[reihem]

This might be OT, but I’m wondering what GTO and many of you define as a millennial ? Most research bodies confine the application of the term to folks born between 1981 and 1996. Making millennials, including me at 35, between 37 and 23 ! There seem to be plenty of folks in this thread in denial about their millennial status. If you’re 32 you’re a millennial. It isn’t a term applied based on your approach to life. It’s applied based on when you were born !

[Samurai]

Wow, generation Y (born after 1980) is now called millennial? I thought generation Z (born after 1996) is millennial.

These new classifications are getting very murky. I prefer the old X-Y-Z classification.

[reihem]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wow, generation Y (born after 1980) is now called millennial? I thought generation Z (born after 1996) is millennial.

These new classifications are getting very murky. I prefer the old X-Y-Z classification.

Most international research organisations (and Wikipedia which is anyway the last word on the subject for most, especially millennials ) freely interchange the terms millennial and Gen Y. The term Millennial has surged in popularity, resulting in some confusion.

The constant criticism that is focused on millennials (often generically and without context) has resulted in many wanting to be disassociated with the term.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wow, generation Y (born after 1980) is now called millennial? I thought generation Z (born after 1996) is millennial.

These new classifications are getting very murky. I prefer the old X-Y-Z classification.

I think this is a proper classification of Gen X, Y, Z and Baby Boomers.


[Courtesy: https://communityrising.kasasa.com/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z/]

In a training I attended recently, the same ranges of years were presented to describe Gen X, Y and Z.

[sudeep.pandya]

Originally Posted by navin

My son is 17 and so are his friends. They don't view a car as a possession but rather as a service. For them the reasons not to bother to even learn to drive are plenty but mostly it boils down to:

"Uber/OIa/kaali-peeli taxis are plentiful why have the stress of traffic when you can be peacefully Instagram/WhatsApp your friends in that same time."

This more appears to be he is not keen on driving and a totally non-enthusiast when it comes to driving. Yes, vehicle maintenance and up-keeps induce some amount of tolerance in us. The millennials certainly have a way around things but maturity and tolerance will kick in sooner or later as life is not kind to us all the times.

[DigitalOne]

Another disincentive to driving is the ubiquitous and ever-improving connectivity. One would rather watch cricket on Hotstar sitting in the back seat, or read team-bhp than be driving. 5G and still better (promised) connectivity will kill the auto industry.

[hrk997]

I suppose I am a part of the "millenial" generation, although I don't really find the necessity to spend on things that aren't of interest to me or to be seen at places in the latest fashion. However, a friend of mine who studies in the US told me that Americans are under a lot of debt, that they live paycheck to paycheck, and in the event that even if they missed a single month's paycheck, they would find themselves struggling to meet ends, and this phenomenon is observed from the lower class to the upper middle class. To quote fight club," We spend money on things we don't need, to impress people we don't like". I wouldn't blame millennials, after all, young people are impressionable. I'd say, that advertising has done it's job.

[NST440]

Well a very interesting thread, something that me and my friends have been talking over a lot these days.

I am a '83 born "was enthusiast" category pseudo millennial whose (immense) love for cars has faded considerably. Put me into the category of those who are over cautious about their ride, clean her themselves with all shampoos, waxes , sealant and what not and regularly maintain them via servicing before due dates and replacements of part, not even worn out fully.

I drive an elite i20 Asta (O) DSL' 16 on weekdays for work and chores and a Safari Dicor '16 on weekends or while going outstation. The thing which i have observed lately is the passion/joy/feeling or whatever you may call it of driving and owning cars has reduced in me, so much so that my car usually stays unwashed for 4 to 5 weeks straight and i don't feel so enthusiastic to maintain it, mod it or worry for it that much as i used to earlier.

I have listed a few things below which have slowly but steadily led to this situation and change of feelings in me :

1. Increasing two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers, swiggy walas , Ola walas, Zomato walas and other miscellaneous walas on road every day.

2. Ever Increasing road rage and violation of traffic norms in front of the police authorities every minute.

3. No improvement in the roads of my city and the highways i drive on ( rather deterioration).

4. Nuisance on road via people driving with hooters, loud horns, illegal exhausts, High beams, Blinding White LEDs , Cree lights with absolutely no fear of the laws whatsoever

5. No easily avl. parking space, in case you find one, their will be someone who will park behind you, putting you in a sorry situation for an unknown waiting period.

6. Children driving big bikes and cars, saw one a week ago driving an octavia RS at around 200Kmph on NH1 who just nearly missed an equally foolish man crossing the highway with the trademark newgen defining "headphones" on his ears.

The list is never ending and it frustrates me to see how quickly things have changed. Owning a car and keeping it was a matter of pride and had a lot of emotional bonding related to it. Nowadays, the case is however different. For someone living in a place where i do, buying a car is a social status, if you have a smaller one you are making a statement that you simply can't afford the bigger one which should not be the case.

I really do get excited (for a short while) to hear about new car launches and their attributes ( read Seltos and Hector) but howsoever get immediately disinterested knowing that the money i will spend shall actually land up amidst the sorry situations mentioned above. Add to it the ever increasing prices of cars and added taxes. It is better to invest them in Mutual Funds or keep them saved as FD, not only it gives you confidence of liquidity, it also appreciates with time which in case of cars is totally opposite.

I am totally unsure whether this is a momentary phase or will the anti enthusiast in me grow stronger. I feel some of you may relate to it.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by GTO

I also realised they have something we didn't = DEBT

Who would understand it better than someone who has just passed out of a reputed management college in 2019 itself.

If I look around, the salaries of most of the people fell in the category of good to very good. How are their expenses? Well, other than a few (I can count on my fingers) whose fee was paid by 'daddy'; everyone is actually having a liability ranging from 20% to 30% of their monthly salary.

Add more to the woes, banks have happily issued them credit cards; now I know a few guys who have moved to other cities and their first month expense is higher than their salary itself. So, they called up other friends for 'initial' help and the domino started. When will this domino actually end? Maybe six months down the line.

When will these guys actually become eligible to own a car? (Being frank, none wants even a Swift - it has to be a sedan or SUV even as the first car) Well, maybe three years down the line.

What will happen in two years? Wedding, and another chain of expense-on-expense will start and finally they will again be at the point zero after saving and managing for two years - to start again, with more expenses to handle!

[adneeraj]

Originally Posted by NST440

I have listed a few things below which have slowly but steadily led to this situation and change of feelings in me :
....
2. Ever Increasing road rage and violation of traffic norms in front of the police authorities every minute.

I completely resonate with this point you made up here, NST440.

I hate traffic offenders. Earlier I used to get enraged, but now I just pray that the guy is on his way to meet Satan Wishful thinking.. but these morons are everywhere.
I sincerely believe that most of these folks crop up during monsoons. These are the typical breed of folks who never drive a car during the other dry months and feel that they can squeeze their cars in tight spaces in the monsoons too. It is a mindset.
There are a sect that feel "entitled" and I ensure that I stay away from them. The place where I live, I can easily spot these people since they have dark tints, imposing cars, lot of chrome accessories etc.

Originally Posted by NST440

I really do get excited (for a short while) to hear about new car launches and their attributes ( read Seltos and Hector) but howsoever get immediately disinterested knowing that the money i will spend shall actually land up amidst the sorry situations mentioned above. Add to it the ever increasing prices of cars and added taxes. It is better to invest them in Mutual Funds or keep them saved as FD, not only it gives you confidence of liquidity, it also appreciates with time which in case of cars is totally opposite.

I am totally unsure whether this is a momentary phase or will the anti enthusiast in me grow stronger. I feel some of you may relate to it.

And i agree with this too. I own a Grand i10 (Auto) and a Fiesta. While I detest driving the i10 for its shoddy suspension, I absolutely love driving the Fiesta, especially when I can push it into the corners.
I know the car sounds too crude (yes I have the diesel), has poor under-thigh support and its interiors aren't the most inviting. But, the car handles well, is frugal to maintain and light on the wallet with the trips to the fuel station too.
When I think of any new car, and my garage owner concurs with me, it's just a lot of outflow for very little gain if I consider upgrading from the Fiesta to say a Vento or a Rapid. And the ones above those are far too overpriced for me.
I don't know. Maybe it is just a phase and I might just commit to an Octavia 1.8 TSI in the near future. But till then, I have actually started seeing more value in the Fiesta I own.

I do not judge, but I try to dissuade folks from my or even younger generations who are ill-advised by their elders to buy a house. It's just not worth it. 20 years of debt. And even if you manage to get off it in about 8 years, (i) it locks you down to a city in terms of opportunities and (ii) you could have invested it to have a much larger disposable sum or would have traveled to numerous places with that kind of money.
But obviously, it does not apply to everyone. Every individual has their priorities.

[dicor]

Most of the people who are commenting here are basically from metro cities. Everyday we are encountering some challenges which are non existent for tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Traffic, parking are the evident issues. Plethora of cab options makes our commute super easy. Thus people do not own car.

5-6 years ago every millennial in Pune wanted to own the car. Owning a car before becoming a father was the unspoken rule in those days. Who know when you will have to rush to the hospital especially when it's raining. There was only Wings radio cab available, no OLA, UBER etc. Traffic was sparse.

This purchase power contributed heavily into Pune's traffic and top of that Ola, Uber happened. Now we are scared of traffic, parking. Thus we try to keep our cars home and ride over cab or take bike out for shorter spins.

The situation different in smaller cities. These guys have not seen these challenges and car is more like a show-off thing in the families rather than the need. It's a sign of prosperity. Thus GenX, GenY and GenZ(If that exists) still want to own the car.

[jkaushik]

When I was younger (around 17/18, i am 32 now) I was dying to get my driving license so that I could 'officially' drive around. Driving and riding gave me pleasure and freedom and it still does (even in traffic).
But I see no such immense enthusiasm in today's youngsters (at least in my cousins regarding cars). A few of them are my age and they are not bothered to even learn how to drive. Why because they don't need to and they don't care (they have ola/uber at their disposal).
Our not-so-driver-friendly roads and traffic are also to blame.

[NiInJa]

Well, I am millennial at 31, and the only debt I have is that of a home-loan which I am on-track to repay in the next 2 or three years at max.After that, I don't plan on getting any other loan as the focus will be mainly on kid's education and his well being. I agree, buying some small but expensive items like mobile phones, shoes, clothes on hefty loans is plain stupid. I did it once 'just for fun' when I was 24 and realized what an idiot I was. But I do believe in purchasing a home or a car at a 'reasonable' loan as both become a necessity after a point.

While having debt can be a little worrying, there is a positive side to it. I've seen many people working very hard professionally to repay such debts and achieving a good career growth in the process. It sort of acts as a motivating factor to work hard and explore new opportunities to fetch some more money, something which is very difficult to explain to my elders who worked in the same office at the same position for 20-25 years at a stretch. I think that when you are in that age where you are OK to be out of your comfort zone, you are doing just fine !

[Turbo_ak]

The topic of the thread immediately caught my eye because of the extent to which it is relevant to my case. I am a 25 year old who had been debt free till about a month ago when I joined B-School and now have a hefty education loan to pay on graduation. I have been brought up with a mindset that anything that you buy on EMI is beyond your means and you should only buy things you can pay for upfront.
I love driving and thoroughly enjoy it. It's been several years since I have been dreaming of buying my own car. But the thought of paying another EMI over what I'll already be paying for my education loan is just not something I can justify from a financial perspective. What I'm planning to do is pay off my education loan as soon as possible and in the meantime buy a pre-worshipped car from my savings.

[SLK]

Originally Posted by ashis89

I have several friends who are happy with the Ola, Uber and Zoomcars, along with an Activa for errands.

Each one for his own! I see a positive in that. The fact is, with the rising population in the cities, there is not enough space to drive/ park for everyone to be owning cars anymore. So I'm banking on 'others' to eventually let go off owning cars/ driving and leave that to ones who really 'want to'.