Car Culture Has Changed: 2012 vs 2022

Car Culture arguably saved me from a lifetime of no direction. It gave me a sense of community, purpose, and goals in life. However in the past ten years the car culture of 2012 is long gone and 2022 is almost unrecognizable... for better or for worse. Let's take a look back and see what's changed over the past decade in car culture.
#cars #car #carculture

[YFZ]

As someone in their mid-30s, I'm starting to feel like an old man by saying this all the time, but - social media has ruined a lot, changed people's mentality and the way they carry themselves in a public setting. For many things beyond car culture, what once felt like a warm and welcoming community, has now developed to a group of different clicks and lack of random engagement between people. As connected as we now are, it seems we are the most disconnected we've ever been.

[jeffkelly]

Cars are just becoming way too expensive. The days of a person in their early teens or twenties getting a fast car and tuning it up are fading away.

[BladedAngel]

The Death of the IRL Underground scene hurts me the most. I loved those endless nights.
Back then, it was about NOT being seen, nowadays it's ALL about being seen...

[Ninerforlife]

Complexity has increased.
Prices on vehicles have increased.
Regulations have increased.
Available tuners have decreased.
Parts have decreased.
Culture has decreased.

[infinitiogx]

I'm 40 and been in the car scene for about 25 years. I stopped going to night meets about 5-6 years ago due to these "takeovers" and people being glued to their phones instead of interacting with others. This video is spot on. The immaturity, lack of knowledge and disconnected behavior just ruins it.. Daytime meets tend to have more adults, better cars, people who conduct themselves right and actually possess knowledge and stories worth hearing and sharing..

[uranusneptun]

I feel like currently we're at a point where more and more people are realising how social media has messed up so many parts of our daily life and cultures. It's a good thing because I also feel like more and more people are getting off the platforms and society starts to learn handling it.

[SilverSylphide]

Blame social media, slowly ruining everything you love one by one.

[bulbacivic]

I'm glad he mentioned track culture because that's where that 2010 -2012 feeling is still at. Just car guys racing and not gatekeeping tips, just hanging out, grilling out and racing

[TryOverWish]

This was interesting to listen to. I am from the late 90s early 2000s car culture. The "Touge" and backroad racing groups. Engine swaps were like meeting someone with a Lambo. If you saw an actual JDM import it was mythical. so on... I miss the early 2000s of many things, not just car culture, the world was... different and in a more positive way.

[gureno]

As an Australian, early to mid 2000s car culture was truly a magical time.

Huge supply of every JDM cars, mixed with Aussie muscle and it was all cheap and affordable.

My First factory JZA80 RZ Supra cost me $18k AUD and it was mint.... the forum days were fantastic and so were the late night mountain runs.

[invertedvpowerhouse]

when you said that a whole big group of people couldnt tell that the guy had a supercharger and just a whiny belt.. i felt that. I had to tell a guy he had a v6 and not a v8 and dude actually got scammed lmao

[mrdorifto]

When you said:"car culture is a fashion now" it just hit me like a train.
I'm not old. I'm not even an adult yet. But I'm a car enthusiast.
I realised that most of my friends started to just discover and love stuff like the supra or the RX7 when I have known about them for a couple of years, it was weird seeing them love cars all of a sudden when they had no clue about them months ago!
I realised that all of these tiktok edits and cars being featured on album covers and everything made them like cars because its a fashion now. It's the new way to be cool.

[robertolerota]

I miss cheap Japanese cars. As a Canadian. a good r32 gtst would cost you $5k. Importing a car from Japan was only 1500 bucks

[thatguyedsmith]

All I’m hearing is, the gatekeeping you hated so much was working. Refusing to “respect all builds” was the right choice. This is what happens when you force inclusion into the scene, you get everyone that comes with that inclusion.

[themikegarrett]

I think you nailed it with social media. In 2002 (when I got into the scene), there were barely any recordings so the secrecy heightened everything. Amazing street races that may or may not have happened. Impossible JDM builds that were passed down like lore. It was a magical time.

[scars]

I'm a relatively newer car enthusiast, I liked cars before but didn't know much about them, so I started working as a lube tech at a dealership, and I've been learning a lot about how cars work, and personally it has skyrocketed my interest in them, I find engines and transmissions so fascinating with how they work, and I enjoy being able to apply my newly acquired knowledge to test at work

[Jeredsmith]

Another big factor happening in 2022 and now into the future will be financial related. I've been drifting for 4 years now in my 370z but with prices on tires, diesel/gas, and entry fees plus the distance i have to travel to a drift event I'm spending $1000 a weekend or more. I have a good paying job but it's not keeping up with inflation. I enjoy it but I'm also not wanting to work to death for a weekend of drifting when I can enjoy one of my other hobbies for less.

[fcsmurray]

I graduated in 2002. Born and raised in Montana....as you can imagine the car culture was limited but nevertheless it was present. All my friends were Honda fanatics & my cousin & I were into Mazda rotarys. I have such fond memories all through high school of late night wrenching, cruising down main streets, car clubs & their nerdy "club window stickers", Checker Auto car meets, car stereo system bass competitions, drag racing out of town on old 2 lane the excitement of always trying to learn and improve whatever chassis you owned.

Lord knows owning an RX-7 teaches you how to manage your money & become a hell of a good mechanic haha! The best part of the whole process has always been the appreciation & enjoyment of improving your car. Seeing your efforts bear fruit.

Fast forward 2 decades and I have still have my RX-7, performed multiple engine swaps, continue to learn and improve my mechanical skill set, STILL use forums (contribute more than search) and have my own LLC for PCM tuning & calibration.

Through all these years I have watched the car scene change. I am now the older guy that has the clean desirable car that I used to fantasize about owning. I have met a ton of different personalities at local car meets.... The diehards are still out there and yes, the younger generation that actually have grasp on the depth and difficulty of achieving high horsepower setups with RELIABILITY are around but there are way too many dumbasses present who are in the car scene for the wrong reason.

This has ultimately put a bad taste in my mouth. Now when I am out cruising on the rare occasion and am flagged down by a bunch of young enthusiasts in a parking...I just wave and keep cruising.

I have grown tired of constantly being asked to do burnouts, asked if I have ever raced a Skyline or Supra, asked why I "took my car's soul away" and the worst question; kids seriously asking if they could drive it.

Just seems like there is a ton of entitled kids who lack any perspective or understanding what is involved in building a car...Definitely an instant gratification generation out there today. And don't even get me started on the lack of manners or being polite.

Anyway, without a doubt things have changed BUT I am thankful the "itch" is still out there for some young men and women. I am always happy to teach and guide those who ask.

[RoofysGarage]

The scene has definitely changed, and i believe that you touched on one of the major points of it. Social media has played a huge part in the "blow up" of the "takeover" scene, where idiots with APRs and IQs on roughly the same level show nothing but disrespect and disregard for others and give the entire car scene a bad name, which leads to legit meets and events getting shut down. Another aspect of that social media explosion is you get the people who are only in it for the attention, and like any hobby or culture where the people who are in it just for the attention, they quickly tire of it, and the hangers on who follow them are just as wishy-washy and inauthentic.

Social media also killed off the majority of the forums, which are a useful tool, along with Photobucket fucking over tons of build and advice tutorials. The instant gratification of SM has spoiled people too, leading them to think that 8 second street cars are a dime a dozen and quickly turning off the newbies when they start getting into the hobby and quickly realize that they're in way over their heads.

Another, more existential crisis that nobody wants to come to terms with is alot of younger people just aren't into cars anymore. Even the local hangout spots in my area which used to be popular with generations of car nuts for years, are all but abandoned. Too many people have moved onto games, drugs, or something else that captures their interests. Cars are just looked at as expensive appliances to many people anymore, and the fact that many aftermarket parts, as well as gas and regular maintenance items are increasingly more expensive than ever before. 😔

[LOVE-VIBES-X-PROJECT-CARS]

Most of the good enthusiasts have moved on to time attack, drifting, and drag racing. All the good car culture is at the track now.