Went to the local touchless car wash yesterday, and few hours later noticed my side marker/running light assembly hanging out. AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Anybody else have this happen? What did you do about it?

I have it scotch taped for now. I'm going in for my first scheduled service the day after Christmas. I'll also be asking for a new shift **** at that time. The top of mine exploded off.

 

^^^^ shift **** is covered by warranty

the side marker (finisher) uses a plastic clip thingy that loosens up after you remove the finisher and put in back in, maybe the brush in the kar wash caught it and pulled it out and broke it .......warranty??????? don't know, but the finishers don't cost alot or maybe you can fix with a hot glue gun

 

It's a British car. Parts are always going to be falling off of it. As they become available, replace all the parts that are going to end up on the interstate with quality Japanese parts. The shift ****, which appears to be made out of 25 different parts should be replaced with a one- or two-piece unit.

 

i changed my shift **** to one of these
Whalen

 

I had this happen to me, so I used it as an excuse to order replacement clear markers from Moss. Cost about $30 and looks sharp!

 

One of my little nuts fell off several weeks ago, just waiting for the whole unit to fall off now...

 

So, how many crappy British parts have you replaced with quality Japanese parts thus far? Why don't you just replace the whole crappy British car with a quality Toyota? Wouldn't that solve the problem? :smile:

 

Losing a nut is one thing, but having my whole unit fall off would be disastrous!

 

>>One of my little nuts fell off several weeks ago, just waiting for the whole unit to fall off now...

 

so should i mask tape the side markers before going into the
touchless wash?

 

>>so should i mask tape the side markers before going into the
>>touchless wash?
>>
wash by hand

 

>>One of my little [fasteners] fell off several weeks ago, just waiting for the whole [sidemarker] to fall off now...

 

i would prefer to run her through the touchless first and
dry her off, then wipe her down completely in my
garage at home with some detailer spray...


so do i need to tape down my side marker?

dang, sounds like i bought a domestic.

 

No no no...no masking tape. Side markers shouldn't fall out. The only reason mine fell out was because I had to have some body work done on my old MINI, and they apparently didn't click the marker all the way in...

 

Just be really careful. I sort of hose it off from a distance and pray to God nothing falls off or shorts out. Industrial fans are great for drying. Use something extraordinarily soft if you have to wipe the finish.

 

Yeah. Definitely don't use fiberglass to dry off your car. I had to learn that lesson the hard way. Oh, and don't try sandblasting it. For some reason these crappy brit/german parts don't hold up very well...

 

chitowncoop- thanks. i was seriously thinking about this issue
on the way home.

 

I don't know about parts being "crappy" since I haven't had any parts fail or rust off yet, but I wouldn't be timid about making sure the car is totally dry following a wash or rain. Other posts on this forum would lead one to believe that the car starts rusting as soon as the body leaves the paint shop. I wouldn't take any chances.

 

>>so should i mask tape the side markers before going into the
>>touchless wash?
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Moral of this story: don't go to a commercial car wash. Wash by hand.