Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !
Discussion
A colleague of mine said her sister complained that after driving in snow, that pressing the "snowflake" button hadn't made any difference to the cars grip on the snow covered roads.
She was asked did the car feel a bit chilly perhaps after she had pressed it? Yup she had pressed the aircon button.
She was asked did the car feel a bit chilly perhaps after she had pressed it? Yup she had pressed the aircon button.
Hungrymc said:
Largely a generational thing and not neccessrily a gender thing.
When I learned to drive. You were replacing a rotor arm or setting points gap almost as often as you'd fill a washer bottle. Ok, this is a slight exaggeration, but running cheap old cars in the 1990's and you had to spend time under the bonnet else you were never getting far.
Even relatively old cars now require far, far less attention to keep them running and need more specialist attention more often when a fault does occur. This means the vast majority of people never go under a bonnet.
The younger people I know tend to like cars, but very few are into cars in the way I was as a 20 year old. I don't know what is behind it, but cars don't seem to carry the same appeal to younger chaps today (certainly far fewer lads are as interested). To make this a bigger surprise, the majority I know work in engineering in automotive. And, the most shocking bit.... They all drive extremely well and extremely carefully, none of them have put a car through a hedge or wheelied off the back of a motorbike - all of my friends back in the day did.
It's an availability thing, I think. When I was learning to drive cars were an expensive, aspirational sought-after symbol of freedom. You got one (mine was a 1.6 Sierra, but at least it was RWD and petrol!) and then you spent your weekends fettling with the carb, tweaking the dizzy and generally pratting around with your spanners and fixing odds and ends to keep yourself mobile and in fine fettle. These days it's all 'Golf R for 200 notes a monf, bruv, init' so they're literally just another cheap(ish) appliance. When I learned to drive. You were replacing a rotor arm or setting points gap almost as often as you'd fill a washer bottle. Ok, this is a slight exaggeration, but running cheap old cars in the 1990's and you had to spend time under the bonnet else you were never getting far.
Even relatively old cars now require far, far less attention to keep them running and need more specialist attention more often when a fault does occur. This means the vast majority of people never go under a bonnet.
The younger people I know tend to like cars, but very few are into cars in the way I was as a 20 year old. I don't know what is behind it, but cars don't seem to carry the same appeal to younger chaps today (certainly far fewer lads are as interested). To make this a bigger surprise, the majority I know work in engineering in automotive. And, the most shocking bit.... They all drive extremely well and extremely carefully, none of them have put a car through a hedge or wheelied off the back of a motorbike - all of my friends back in the day did.
I would suggest there are less crashes these days thanks to TC, ESC, ESP etc rather than a sudden increase in the driving abilities of the under 25s. Maybe...On the subject of maintenance, my in-laws (fantastic people, unless you are a car) ran a cooking model Corsa when I met my now-wife five years ago. In passing, I asked once when its next service was due and got the usual 'Erm its MOT isn't due until next year' answer. It transpired they'd never, ever serviced it (from nearly new!) and it eventually died at over 100k with one hell of a lot of sludge in the engine. To be fair that almost makes financial sense! More worryingly, they now have a base model Polo, which suits them admirably. Unfortunately my MIL works a second job at the weekends to keep up with the HP repayments, but they still never have it serviced or the oil changed. She's finally able to quit the second job next month, as the finance is paid off, but they show no interest in protecting their investment vis a vis a simple oil change. I've offered umpteen times but they're just not interested. The EML has been on since last Christmas, with my OBD suggesting it's the EGR. I suggested a great local specialist indy, but alas no...
Searider said:
Nothing wrong with that, but how have you known something needed doing...........
Whenever the car feels different to how it should then I speak to somebody who is more clued up with cars than I am. I love driving, I just honestly couldn't care less about understanding how they work or how to change a tyre, especially when there are people out there who can do it for me.amagawd said:
Searider said:
Nothing wrong with that, but how have you known something needed doing...........
Whenever the car feels different to how it should then I speak to somebody who is more clued up with cars than I am. I love driving, I just honestly couldn't care less about understanding how they work or how to change a tyre, especially when there are people out there who can do it for me.amagawd said:
Whenever the car feels different to how it should then I speak to somebody who is more clued up with cars than I am. I love driving, I just honestly couldn't care less about understanding how they work or how to change a tyre, especially when there are people out there who can do it for me.
That's fair enough. I don't think it's uncommon either. And I don't do much work on my cars and bikes these days.I don't know if it's cause or effect. But for me, the two things are linked. I also love driving (and riding motorbikes) and I really like understanding how they work. I think that helps to understand what you're feeling when you drive.
I'm not trying to say you're wrong, just offering a different view.
Maybe it's why some constantly bang on about cars that feel mechanical and other guys are generally quicker to accept and exploit new technology.
Think it's just a symptom of the society we live in.
My Grandparents were the "mend and make do" generation, having lived through two world wars, so I has it drummed into me at an early age - by one grandfather in particular - that you need to look after something if you want to get the best out of it/ make it last. To look after it properly, you need to understand how it works.
These days, we're actively discouraged from touching anything -"only to be serviced by qualified, trained personnel", making a lot of people scared of even looking under their bonnet. And it's not just people, lots of companies don't want to know anything about the equipment they own and operate -"just get the manafacturer to maintain/fix it".
Guess it's very easy to do nothing, and more difficult to do anything, especially when it comes to learning new concepts and getting your hands dirty- managers don't do that type of thing after all.
I worry about my kids generation. Are any of them going to have a clue other than "plug and play"? Will they spend all their money on service agreements with Tesla and apple?
Unless of course a big metoerite hits, then those who can fix stuff will be kings!
My Grandparents were the "mend and make do" generation, having lived through two world wars, so I has it drummed into me at an early age - by one grandfather in particular - that you need to look after something if you want to get the best out of it/ make it last. To look after it properly, you need to understand how it works.
These days, we're actively discouraged from touching anything -"only to be serviced by qualified, trained personnel", making a lot of people scared of even looking under their bonnet. And it's not just people, lots of companies don't want to know anything about the equipment they own and operate -"just get the manafacturer to maintain/fix it".
Guess it's very easy to do nothing, and more difficult to do anything, especially when it comes to learning new concepts and getting your hands dirty- managers don't do that type of thing after all.
I worry about my kids generation. Are any of them going to have a clue other than "plug and play"? Will they spend all their money on service agreements with Tesla and apple?
Unless of course a big metoerite hits, then those who can fix stuff will be kings!
Jimmy Recard said:
A family friend asked my advice about a problem with her 61 plate Polo.
I didn't agree it should be scrapped and replaced with a Mini so she ignored it, told her dad that I had said it should be scrapped and he had it scrapped and bought her a Mini. She's 24 years old.
Sometimes some blame can lie with the parents that encourage such a poor attitude.
Wow! I didn't agree it should be scrapped and replaced with a Mini so she ignored it, told her dad that I had said it should be scrapped and he had it scrapped and bought her a Mini. She's 24 years old.
Sometimes some blame can lie with the parents that encourage such a poor attitude.
amagawd said:
I've been driving for 5-6 years, owned more performance cars than I should in this period and I've never done anything to a car myself, not even a bulb. If something needs doing I pass the car to somebody else who takes care of it for me. I've never even cleaned my own car before...
And your point is, caller?!A post from someone belonging to the generation that conflates the idea that everyone is entitled to their opinion with everyone having a valid opinion.
Congratulations on your ignorance.
Rovnumpty said:
Think it's just a symptom of the society we live in.
My Grandparents were the "mend and make do" generation, having lived through two world wars, so I has it drummed into me at an early age - by one grandfather in particular - that you need to look after something if you want to get the best out of it/ make it last. To look after it properly, you need to understand how it works.
These days, we're actively discouraged from touching anything -"only to be serviced by qualified, trained personnel", making a lot of people scared of even looking under their bonnet. And it's not just people, lots of companies don't want to know anything about the equipment they own and operate -"just get the manafacturer to maintain/fix it".
Guess it's very easy to do nothing, and more difficult to do anything, especially when it comes to learning new concepts and getting your hands dirty- managers don't do that type of thing after all.
I worry about my kids generation. Are any of them going to have a clue other than "plug and play"? Will they spend all their money on service agreements with Tesla and apple?
Unless of course a big metoerite hits, then those who can fix stuff will be kings!
But that is partly a reasonable response to equipment being more complex (in a sense) but also more reliable. Many of the 'repairs' owners could do themselves were just ad hoc maintenance tasks that have now been eliminated.My Grandparents were the "mend and make do" generation, having lived through two world wars, so I has it drummed into me at an early age - by one grandfather in particular - that you need to look after something if you want to get the best out of it/ make it last. To look after it properly, you need to understand how it works.
These days, we're actively discouraged from touching anything -"only to be serviced by qualified, trained personnel", making a lot of people scared of even looking under their bonnet. And it's not just people, lots of companies don't want to know anything about the equipment they own and operate -"just get the manafacturer to maintain/fix it".
Guess it's very easy to do nothing, and more difficult to do anything, especially when it comes to learning new concepts and getting your hands dirty- managers don't do that type of thing after all.
I worry about my kids generation. Are any of them going to have a clue other than "plug and play"? Will they spend all their money on service agreements with Tesla and apple?
Unless of course a big metoerite hits, then those who can fix stuff will be kings!
A few years photographers who used Leica rangefinder cameras started complaining bitterly that while they could fix rangefinders on the old models by themselves, the new ones always had to go back to the dealer.
What actually happened was that in the old days the factory employed skilled workers to adjust each camera's rangefinders precisely before despatch. Naturally after a few years the adjusters worked loose/went out and had to be corrected, which the owner could often do quite easily. Only if it totally broke did the camera have to be sent back.
The newer cameras were made more precisely and rolled off the production line correctly, so no need for adjusters, so never went out of adjustment. Of course they still broke occasionally but no more than the old ones.
Much the same has happened with cars and bikes, a lot of the things owners had to fix just don't happen any more. Early Rolls Royces had dozens of linkages that had to be greased every 1000 miles or so (actually probably to give the chauffeur something to do so he didn't keep sexually harassing the chamber maids). Owners of British bikes even from the 60s and 70s had to keep tightening things up to reduce oil leaks to manageable level. Nowadays bikes just don't leak oil.
Edited by Dr Jekyll on Sunday 7th August 10:21
Er no not really, not for most cars made in the last 30 years either. I grew up in the 80s and to be honest the cars made then were not much different to those available now in terms of complexity. The made in 1984 SAAB 900 I used to have had Bosch LH fuel injection and ignition control, electronic boost control for the turbo (APC), ABS was also starting to become common place by the end of the 80s across decent cars.
My generation used to think old MGs were s
t boxes and much of the stuff now going for mental money because of the baby boomers were old bangers, it was the start of mass market fuel injection, turbo charging and widespread use of electronics in cars but we still tended to give a st about how the things worked or keeping an eye on them even if they didn't have nipples to grease.
Wow this post brings back memories of one of my school friends Astra GTE, he loved that thing must have been around 91 when he got it, I can remember two things about it 1) it seemed comically overpowered even though pretty mundane performance by modern standards and 2) it had that knight rider esque electronic dash that we all thought was the coolest thing ever. Its sad and a bit shocking for me to think that was 25 years ago, feels like only yesterday.
My generation used to think old MGs were s
t boxes and much of the stuff now going for mental money because of the baby boomers were old bangers, it was the start of mass market fuel injection, turbo charging and widespread use of electronics in cars but we still tended to give a st about how the things worked or keeping an eye on them even if they didn't have nipples to grease.Wow this post brings back memories of one of my school friends Astra GTE, he loved that thing must have been around 91 when he got it, I can remember two things about it 1) it seemed comically overpowered even though pretty mundane performance by modern standards and 2) it had that knight rider esque electronic dash that we all thought was the coolest thing ever. Its sad and a bit shocking for me to think that was 25 years ago, feels like only yesterday.
What happens if you THINK you know how to top up the oil!!
https://gfycat.com/ClutteredSomberCopperbutterfly
https://gfycat.com/ClutteredSomberCopperbutterfly
Riley Blue said:
Iva Barchetta said:
"It gets MOTed once a year,what more do you want ?"
You've met my sister! She drives her old bangers until their engine seize then buys another, her husband's no better. They're both intelligent (allegedly), both have degrees and both are teachers - which possibly explains everything...Noticing me writhing about under the dashboard, she asked me what I was doing. I told her it was "just a bit of car trouble". Her reply was: "But you had it MOT'd the other week didn't you?"
My mum and my uncle had a chat about cars the other day as he'd complained that his 1.6 Civic had some mechanical issues. It turned out he'd not serviced it for years and it was virtually out of oil!
He asked my mum about and even though she's far from being a petrol head she has her car serviced every 12 months without fail regardless of the service intervals being far longer. My mum laughed and told him that you have to have a car serviced etc. His answer was, "Well I'm not a car person!". You don't have to be a die hard car nut to have common sense.
I can recall when I passed my test, my mum showed me the standard stuff. Checking oil, topping up washer fluid, tyre pressures, having car serviced yearly etc. Then as I became more and more enthused with cars I read up and learnt things. I'm not a mechanic but I do have a good understanding of how things work and what may be problematic on a car. I don't think every driver should be a mechanic but a general understanding of what holes are what under the bonnet should be a minimum.
He asked my mum about and even though she's far from being a petrol head she has her car serviced every 12 months without fail regardless of the service intervals being far longer. My mum laughed and told him that you have to have a car serviced etc. His answer was, "Well I'm not a car person!". You don't have to be a die hard car nut to have common sense.
I can recall when I passed my test, my mum showed me the standard stuff. Checking oil, topping up washer fluid, tyre pressures, having car serviced yearly etc. Then as I became more and more enthused with cars I read up and learnt things. I'm not a mechanic but I do have a good understanding of how things work and what may be problematic on a car. I don't think every driver should be a mechanic but a general understanding of what holes are what under the bonnet should be a minimum.
You don't get airline pilots flying around without a clue how their aircraft works or without caring about looking after systems and the airframe.
Why should it be any different for people and their cars, where arguably a wheel coming off in a town is more likely to cause major injury than a wheel falling off a jet on a runway.
Why should it be any different for people and their cars, where arguably a wheel coming off in a town is more likely to cause major injury than a wheel falling off a jet on a runway.
Muddle238 said:
You don't get airline pilots flying around without a clue how their aircraft works or without caring about looking after systems and the airframe.
Why should it be any different for people and their cars, where arguably a wheel coming off in a town is more likely to cause major injury than a wheel falling off a jet on a runway.
maybe on some of the smaller aircraft.. Why should it be any different for people and their cars, where arguably a wheel coming off in a town is more likely to cause major injury than a wheel falling off a jet on a runway.
or is that the operator. hmm.OverSteery said:
Muddle238 said:
You don't get airline pilots flying around without a clue how their aircraft works or without caring about looking after systems and the airframe.
.
Oh yes, all commercial jet pilots can service a Rolls Royce Jet....
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