Hammer Time: Mind The Generation Gap

I don’t know what the hell to do. I’ve got an old Lexus SC400 that’s getting a new amp and I’m trying to figure out what adapter out there can make it work. Circuit City is shuttered. I should know that since I got a video camera there for nearly bupkis a few months ago. Other than that, well, I guess I’m kinda screwed. Nobody nearby replaces amps and has that friggin’ adapter. Which reminds me . . .

One of the things I’ve noticed through my search for radio amplitude is that different generations seem to have very different types of fear factors. The 35 to 55 crowd in my neck of the woods seem to be the most willing to do basic maintenance themselves. As a group they seem to be the most frequent visitors of the parts stores, and inevitably when I find someone underneath a car these days they’re right about that age. I guess some folks would assume that part of it has to do with being in either a frugal or independent phase of life where money and control issues are important. However, I’m also realizing that it’s not really that simple . . . or even true.

We just happen to be in a very lucky generation. Starting in 1996 cars started using OBDII. A universal computer language that enabled folks to either diagnose their cars with their own cheap little scanner, or go to a nearby parts store and have their cars diagnosed for free. No metal plug-ins needed. No electronic pulses to count and read in a cryptic manual.

Automakers were also making many of their cars simpler to work on throughout the 1990’s and more durable as well. The longevity DNA that made Volvo and Mercedes such coveted brands were gradually coming into all the automakers in varying degrees. Steel became more advanced and durable. Electronics became far less buggy (in most cases). And the smarter ones of the breed were making cars with fewer parts and fewer parts suppliers. The net result were cars that were far easier to maintain and service than ever before.

Enthusiasts in the under-35 crowd or over-55 crowd will do that, and more. The former like their modern metal. The later usually have at least one “classic” car that they play with and are often the oracles of enthusiast groups. But the non-enthusiasts within both these groups are very different animals. Folks under 35 often have all these wonderful fake pieces of plastic that keep them from touching their engines. Period. Changing the oil in some cars requires removing a nice long piece of plastic underneath.

Even today’s cheaper cars (e.g., the Hyundai Santa Fe) are starting to use the plastic design covers that Mercedes, Lincoln and Lexus have popularized over the past decade. Wanna check the tranny fluid? Naahh. Some models will require that you have X-ray vision or drive it to the dealer. The net sum is the younger non-enthusiasts are now given physical barriers that help keep them clueless when it comes to cars.

The over-55 crowd who are non-enthusiasts grew up in a world where each car literally had their own language and idiosyncracies. Volvo, Chrysler, GM, Toyota, and Hyundai each had cars with computers that literally had their own unique diagnostic equipment. Instead of pulling out a little orange (the aforementioned $50 diagnostic tool) an owner had to take it to someone who could actually diagnose it for them. Of course there were times immemorial when carburetors were common and computers were rare. But those older vehicles required someone with either a mechanical background or a tinkerers intuition. As a result of this legacy, many AARP folks these days still prefer having the dealer or independent shop do the “dirty work” for them. Even though the work is often neither dirty nor difficult.