math but so misleading that it shouldn't be used for serious work. In doing a quick search to see if maybe I had just missed obvious data, I found studies using different year brackets for "Millennials", which makes this all apples and oranges.) > Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone I know who owns a car that was not chosen in the same way we'd choose an appliance. There's no sports cars, nothing luxury beyond the average luxury sedan, no pickup trucks or jeeps or anything other than practical 4 door vehicles of various sizes with lots of safety features and good gas mileage (if not electric). I spent most of my adult life in Georgia, in Atlanta specifically and also in the ginormous metro. I've known plenty of folks who drove pickups and jeeps, sports cars and muscle cars. And tons of SUVs. More than luxury sedans, folks would buy luxury SUVs. There were regular sedans, but those tended to be older and/or the second car. I can't think of anyone who went out and bought a new Camry.

ghaff 2y ago

I wouldn't say that my circles are especially car enthusiast oriented. But pretty much everyone I know--including myself--chose our vehicles pretty deliberately in support of outdoor activities. I did have a small sporty vehicle as well but that didn't make sense once I didn't have a commute any longer. But I don't live in a city and rarely travel to one in which case my priorities might be different--though even the people I know who do live in the city pretty much all own vehicles for weekend activities.

brightlancer 2y ago

> There's also a noticeable pro-transit, meh-cars sentiment among Millennials/younger people I read this a lot but I don't find the data that supports it. There appears to be a very loud group of millennials online who won't shut up about how awful cars are, but I can't find data supporting this among the age cohort. (Also, generation theory is great for napkin math but so misleading that it shouldn't be used for serious work. In doing a quick search to see if maybe I had just missed obvious data, I found studies using different year brackets for "Millennials", which makes this all apples and oranges.) > Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone I know who owns a car that was not chosen in the same way we'd choose an appliance. There's no sports cars, nothing luxury beyond the average luxury sedan, no pickup trucks or jeeps or anything other than practical 4 door vehicles of various sizes with lots of safety features and good gas mileage (if not electric). I spent most of my adult life in Georgia, in Atlanta specifically and also in the ginormous metro. I've known plenty of folks who drove pickups and jeeps, sports cars and muscle cars. And tons of SUVs. More than luxury sedans, folks would buy luxury SUVs. There were regular sedans, but those tended to be older and/or the second car. I can't think of anyone who went out and bought a new Camry.