How the US fell out of love with its cars

"Latham says his students no longer see their cars as an essential expression; their Toyotas and Hondas are just vehicles. They boast of iPods or computer games, not their 'wheels'.

'They are like walking cyborgs with all these things attached to them. Cars have become functional. They are not statements anymore. Electronics are,' he said.

Lord agrees: 'Young people do not have that same set of cultural signs. Their cultural landscape is about technology and the internet, not about convertibles and driving across America.'"

Total BS.

Two things:

1. American V8 sportscars are still high on the list of any 16 year old's wish lists, and TO DATE, there is NOTHING like a big V8 rumble shoving you into your seat when you slam that clutch...

2. The import-mod scene is HUGE. I'll bet 8 out of 10 kids who own Honda's or Toyota's have some form of customization, whether it be body kit, or an array of electronics inside.

These guys are waaaaaaay out of touch with reality.

 

How many 16 yr olds can afford to buy a V8 sportscar?

My nephew is driving my 10 year old Saturn coupe. Closest thing to a sportscar he'll probably ever own.

Modifications?

He put in new speakers and got an adapter for his iPod.

That's all he can afford. He has to pay for gas and insurance.

And I don't think the wishes and wet dreams of a 16 year old American male are an accurate barometer for the entire American car market.

BTW my nephew didn't want to get a driver's license at all. And he's not alone. Quite a few 16 year old children of my acquaintances expressed the same resistance. They don't want to drive. My sister made him get his license so she wouldn't have to chaffeur him and his brother as she's now working full time again. He has changed his mind about the transmission....he now loves my old stick shift and never wants to go back to an automatic again. I'm thinking right.....until you're 50 and have a bad back.

He does detail it once a week. Car never looked better.

 

You've obviously never spent time around 155mm Howitzers. :lol:

 

Many kids can afford v8 sportscars. Particularly if they're used. What's "in" now are modified foreign cars though. Check out the parking lot at his school if they have one...

As for your nephew not wanting to get a license, you must either live in a city where there's ample public transportation, or, he's somewhat atypical in this respect. I've never met a 16 year old that wasn't itching to get their license.

 

I have to admit, my first car was purely functional - it probably would have remained that way if it weren't for the Prius =)

I took an almost two hour bus ride to school every morning, then two hours home in the afternoon, and worked until 11:00 4 nights a week, which was hard to schedule transportation for. I really did need a car - getting one would save a lot of hassles all around, and let me sleep in a bit. Unfortunately, the week before I was supposed to get my learners permit, one of my good friends from CAP and his two carmates got into a big accident, with one of them in a coma, and a bad situation all around. They all recovered fairly quickly, but I was 4 months late getting my drivers license because I kept putting off getting the learners permit. I only (very) recently have taken to driving around for the fun of it, or offering to drive... I wonder what could have caused that? =P

 

had my learners permit at 17... renewed it yearly til I was 21 cause it was HUGE differenceto pay $10 per year to renew it and have to drive with someone vs. buying gas and paying for insurance.

 

I am glad the UK observer is interpeting the wants of american youth. Why would anyone read a story like this. I wonder what other stories that author has given us the facts on? MS is absolutley right, go to your local auto show and see what most of the young people are dreaming about, I don't want to offend anyone but it isn't a Prius.

 

Yeah man,...the "ricers" fill the high school parking lots...

and the magazine racks are filled with mod mags.

I think the article reflects more of the Euro-youth culture though. It seems that their big thing is the electronic gadgets. There are a few ricers, but not nearly as many as here.

 

Big difference between what kids are going to dream about and what they can actually afford. The import tuner market in the US got it legs from kids who bought used cheap, economical, cars and then improved/customized them from that point. Heck, I bet the kids that have those cars still "dream" about owning a Lamborghini but how many Lambos are sold to those kids with dreams--not a very big market there, I would guess.

 

I agree with malorn and 2hybrids...

I know for a fact owning vehicles in most of Europe is very prohibitive, and, of course, gas if far more expensive.

In the EU, it's much harder for the average 16 year old to own a car...

Granted, the article is written from someone who's in the US, but I really don't think he's "tuned" into the current automotive landscape...

In the US, cars and teenagers go together like peanut butter and jelly, bound together by the bread of video games and Ipods!

 

Putting aside for the moment whether the article got things right or wrong, it is certainly in the interest of their readers for the Observer to put together articles about cultural trends in powerful nations.

Here in the US we may not immediately perceive changes in smaller nations, but when the US makes a change, other countries can feel it. (For better or for worse.)

Personally, I wish there were more articles in US papers on cultural trends internationally. Of course, I'd want them to be accurate and well-written, too, which seems to be a stretch these days for most publications.

As an aside, I've been lucky (unlucky?) enough in my life to be a tangent to many stories that made the news. Usually, in reading reports of something I knew about, there were many factual errors, from simple misspellings and misattributions, to failure on the part of the reporter to convey a key understanding of the topic. It really makes me pause and evaluate anything I read... if everything I know something about is a bit messed up, how do I know what's messed up in article on an unfamiliar topic?

- Bob R.

 

Just let me know where and when! :lol:

 

:lol:

You have to dig pretty deep! It's all about US remember? Who cares with what's going on in Sri Lanka!

Thanks to the internet though, my PC is full of bookmarks from papers around the world... B)

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

How the HELL did I forget that one!!!!!

 

I drive my son to the local high-school a couple of times weekly, and have a chance to see what the students drive. Impressions:

1. Old hand me downs from the parents
2. Newer hand-me-down SUVs (perhaps 25% of the vehicles
3. Distant third -- muscle cars

This is the highest socio-economic class school in the city.

 

I didn't get my license at 16 either. I did take a DMV course at school and got my learner's permit and took an on-the-road driving course as well at age 16. But I didn't feel comfortable behind the wheel when I was in high school. Lucky for me, my mom worked at the elementary school that was adjacent to my high school, so I had a ride to/from school (even if it meant that I had to arrive early or leave late and had time to kill while waiting). I finally got my license at 18 and only because I needed to get to and from both the junior college I was attending and to/from work. And I didn't care what kind of car I got, as long as it was an automatic and didn't break down on me.

 

My sympathies are for the displaced workers and ravaged communities. What's going on here is like the Industrial Revolution in reverse. I think the decline in the American auto industry is largely self-inflicted, if you include the unsustainable choices made by the American driving public in the equation. Disenchantment with the automobile is a necessary first step in the process of dealing with the horrendous environmental costs we've paid to sustain an auto-dependent society, and the costs of moving away from it. I admit I'm a bit divided myself. I like my Prius and the mobility, but I also see that I'm part of a level of consumption which is not sustainable or healthy. How many of you (myself included here) think that because we've bought hybrids that we've bought some sort of exemption for ourselves, and that, until the rest of the driving public "catches up" with us, we really don't have to do anything more?

I'm more concerned about the general decline in our ability and willingness to make things here than I am about the disappearance of the "auto-saur". As a nation, we've become a WalMart that will only be able to function as long as the Chinese are willing to make things for us.
Bob

 

Used to we enjoyed sitting around the living room and sharing stories and each others company. Now we sit in front of TV and enjoy some actors company!...
Life has changed and different things now thrill us. The been there done that attitude prevails.... Until car companies can come up with an experience that is new and exciting, they will suffer. Thats why the prius excells!... where else can you find that experience?

Once upon a time it was ultra cool to sit in a drive in movie as well as drive some of the old cars!.. back then that all was new and cutting edge.
Now they must step up to the plate and do new things to impress America....

America is tired of simply paying more and more for the same thing just to have bragging rights.