A fifth of Gen Zers don’t know what a spanner is
Wed, 29 Jan 2025
Gen Z youngsters aged 18-27 are spending a whopping £1300 a year on professionals to do basic car maintenance jobs they could probably do themselves.
This huge spend by Gen Z compares to just £386 for Gen X adults aged 44-59, and £253 for Baby Boomers aged 60-78.
Some of the jobs Gen Z is paying for are surprising. While 57% said they know how to add air to a car tyre, 22% said they would have to pay a professional. A further 22% said they’d need a parent to do it.
The research by Halfords found only 35% could fit a wiper blade – "something which can take less than a minute and usually just slides into place" – with 44% saying they’d instead pay a pro.
Less than two thirds would be confident cleaning a car, with 27% saying they’d need a professional. in 10 said they’d get a parent to clean it.
Halfords is dubbing this the ‘GOTDIT’ Generation – ‘get others to do it’. It says the results show very clearly that the ability to do basic, practical tasks is being lost among younger generations.
"Motoring knowledge appears to be on the decline,” says Halfords motoring expert Andy Turbefield.
The research backed this up, with 30% of Gen Z not being able to identify a flathead screwdriver, while 21% couldn’t identify a spanner...
Less than half could identify a jack, compared to 87% of Baby Boomers and 99% of those aged 79-96.
Halfords does howver say that we should perhaps cut younger adults some slack.
"Engine bays today are far more complicated than when Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers were young and are often largely covered, making it harder to get an understanding of what goes where," adds Turbefield.
Gen Z is also happy to acknowledge its lack of practical car maintenance compared to older generations. 6 in 10 of them agree that young people are not as practical as older generations – despite it costing them almost £700 a year more than the UK average.
