Aus motorists depend on maintenance professionals

A surprising number of young people do not know how to change a tire.

Roadside assistance can turn us into a nation of slackers.

Even if it's not, the new age road safety system is definitely turning us into people who can't handle even the slightest problem with our cars.

More than a third of us now can't change a tire, more than a quarter don't know how to check engine oil, and about 20 percent don't know how to put coolant in a radiator.

The numbers are getting worse, much worse for 18-25-year-olds who grew up in an era when cars are usually trouble-free. Nearly 20 percent of them don't even know where to find a spare tire.

It's a far cry from the days when anyone could change a tire and every trunk contained a proper set of tools and spares, including fuses, globes, and a fan belt.

The new numbers come from JAX Tires, which just completed a holiday survey of 1200 shoppers.

“The younger generation is just so used to everything being plug-and-play. They start the car and drive and don't think they have anything else to do," JAX CEO Jeff Bord tells CarsGuide.

“The results are actually a little worse than we thought. More and more people come to us because they need advice.”

This advice can actually be very simple.

“Our survey shows that 13% of people don't even know where to fill their windshield washers,” Bord says.