I've certainly noticed it with my nieces and nephews. None of them were in a hurry to get their license. They have lots of friends, and go places in groups. Someone usually has a license, or parents to take them to a friend, and then that parent brings them home. My niece was 17 when she got hers, and nephew was 19 when he got his.

In our era, 16 couldn't come soon enough, so we could get our license!

I can't even find a mechanic who is knowledgable to work on my suv...not even the dealer seems to be able to figure out why a dash alert light stays on all the time. They just say it's a short and not worth it to fix.

Maybe people will stop over spending for cars, use public transportation or a moped. ???? Less pollution that way if they did....

Kids still want their licenses ASAP here... no other transportation options in this area!

My two grandsons got their licences on their 16th birthday, or on the closest day to it that they could, and the oldest has taken his love for working on cars from his dad. They have maintained their trucks and '57 Chevy and the grandson loves it as well as is good at it.

wish you could see one of dh's mechanics at his office..he and his 14 yo dd rebuilt a "muscle car"...they were at the other car show after the big one and she made the paper...besides her car (which she can't drive yet) is an avid horsewoman (jumper)...

I haven't noticed it much here but I will say that there's really no other options. It's either a car or walking. When you live 15 miles from town, walking isn't really an option. Also, parents love it when their kids (especially the oldest one) gets a license. It really cuts down on running for them.

I will say though that DH's nephews didn't seem to care whether they had a license or not. They were totally content letting mom drive them around and they still are content but they do have their license. They range in age from 17 to 26. The 26 year old is the worse.

I think the car club culture is losing ground due to all the restrictions and government controls over vehicles. We always had regulations but it is getting tougher to meet those standards. Modern cars are not built for the home n hobbyist to wrench on. States are getting rid of the old cars with buy back programs for "junkers". Harder for the classic car enthusiast to just rundown to the local Pic 'N Pull for parts.

But generally where we live kids still want to drive. Bus service is poor and most of the area is suburbia and freeways.

There is a segment of youth that still likes to play with body and paint ut the age of the performance car is gone.

I noticed it when my DS was a teen in the late 90's. At first he drove cars like an old finned Caddy and he had a Chevy El Camino. Then he said the heck with it and went to motorcycles. These days he drives a Scion and has a stable of cycles. His friends are the same. Drive economy cars that don't attract notice and put their spirit into their bikes.

Now DSIL recently rebuilt an old International Scout.

I had a 72 Monte Carlo I wanted to restore. Stuff kept happening and I never had the time/money. Plus I finally got tired of being red lighted every time I drove it. Just got too old to want to put up with the hassle. So I sold it to a guy who I knew would really do something with it about 2 years ago.

I live in a depressed area (Northern Michigan) and there is a lot of unemployment here, and many jobs that do exist are low paying. Driver's Education now costs over $500. It was free when I was in high school, btw, and somewhat lower when my own kids took it back in the 90's. Kids here can get their driver's license at 16 if they've taken Driver's Ed. Otherwise they can wait until 18 and don't have to have Driver's Ed. There are a lot who wait because their families just do not have the money. My step-daughter (at 17 and a half) hasn't even shown any interest in driving. Her boyfriend (6 months older) has actually had Driver's Ed over a year ago, but hasn't bothered to get his license! We'll definitely pay for Driver's Ed for Emi when she does get ready to drive. I think it's important, no matter what the age.

My kids all got their license at 14 - as close as possible, if not on their birthday! LOL! They could not wait!

There's a lot of younger kids around here without cars but I think most still have licenses. I don't know any personally who don't. Much depends on the part of town too. People living in dorms and certain areas of town don't have convenient places to keep their vehicles so they rely on public transportation and friends to get around.

The "car craze" so to speak is dying off but much is attributable to the spoiled brats being raised. The American Graffiti era was when you didn't have your parents buying you a new SUV that wouldn't see so much as a gravel road, much less any real need for AWD! In those days you bought a beater and *had* to fix it up. You'd buy it pieces at a time and fix it up more and more and the pride of the work is what made for the car shows, cruising and the like. People buying custom rods for their own ego spoiled a lot of the fun for a lot of people.

There's still "back to the 50s" nights around here where people get out their old cars, go cruising and used to park at Porky's (an establishment which sadly is no more as of a couple years ago) and there's regular car shows but the participants contain few youngsters.

I was just thinking back to my teenage years, and recall that when some family or other bought a new car, all the neighbors used to come out and admire it and/or kick the tires. Cars back then were even status symbols, where one could someday hopefully work up from say a lowly Chevrolet or Ford to an impressive Cadillac or Lincoln. I wouldn't even notice if one of our neighbors sprung for a new car---they all pretty much look alike.

From today's Yahoo news...the American Graffiti lifestyle IS fading...

Consumer tastes are changing at a greater rate than ever before. Not surprisingly, the purchasing habits of the youngest generation present the most dramatic shifts � a reflection of what they find important. 24/7 Wall St. has identified eight popular products that the "Facebook generation" is not buying.

Generation Y, generally defined as those born between 1980 and 1999, have lost interest in many of the services and products their parents found important. For example, younger Americans are less interested in cars. In 1998, 64.4% of potential drivers 19-years old and younger had drivers licenses. By 2008, that rate had dropped to 46.3%, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

[More from 24/7 Wall St.: America�s Nine Most Damaged Brands]

What young adults care about has shifted. A recent study by Gartner research revealed that, if forced to choose, 46% of all 18-to-24-year-old drivers in the United States would choose access to the Internet over access to a car.

However, many products that have declined in popularity among the youth are more a result of the changing tastes across all ages than a generational shift. Examples include lower sales in traditional cell phones, maps and CDs. In 2002, compact discs had a more than 95% market share of music sales. In 2010, they had less than half. Various reports suggest this decline is the result of all age groups moving away from CD sales toward digital sales.

24/7 Wall St. has identified eight of the country�s most popular products that are losing favor, either solely among young adults or at a significantly higher rate among that group. To demonstrate these products� waning popularity, 24/7 reviewed data from a number of major research firms and government agencies. We looked at products in every major sector, including transportation, digital electronics, food, beverages and other miscellaneous consumer goods.

1. Email

In 2010, at the launch of Facebook�s then-new messaging service, Mark Zuckerberg predicted the decline of electronic mail, stating that "Email is too slow � email is too formal." Time is proving Zuckerberg right. From December 2009 to December 2010, time spent using email by the 12- to 17-years-old age group dropped a tremendous 59%. In comparison, time spent using email by people 55 to 64-years-old has
increased 22%, and it has increased 28% among those 65 years and older.

2. Beer

Light beer has become to the current generation of youth what regular beer was just a few decades ago. In 1990, more Budweiser was sold than the top three light beers combined. Twenty years later, Budweiser has taken a backseat to Bud Light, which sold as much as the top four regular beers combined. The country has taken a major generational shift in favor of light beers, which now account for four of the five most popular beers sold domestically. As reported by St. Louis Today, Budweiser believes four out of 10 people in their mid-20s have never tried regular beer. In 1988, that rate was just 1.5 out of ten. Beer Marketer�s Insights editor Eric Shepard said when asked about young drinkers turning to light beer, "The heaviest beer drinkers are young males and that�s where the market had been going over the last decade or so."

3. Newspapers

While readership rates for print newspapers are falling across the board, the country�s younger generation has abandoned the medium the most. As of 2010, only 7% of 18- to 24-year-olds reported having read a print newspaper the day before, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. This is the first time that figure has reached single digits. This age group also has among the highest rates of people reportedly receiving news through social networking sites or Twitter.

[More from 24/7 Wall St.: The Six States Where Taxes Are Soaring]

4. Cars

As recently as 1998, 64.4% of potential drivers ages 19 and younger had drivers licenses, according to the Federal Highway Administration. As of 2008, that amount had dropped to 46.3%. Additionally, 46% of drivers aged 18 to 24 report that they would choose Internet access over owning a car, according to research firm Gartner. People are also waiting longer to get their licenses. According to the University of Michigan�s Transportation Research Institute, in 1983 one-third of all licensed drivers in U.S. were under 30. Today, only 22% of drivers are under 30. Companies such as General Motors (NYSE: GM) have reached out to more youth-oriented advertising companies, such as MTV Scratch, to address this widening gap in their sales.

5. Landline phones

Landline phones are losing popularity among Generation Y, who are becoming increasingly content with only having wireless phones. According to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics, 51.3% of Americans aged 25 to 29 lived in households with only wireless phones in the first six months of 2010. This is the first time the number of adults in wireless-only households has been greater than the number of adults in landline households for any age group. When looking at all ages combined, less than one-quarter of adults lived in households with only wireless phones.

6. Cigarettes

Smoking rates among young people have historically exceeded those of the general population. Now that group is dropping the habit quicker than anyone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the share of people 18 to 24 years of age who were current cigarette smokers decreased by 17.6% from 2005 to 2010 � the largest decrease among any age group. The share among 45- to 64-year-olds dropped only 3.6%. The amount of Americans 65 and older who smoke actually increased 10.5%.

[More from 24/7 Wall St.: The 10 Most Hated Companies in America]

7. Desktop computers

Millennials are the only generational group to be more likely to own a laptop computer than a desktop. According to data from Pew Research Center, 70% own a laptop, while 57% own a desktop. By contrast, 64% of those aged 57-65 own a desktop, while only 43% own a laptop. Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, states in LAPTOP Magazine that those in Generation Y simply "are not buying PCs as their first, or necessarily main, device."

8. Television

Adults aged 18 to 24 watch less traditional television than any other age group in the country, according to Nielsen�s most recent Cross Platform Report. That group, on average, watches just under 24 hours per week. The national average is approximately 32.5 hours. One of the leading reasons for this difference is Generation Y�s relationship with the Internet. According to a report published in April 2010 by electronics review/research company Retrevo, 23% of those under 25 watch "most" of their television online, compared to 8% for everyone.

jmc01, thanks for the stats via Yahoo!
My niece recently got her drivers licence @ 20 and has just bought a '97 Mustang. She's a Dean's List about to finish her 2nd year in college student & works part time and saved up her pennies. Driving only became a priority for her when she was missing visiting her family. Oh, and NO student loans for this kid! WOW!

My granddaughter will graduate from a university in two weeks, will turn 22 in July ,and does not have a drivers license. Her dad was 16 and bought a red Camaro the next year.

JMC -- interesting article! I'm sure that if I looked around at my much-younger co-workers, every one of those "lost trends" would apply.

Also, I sense that a lot of younger people don't need many of those things if they're living in an even slightly urban area. Mass-transit systems mean they don't need a car (or if they do occasionally, there are now quick-and-easy rental companies like ZIP cars, for the day), and there are even BikeShare locations springing up in cities (D.C. and nearby Virginia have some -- racks of bicycles to rent by the hour).

And total up everything necessary for having a car -- parking fees, insurance, upkeep, perhaps a loan with interest -- I don't know many people who if they had a good alternative for transportation would want to be saddled with that stuff. (I would love to be able to take mass transit to work, but my hours don't allow it.)

I think the question about the "end of the American Graffiti lifestyle" also might relate to another change -- back in the day (other's day! I'm not really old enough!), it wasn't so much a "use it and toss it when it gets broken" society. There are a lot of people who haven't inherited the know-how to fix things themselves, including car upkeep.

Regarding licenses, apart from students who go to commuter schools, living on college campuses many times preclude having a car at least for the first year. And usually the campus has everything you need. Even in my small campus in Ohio back in the mid-80s, there was a little campus-run pantry, where you could buy food like popcorn, ice cream, frozen meals. And in the small town, there were other stores -- just a block from the edge of the campus buildings.

Now, I'm on the verge of 50, but I got my driver's license maybe during the summer of my junior or senior year and never drove for 4 years after that -- just no need to have a car. But after I graduated, I had to take a refresher course before I got my first car. I never felt social pressure to get a license or drive. I got the license mainly because it's the most recognized form of personal ID.

(Also, could the Griffiti lifestyle have more to do with which climate you live in? I can picture more of it in California...)

The American Graffiti lifestyle is cruising in your car... and few can afford to do that anymore.