I am a car guy in my 30s, I have been in the scene since the early 2000s and anyone else that was around back then knows what I am talking about with forums. Forums used to be THE place to find everything car related. Whatever car you had, you could find a forum for it with hundreds of active users any time of the day. For sale threads, regional meet ups, anything you wanted was there. It was like an online mecca for whatever car you had. If you had a BMW, there were huge BMW forums with hundreds of posts and discussions happening every day. Fast forward to now, almost all automotive forums are dead, like dead dead. For sale sections dried up, regional sections with the last posts being 6 months old. It’s a ghost town.
So what happened? My guess, is Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube divided the community so hard, and gave everyone their “own” little pages, that this is all people do now. I joined a few Facebook groups and found those to be just as dead as the forums. It’s really not the same. We used to be able to post in a regional section and by nightfall have a whole meet arranged with locals from your area. Now, that’s a no go. I miss it, and I would love to know if there is a place everyone is at now, but I am also scared that maybe that era of online car culture is lost forever. r/cars seems to be the only place I can find that has constant activity with other gearheads, but that’s only because it serves as a “hub” for car guys on reddit, which is another “hub”, and all other hubs have been abandoned. I am trying to get involved on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, but it’s not the same, how do you arrange a meet in an Instagram comment section? It’s just not the same.
the main user demographic for those platform aren’t driving. like no license. no interest. my cousin is really annoyed that her kid (capable of running errands in the car) - has had ZERO interest in learning to drive (compare to when I was that age).
she just shipped off to college - no intent of ever learning how to operate a vehicle.
I had had my license for years by the time I went to college.
Fewer millennials and Gen Zers are driving, citing cost, safety, and the environment
https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/cars-millennials-gen-z-climate-change-movies-songs-20230404.html
some “kids” these days - just summon a car when they need a ride. no parking. no insurance. NO DRIVER.
Red Cross, Waymo to conduct blood drive in Bay Area
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/red-cross-waymo-to-conduct-blood-drive-in-bay-area/
steering wheels and pedals will be optional in >15 years.
BMW Level 3 Autonomous Driving Tech Is Coming in 2025
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39414801/bmw-autonomous-driving-tech-2025/
“boomers” are not the main age group buying cars.
today’s car buyers have different expectations.
played games on PCs.
when has Cadillac ever targeted people in your age group?
does your dad know what the Unreal Engine is or an Nvidia chipset?
car guys aren’t necessarily gone… they just interested in software now too.
Epic Games Unreal Engine Will Power Cadillac Lyriq Infotainment Graphics
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2021/02/epic-games-unreal-engine-will-power-cadillac-lyriq-infotainment-graphics/
Nvidia unveils Drive Thor, one chip to rule all software-defined vehicles
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/20/nvidia-unveils-drive-thor-one-chip-to-rule-all-software-defined-vehicles/
Boomers might not be buying cars, but some of us know about cars. Do I know about unreal engine? No. I’m a grown-ass man. IDGAF about the video game in the car you can’t maintain.