OK, so first of all, I claim all the time to be an awful fake hobbyist mechanic + irresponsible. But at some point I just have encountered things that have boiled my frustration over as well as my bewilderment....

The kid that owned my car before me told me that he had an 'independent mechanic' work on his car before. I think I got that he was a bit of a stoner too. I'm thinking now that being called a 'mechanic' would be this person's claim to fame....

Since I've owned this car since December I have noticed:

• Both front door panels are hanging on the top and flopping on the bottom
• Both of those door panels, when removed, have had the trees which snap into the door broken off. Had to fab new ones
• Tabs on the paneling below the steering wheel right above the pedal broken off
• Drivers side seat electronics assembly tabs broken
• Center Brake light casing tabs broken off + casing falls if I brake hard.
• rear vents broken
• Driver's side pillar paneling all but destroyed
• Seatbelts sagging (not due to age or being twisted.... see below)
• seatbelt plastic cover tabs broken off

And so two days ago...I was going through the seat belt since they just flop onto the seat. I finally had a chance to take a look at it, and when I saw nothing wrong so I started to reassemble everything. Then I noticed that the seatbelt was stuck...I put the metal pass-through bracket back on upside down....like how it was installed before.
Installed it right side up, and now the seatbelt retracts all the way!
And THEN, I did the same thing on the passenger side...so here's my question:
WHY did the previous people disassemble in the first place, and then if they reassembled, didn't they notice that it didn't work at all?

And why, why, why did they have to destroy EVERY *$&^#ng tab on every piece they touched???

So I just bought two big tubes of epoxy....SMH

 

I feel ya on the doors, but I can easily see how it happens. I snapped the bottom clips of my passenger door all to Hell the first day I had it, simply by trying to pull a door that didn't shut all the way, closed. Reached over, and pop pop pop! And swearing. But the difference is the people that never take the time to fix mistakes that they obviously caused. Total lack of caring for the vehicle plain and simple.

 

Because Jaguar "engineers" went to a great deal of trouble to source
a special grade of plastic that crumbles when you breathe on it.

Apparently, they were successful in their mission and have gotten
ever better at it over the years.

++

 

I am with plums on this one!

 

Me too!

I'm reminded of some late 90s Cadillacs where there was simply *no way* to remove the door trim panels without breaking them. No matter how careful you were. Soon enough they came out with a 'door panel repair kit'

And while we're complaining, how about electrical connectors [various cars] that it takes a genius level IQ to figure out how they come apart? (OK, maybe it's just me being dense...I'll accept that. But even after to learning how they work the darn things still break apart ! Gah!)

Getting back to trim panels.....

Since I've reverted back to oldie Jags I'm reminded of Jaguar's charming....ahem....ye olde worlde method of attaching trim pieces. Rather than some tabs and clips that break off they'd secure a small trim piece with a half-dozen tiny studs, each having a flat washer, lock washer, and nut. And invariably rusted...and situated so that you can only turn your wrench 1/8 turn at a time, flip wrench over, repeat, repeat, repeat until your hand goes numb. And that's just the first stud. Five more to go

Cheers
DD

 

Funny you mention the Cadillac door panel fiasco. Driveway engineered that very "fix" to my son's 96 Eldorado by screwing 1" L brackets to the broken off stubs of the molded, flimsy, 1-shot disposable things Cadillac saw fit to hang that HEAVY, long coupe door with.

I just bought a used replacement inside door panel for the driver's side of the 98 XJ8. Got sick and tired of it's slop. I can't stand a rattly door, especially in a luxo-liner. Jag engineered the secures better than Cadillac though with their Christmas trees pushes and plastic receiving sheaths... but, but, the sheaths ream out fairly quickly and the pushes quit holding after just a few panel removals. Thankfully, the door I bought came with all of them in good shape. I made that a sticking point for the deal. I noticed that Jag must have changed the sheaths somewhere along the way - they went from a thin, clear plastic to a heartier white plastic at some point. The white ones are definitely an improvement.

 

I've never heard of anyone fabricating fir-tree fasteners before. Most people just buy them.

 

You simply haven't spent enough time with enough tool catalogs.

When was the last time your Snap On guy sent a Christmas card?