AIBU to think basic DIY and car skills are being lost?

[Thechaseison71]

Are skills being lost through the generations?

Following on from the battery thread, when I was younger usually a friend of family member would show a youngster how to go basic car maintenance and then they then know. Yet it seems the ability is being lost the amount of people insisting it's a paid for job . Not just batteries but bulbs )( I know some are a pig to fit) wiper blades etc

And stuff in the house Mum taught me how to plumb in washing machine, hang wallpaper etc. Dad taught me wiring plugs and fitting ceiling lights. These are all examples. I then taught my kids to do all this stuff

Yet it seems many people have never been taught or bothered to learn, therefore they can't pass skills down

Eventually will it get to the stage that unless you train in a trade no one will be able to do basic stuff? Surely people would want their kids to learn stuff rather than having to pay others constantly

There was a class for this type of thing locally last month but I didn’t find out about it until after. I think everyone on the course was female. My husband can’t even hang a picture up. An ex taught me how to change the car oil and maintenance

I’m a 70s child and pretty good with DIY but I wouldn’t tinker with a car. It’s all technology these days.

Also this idea of “learning” when you’re a kid.

I’m 45. I plumbed in a washing machine 13 years ago with the help of you tube

i cant remember a thing about it. I don’t “know” how to do it. But of course, if I needed to again I’d get back on you tube and give it another go.

why do you pretend you’ve got memories like elephants and remember everything you were shown at 17? It’s clearly bollocks. You either do it regularly or you look it up on the occasion you do so. Or you’re talking about things that are very obvious to work out. Or you really are a rare elephant

As previous posters have mentioned, technical things like cars have changed. I had to change a battery in a nine year old car. I had to have the car manufacturer dealer recode the battery to the engine. Same with the light bulb ballast. It's coded to the VIN. Both of which a dealer will charge 150 pounds on top of actually changing the bloody thing.
Also the dynamics of families where parents may be in their late 40s or 50s could do DIY but so many children are now brought up by one parent which is generally the mother that those skills are not being passed down, which is almost irrelevant because they have to move into rented or shared accommodation where these skills are not needed until they have the ability to purchase house which maybe when they are in their thirties.

I actually love do practical things and would spend a lot more time doing them if I didn’t have such flipping high maintenance kids.

I’d love to spend my Sundays painting the house or cooking proper meals. But I can’t because I’m constantly breaking up fights or being asked to play or sorting their IT issues. In the past I think parents used to throw children out to play more or weren’t both working full time. There aren’t any kids her age close by for my daughter to play with - and I live in a small city close to a school, yet we’re surrounded mostly by pensioners.

My parents never taught me anything. I learn everything from YouTube

Depends on the car. But why can't people fix them? Especially tyres and wipers. I'm not talking about stripping down the bloody engine.

Like buying a second hand machine that you would need to plumb in yourself rather than a new one when there's perfectly good ones around that can be used rather than tipping and causing environmental waste you mean? Or sewing a button on rather than buying new clothes etc etc which is better for both the environment and the wallet

Why though? It goes in for regular servicing and they do all of that.

The thing is OP I can change a tyre. I can change a wiper blade. But now days it costs pittance to pay extra on top of the cost to get it done for you. Have you tried to look up which blades to get for modern cars recently? It’s easier to drive to somewhere like Halfords and pay for them to fit them when you purchase the item rather then try and wade through the booklet on cars, models and years to work out which to buy.

Most people are time poor which means paying for this type of convenience makes sense. I say that as someone who is fine doing a lot of diy.

You've never had a bulb blow when it's not time for a service ? Otr a flat tire? I'm in awe that you can be so lucky.

Prime time for a bulb to go on my car is just as I pull up to get an MOT done

Unfortunately my OH is super handy. I say unfortunately because it means we can’t hire anyone to fix anything, which means most things stay unfixed for months. For cars he will typically defer to a garage for anything which he can’t fix in a few days but I can tell it pains him 😂

Not that I can recall, no. Anyway you can’t change the lights in my car, they’re impenetrable. If it’s services all the bulbs are changed to schedule anyway

when I had old bangers I used to take them to halfords they do simple stuff like that for £5

A pittance? Someone quoted £50 to get a battery fitted on the other thread My last car battery ( 2 months ago) cost £45. So it would more than double the price

Most car parts websites or even Amazon you can put your number plate in and it shows you the items that are compatible so it's really not that difficult. In fact if say is easier now than 20 years ago due to this

I'd never buy a second hand washing machine. They cost about £300 new and have a 2 year warranty. Why would I pay £50 or £100 for an old one with no warranty, no customer service AND the effort of plumbing it in? I then use the washing machine until it no longer works (usually at least a decade). The newer the washing machine, the more reliable and more water and energy efficient it is so a second hand one is often a false economy and has more impact on the environment.

Kids are taught sewing in school - replacing a button is a very simple task that takes about two minutes to learn.

@Thechaseison71 I agree that basic maintenance should be taught. My DS had no clue how had to check levels and replace wiper blades on his car so I took him to Halfords and showed him how to find the right size using the charts. They’re not that difficult to understand.
My ex (his dad) used to do up cars for fun and stripped engines in his teens, even replaced a cylinder head gasket, which would mostly be a write off now if they go. But his own dad was a mechanic so it was fun for them to work on cars together. That would be beyond me.
But also worth noting that whilst I have the skills to work on my own car, it’s brand new and I can’t, so I do have to pay garages to do things I could do myself on another model.

I’m from the 1970s and have plenty of DIY, plumbing, sewing, carpentry skills and tools. I was taught none of this by my parents (though my dad taught me housepainting tips and tricks). DH is similarly handy and mostly self-taught, though his parents were more inclined to DIY.
Our DCs learned plenty about DIY etc and we involved them in helping fix things as they grew up.
Now they’re young adults and confident to fix things on their own. DS is far more confident at car maintenance than either of us ever were.
They still ask advice and borrow our tools while they’re building up their own toolkits at their homes, but they’re aware they aren’t the norm compared to their peers.

FYI, your tyre tread depth needs to be checked more than once a year FFS!

If those things are so easy, can’t you teach your DS rather than complaining your ex hasn’t?

I got one on a freecycle page obviously for free It's now 13 years old ( that I've had it)and still going strong.

Seeing at school? My DS definitely didn't get taught that. My DD did but that was in air cadets

Youre wrong and right. Your comments about bulbs blowing on cars and changing batteries or wiring plugs show you aren’t keeping up with the times. However it is an inevitable fact of modern reality that fewer and fewer practical skills are taught. We are lucky - my DH is a bit of a polymath - he has a Masters degree in Physics and is very smart but also very practical - he is currently renovating our house and that is a great exposure for our kids to practical skills.

I think the car maintenance is dying a death because new cars operate very differently these days. The diagnostics mean you can’t fix a lot in the way you used to. I haven’t had a bulb go on my car in about 20 years. Most are LED now they need replacing far less. Similarly, I know how how to change a tyre but I’ve never been strong enough to do it and thankfully I’ve never needed it done in an emergency.

Lots of appliances have sealed plugs, you can only get the fuse out. Even a new washing machine needs plumbing in so not sure how that skill only applies to second hand appliances. As for decorating, people either fall into two camps they enjoy it and are happy to do it themselves or they don’t so pay someone else. I’m not sure I see hanging wallpaper as a valuable life skill. It’s personal preference.

There are 6 year olds out there learning the basics of computer coding. The world is changing and the skills our kids will need are probably very different to those previously handed down. People are busy and it’s not possible to teach everything. Most people prioritise the skills they think will aid them best in the future.

The thing with secondhand machines tends to be that there's not someone delivering them to fit it ( currys for example). Same with dishwashers

There are 6 year olds out there learning the basics of computer coding. The world is changing and the skills our kids will need are probably very different to those previously handed down. People are busy and it’s not possible to teach everything. Most people prioritise the skills they think will aid them best in the future.

I think this nails it. The skill you identify are ones you admire at your age/ generation OP. The people you think should learn them prioritise different skills more relevant to their future

I learnt how to wire a 3 pin plug at school. I will admit I haven't done wallpapering because my parents always painted everything (wallpaper was out of favour in the 80s, I think) and I learned how to paint from my father who was very good at it.

Recently, we wanted fancy wallpaper up the landing. We got someone in because it was expensive paper and would have been expensive if we'd cocked it up. General papering I'd have a go at TBF, but I do really like painting.

I taught myself plastering once, out of the Reader's digest book of how to do absolutely everything (my pre-internet bible) but it was just for a small repair. I might get the experts in for doing the whole house, though, because plastering well is a skilled job. People don't really realise that. My brother runs a building company. He can plaster, but it's not his specialism, and if working on a project that requires extensive plastering, even he will bring in the specialists. I know you didn't mention plastering, but I do think it's a point worth making that sometimes, if you can afford it, it's worth getting some things done right, and may be cheaper in the long run than doing a poor job yourself.

I would say that what baffles me is, in the age of the internet, when there's 'how to' videos everywhere, why people think if they haven't been taught by parents or school, they can't find out. It's easy enough to Google it. We changed the element in our oven a few years ago after googling how to do it and finding out it was really easy.