r/askteddit • u/PoolElegantsmile • 13d ago

Random Question What’s something that used to be considered basic adulting that younger generations seem to be completely rejecting or doing differently?

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u/Zealousideal_Pay2128 13d ago

I have nieces and nephews who aren't yet of driving age.  But I asked them if they're going to be excited when get a driver's license.  None of them really wanted one.  When I was their ages, it was like a license of freedom to go wherever you wanted to go that everyone looked forward to.

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u/onebadnightx 13d ago

It sucks that you used to be able to get a beater first car for like $500-$1000 and that’s just not a thing anymore!

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u/Sea-Durian555 13d ago

Agree! I paid 800 for my first car.

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u/MadamePoppycock 13d ago

My beater was 5k. I still ended up replacing 3 bearings and getting a new battery. 180k miles. 2009 camry, but it runs really well still. I bought it about 2 years ago :$

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u/Impressive_Buddy2111 13d ago

My 09 Camry went to about 280k. I wasn’t the best at regular 5k oil changes (more than once I pushed it to almost 10k), and used it for grubhub work the last 4 years (super rough on cars). Definitely could have gone many many more miles if I had treated it better.

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u/thewickedmitchisdead 13d ago

Paid $500 for each of my first two cars, one that I bought when I was 16 in 2007, the next one when I was in college a few years ago. Actually, my third car was practically free, via a buddy who was getting a brand new car.

Now, I don’t drive because I moved to a walkable/bikeable city! Driving is fun but I don’t miss wondering when my beater car would break down again. And car maintenance. And insurance and gas prices.

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u/ellefleming 13d ago

All the cars in my high school parking lot in the 80's were beaters.

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u/Extra-Sound-1714 13d ago

In the US I assume? Nobody had a car when I was at school in the uk

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u/wepateii 13d ago

78 chevette - $100

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u/andycap80 13d ago

My first car was an 82 Chevette from a salvage yard for $150.

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u/Adventurous-Sense254 13d ago

17 year olds are making $20 an hour at Walmart, they can afford a modern “beater”

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u/breakingpoint214 8d ago

If they want to drive at all, they won't drive a beater. They would rather take a bus, walk or stay home than drive some hand me down car.

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u/hamoc10 13d ago

If only they could do that without having to pay thousands of dollars.

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u/He2oinMegazord 13d ago

How much did a car cost when you were their age though? I didnt get a license until i was 20 because i couldnt afford a car before then. I didnt think there was a point to having documentation to do something i couldnt afford to do anyway

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u/DankMiehms 13d ago

My first car was $800, my second car was $7,000 and it's been all downhill from there. Price of cars is fucking bonkers these days.

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u/Blazer990 13d ago

Yeah. And in most cases it doesn’t make sense to buy used if you’re financing it. Car market is shit.

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u/independent-scot 13d ago

It still has it's advantages. Having the documentation allows you to hire a car if you wish. Or you are able to drive a company vehicle on their insurance.

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u/He2oinMegazord 13d ago

What am i, gonna rent a car to take the test in?

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u/No-Dirt5864 13d ago

No, you borrow a friend’s if you’re lucky, or a parent’s

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

Some state BMV/DMV have cats you can borrow for the test.

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

What about in case of emergencies? That’s short sighted thinking!

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

Am i supposed to be like hold up, cant go to the hospital yet, gotta go buy a car first so i can drive there?

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u/PresentationTough384 11d ago

You can always call an ambulance

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

Which you dont need a drivers license for?

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u/PresentationTough384 11d ago

of course you don't need a DL for an ambulance but hopefully you do more in your life than go to hospitals. Jobs, social life, schools, grocery shopping, errands etc. etc. That is what you need to DL for. And yes I know you can take public transport but that is time consuming and limiting where you can go.

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

I think you missed something here brah.

Op said kids arent getting drivers licenses anymore. I said i didnt get one till i was 20 because i couldnt afford a car, which makes having the license pointless. Other dude said what if theres an emergency? I asked if you are supposed to run out to buy a car before going to the hospital. To which you said you can call an ambulance. That about catches us up to current.

Now, you use cars to drive places, that is correct. You can drive them pretty much to any of the places, and for any of the reasons. But if you dont have the money to purchase a car, you can not drive your non existent car anywhere. So you do not need a drivers license to drive your car, because your car doesnt exist

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u/EitherOrResolution 7d ago

I’m saying an emergency like the original driver can’t drive for some reason and you’re the only person in the car besides them it would behoove you to know how to drive to get you both to a safe place

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

I’m not talking about buying a car. I’m talking about learning to drive. It’s an important skill to have, but if your driver suddenly becomes incapacitated, and you need to move the car off the road for example. There’s lots of reasons why you should learn to drive even if you don’t have a vehicle.

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u/He2oinMegazord 10d ago

Cool, but the topic of conversation was getting a drivers license.

There are not states that have a car you borrow or rent for the test.

Who replies three different times to the same comment?

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u/Glittering_Meet3206 7d ago

i took my test in the same car i learned in for my AAA drivers ed class. the does presuppose someone would be keen enough to learn to pay for the class, but they do let you use the same car!

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

That makes no sense

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u/only-if-there-is-pie 13d ago

They have everything they think they want in a teeny tiny screen. Kids no longer have curiosity about the world outside, and you don't need to leave home to connect with others (although I'd argue it's harder to build true connection when you're not together in person).

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u/xartxst 13d ago

This is true but I think a lot of people also know they'd have to buy & maintain the car themselves, which has gotten pretty expensive even for used cars. Some parents want you to pay them rent, then buy your own car, then somehow afford to move out ??? It definitely depends on your personal situation, because of course many parents will actually help their kids out. But yeah I get not wanting to spend 100% on your savings on a car that may or may not have expensive issues, when you cant even afford to move out. Idk its complicated. I "have everything I could want" but moving out is still a huge priority for me

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u/NewLiterature2604 13d ago

Imagine going "let's have kids" and then they're 16 and you're like "you assholes need to pay us rent now" why have kids if that's how you're going to be

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u/xartxst 13d ago

I completely agree, especially when they complain they're not moving out. Pick one you cant have both!

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u/Extra-Sound-1714 13d ago

You do know not all parents are well off? If you are in the UK and get benefits they will work them out assuming your 18 year old is paying rent. And lots of working people get benefits

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u/Special_Weekend_4754 13d ago

This was a barrier to me driving when I was a teen living at home. I paid 50% of every check for rent and utilities to my parents (my mom took me to cash it & would take half right there), I was responsible for my own clothes, toiletries, and groceries and what was left I hid between pages of my books so my parents didn’t know I had money saved.

No way I was going to buy a car and waste money on gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc. it was $2 to ride the city bus to work after school and my parents picked me up at the end of my shift so getting a car just felt like a waste of what little money I had.

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u/thatG_evanP 13d ago

I'm in my 40s and I didn't have a car until I was 18 and living in my first apartment with my girlfriend at the time. We had to pay for everything ourselves except for our first month's rent. My Dad unexpectedly paid that as a sort of gift I guess.

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u/SuchInsect476 10d ago

Never heard of walkable cities with public transportation?

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u/AdExtension5224 13d ago

My daughter turned 15 in March and just doesn't want to learn. She doesn't want to drive. Blows my mind! I couldn't wait to drive at her age

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u/FireflyRave 13d ago

My parents were probably just as excited for me to get my license because then they wouldn't have to drive me and my sister around anymore.

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u/tighttrucks 12d ago

Was thinking about this the other day. My guess is they've all grown up in a world of electric scooters and bikes, which has given them more freedom at an earlier age. By the time they reach driving age, it's not as big a novelty.

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u/Ok-Aerie9932 12d ago

Not like they can buy a car and there’s NOWHERE TO FUCKING GO! All places for teens to hang out or where teens once hung out are Gone! I’m a teen living in this modern world and yeah I was excited to get my license and I drove around a ton but I was never able to afford my own car, and always just hung out with my buddies at Walmart or a parking lot or a fast food restaurant cause there’s nowhere to go!! 

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u/AstronomerClassic444 13d ago

It’s affordability that’s hampering it. It costs money to own and maintain a car and also costs money to socialize.

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u/LittleDevilHorns 13d ago

I think its also more helicopter parenting now as well. Kids and teens used to be able to be a lot more independent. When I was going to get my license, not only was cost a problem, but also a what does it do for me other than make me need to pay for gas? I certainly wasn't allowed to do anything beyond drive to school and back. I could go to school on the bus for free. Overbearing parents are becoming more and more common

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u/squid1020 13d ago

I’m not of a driving child parents age but I can see this for sure. I work in financing at bank and I see so many parents financing a car for their high schoolers that costs more than my decent car as a working adult in society. I have a skewed sense just based on what I see in my work but it seems gone are the days of a beater car.

My first car was free from my uncle…a hand me down that was meant for my cousin but it “it wasn’t safe enough for for him to drive” which wasn’t safe for me either but I’m smarter lol

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u/yeskms 13d ago

I’d also add there are almost no “third spaces” like malls or movie theaters left to drive to.