Half of millennials can’t identify car parts (and some thought a chassis was a French liquor)

They’re known for being tech-savvy and up-to-date, but millennials might not be as smart as they think after new research has shown that nearly half can’t identify common car parts.

According to research from CarGurus, 47% of millennials - those born after 1980 - say they’ve forgotten much of what they learned about what’s what in their car while they were in driving school, with some amusing gaps in their knowledge.

One in ten (10%) think the chassis is a type of French alcohol, while another 5% think it’s a type of dance.

A quarter of millennials (25%) weren’t able to identify the automatic transmission and, of those, more than half (57%) thought it’s how you set up your car radio to pick up traffic bulletins. Hilariously, 14% said it was an R-Kelly song.

Similarly, nearly a quarter (24%) didn’t know what ABS, or Anti-lock Braking System, was. Of those who didn’t know, 31% thought it was a muscle group and 28% thought it was a medical condition.

What’s a chassis? According to millennials it’s a dance or a type of French alcohol (Pictures: Rex)

Millennials’ car knowledge - or lack of - is trumped by their older generations, with 45% of Brits aged 45 and older accurately able to name all car parts.

The knowledge gap could explain why more than a third (35%) millennials admit to relying on their parents when it comes to decisions over which car to buy.

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And that’s probably a good idea, according to CarGurus’ research, which found that 38% of young people would base their car-buying decision on look and style over reliability.

According to the research, 43% of young people admit to not having good knowledge about cars and 49% say this makes them anxious ahead of buying a car.

Knowledge gap - It turns out millennials don’t know much about cars

That’s in contrast to just 25% of older Brits who admit to not having a good level of car-buying knowledge.

CarGurus spokeswoman Sarah Welch said: “Young people are tech savvy and used to accessing information quickly, but the car shopping process is complex and while there is plenty of information available, it can be difficult to know what is important and what isn’t.”

A total of 2,712 individuals were polled by Opinium on behalf of CarGurus. Millennials were defined as those born after 1980, so any respondent who fit in the 18-34 age bracket.