Good point. You know what, we make airplane wings out of carbon fiber today and that stuff is so tough it is unbelievable. Technically, it's probably not plastic, but you get what I mean. Why do I not believe the plastic door handles on my XJ8 are as rugged as a 1980's telephone?? I suspect it has something to do with profit motive and the like.

Cheers.

 

I just noticed this thread and have to agree 100%. Not only with Jaguar but I have had other cars where parts and pieces that are subject to heavy use or heat or vibration end up being some cheap plastic. This happened with a top-of-the-line Audi 5000 Turbo I had (back in 1983). The little rocker switches that worked the windows were the cheapest and most fragile design I ever came across. A lousy little plastic tab that held everything together would always break. After replacing the entire switch once or twice (quite expensive) I finally jerry-rigged some fix using little strips of metal to hold the rocker--worked like a charm.

The same lousy cheapness goes for the myriad of routing clips and electrical connections used all throughout the engine bay (again not just Jaguar but others as well). With all of the heat and fumes around the engine, it takes no time at all for all of those types of pieces to get brittle and fall apart just by looking at them.


Doug

 

There is only one thing worse that British plastic and it is British electric switches!
That is all, carry on

And this took you how long to figure out?

 

The thing to look at is just how long should a manufacturer engineer a car to last? The original owner didn't buy a Jag because he/she expected it to live twenty+ years...

But I agree, some parts are ridiculously poor. I do have a question, however - when did Lucas become a prince, I always thought he was the 'Duke of Darkness'? Compared to Lucas and Marelli, Bosch looks pretty good. But in reality they're just the 'King of the Mountain' (read: garbage heap.) They've also made tons of junk parts. In my experience, European cars as a whole are manufactured with a completely different mindset than the rest of the world.

 

As quoted by Beav
Beav
He's been the Prince since I was in High School and that was in the sixties. That's the first I've heard he was a "Duke"

 

Hah! Some of the plastic bits are so poor that if a dealer mechanic looks at it the wrong way during pre-delivery inspection, there is a chance they'll be ordering a new piece under warranty.

Many of the elements of the car are designed specifically for robotic assembly. Easy to get on, hard to get off, and pointless to human beings. Case in point, all the band clamps and "quick" disconnects. A hose and hose clamp would do the job just as well, or better. But, robots don't handle hose routing and hose clamps well. So, they use those godforsaken brittle hard lines with norma connectors. Robots happy, manufacturer happy. People ... not so much.

 

The toggle switches of the 60's weren't so bad. Real copper, real terminals, phenolic/nylon handles. And they looked and acted like proper switches.

If you somehow managed to break one, or wanted to add something to the car ... no big deal ... go down to Radio Shack or the nearest surplus store.

Now, to turn on the headlights ... the switch sends a signal to the BCM, the BCM decides whether or not conditions are right, it might decide to energize the headlight relay, which in turn light up the headlights. There was nothing wrong with switch + relay + headlight. No BCM required. But now, if you want to make a change, it requires jumpering around all the hidden logic in the BCM. And that is going to mean time squirming around under the dash instead of standing over the engine compartment, which you will still have to do once the bypassing has been accomplished.

 

This is why we appreciate WhiteXKR's R&D projects so much!!

 

I think all of this relates to the extremely poor resale of the Jag. Feel really sorry for anyone that buys a new one and wants to sell it in a few years. Pretty shocking how the depreciate to nothing.