Kind of tongue in cheek statement, but it seems hard to believe all the plastic under the hood of my s type. And the funny thing is their all held together with plastic pins. I guess you have to jump up to cars over $200 grand to get the real stuff? LOL

 

The inferior plastic throughout these cars is indeed a common complaint. Over the years I have replaced many of our S-Type's plastic fasteners with metal ones from hardware stores for relatively little cost....

 

The plastic used on these cars has really been a PITA for Jag owners for many years.
They usually get past the manufactuers warrnaty before they expire, this seems to be the way it was intended and Jag was not concerned with the secondary market.
I know they will say it has allot to do with saving weight, but saving money was probably more important.

Now going forward I would suspect that most cars today are using plastic and other lighter cheaper materials, even cars over $200 K will have some.

If anyone knows which cars out there are NOT using plastic please chime in.

I think some consideration will be given when I make my next purchase.
Aluminun or billett would be a much better choice but probably quite expensive.

 

Jon,

I was going to go thru and replace most of the plastic fastners, what are you using for replacements?

 

Tonka toys, or at least the original versions, would have been a far better choice

 

Larry,

There is no "one size fits all" approach to these various plastic fastener replacement ideas. You have to give some thought to what you want to replace and how best to do so at minimum cost. Sometimes I go with a metal clamp, sometimes I go with a metal bolt, sometimes I go with a metal bolt and nut, sometimes I go with a metal machine screw, and sometimes I go with a hybrid version featuring a combination of the above choices....

I've replaced a number of plastic fasteners in the engine compartment and in the trunk. An experienced Jaguar tech would notice all the silver metal as soon as he opens my hood and probably understand right away even though it takes more time to remove a bolt, screw, or clamp than it does to pop out a plastic rivet....

I've probably spent $30 to $40 over the years in new metal fasteners for our S-Type. I'm typically inspired to do it when I have to work on something that involves removing or breaking the plastic fasteners that hold the components together. I get pissed off and drive to the hardware store to find the appropriate metal fasteners and sometimes install them right there in the parking lot after purchasing them....

 

Jaguars inspire through anger ...

A lot of cars have tons of plastic stuff these days. It's just that some of the important pieces on these cars were manufactured with crappy plastic. It appears that they don't have the fiber reinforcement in the plastic.

Fibre-reinforced plastic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have a friend who manufactures tools for Snap On and a lot of the other similar vendors. A lot of what they now make has transitioned to plastics like this.

 

While I am typically in another section of the forum, this thread caught my eye and is absolutely one of my pet peeves, not only when it comes to my current Jaguar but for virtually all cars out there these days. I couldn't believe all of the plastic clips and bits under the hood of my Corvette that basically would break the minute you looked at them. Same for my XKR. Engines operate at higher temps these days and the resulting underhood temps and vapors quickly result in all or these types of pieces becoming embrittled. Add to that the fact that it is virtually impossible or at least very difficult to track down oem replacements if you are into wanting to keep the car "original".

You would think that car manufactures could at least use a better grade of plastic or some other material for the myriad of clips, hose retainers, fasteners, etc. found under the hood.


Doug

 

From what I've found, this isn't a new thing... My '91 RX7 has pervasive fiber-reinforced plastic, from the thermostat neck, which from the manufacturer, is a slick, smooth black, and as it ages, it turns this sort of delicate fawny brown, only to rupture suddenly at the worst of times. This same composite is also the material the vast majority of the radiator is made of, and under the higher heat that a rotary engine produces, even with high-efficiency coolant mixtures, eventually starts to pressure-crack at the seams and joints begin to brittle and crack.

The worst part about this composite is that not only as it ages does it decompose, but after a prolonged period of being parked, any components made out of it will suddenly fail or crack after the first few duty cycles, due to a lack of the previously-regular heat and cool cycles.

It saddens me as well that a vehicle manufacturer, in the quest for profitability, makes it so at the expense of the longevity of its biggest asset: its customer base. As automobile manufacturers continue to compete for exposure, drivers, and cost-profit margin superiority, we the driving public will be eternally condemned to a cycle of consumption for the latest innovation in cost reduction. They really don't make them like they used to, that's for sure.