Dealer broke retaining tabs, glued part in place!

The power mirror switch (the L-Off-R rocker part) of our then brand-new
'02 300M either was broken when we took delivery or (I no longer recall
which) broke within a day or two. It was replaced under warranty, and I
thought no more about it. Not long ago the switch broke again, and I
bought a new one on eBay. The service manual says to pry off the switch
with a trim stick. One side came away quite easily, revealing what
looked like hardened crazy glue on one surface. The other side was much
more difficult to get free, and eventually I was able to remove it, but
it showed every sign of having been glued in place with crazy glue or
something similar.

Are such improper (incompetent, fraudulent?) repairs even by authorized
dealers common? SOP?

Perce

On Feb 13, 2:16*pm, "Percival P. Cassidy" >
wrote:
> The power mirror switch (the L-Off-R rocker part) of our then brand-new
> '02 300M either was broken when we took delivery or (I no longer recall
> which) broke within a day or two. It was replaced under warranty, and I
> thought no more about it. Not long ago the switch broke again, and I
> bought a new one on eBay. The service manual says to pry off the switch
> with a trim stick. One side came away quite easily, revealing what
> looked like hardened crazy glue on one surface. The other side was much
> more difficult to get free, and eventually I was able to remove it, but
> it showed every sign of having been glued in place with crazy glue or
> something similar.
>
> Are such improper (incompetent, fraudulent?) repairs even by authorized
> dealers common? SOP?
>
> Perce

Find out what kind of crazy glue it was. A glue that will hold for
seven years is worth having.

"Percival P. Cassidy" > wrote in message
...
> The power mirror switch (the L-Off-R rocker part) of our then brand-new
> '02 300M either was broken when we took delivery or (I no longer recall
> which) broke within a day or two. It was replaced under warranty, and I
> thought no more about it. Not long ago the switch broke again, and I
> bought a new one on eBay. The service manual says to pry off the switch
> with a trim stick. One side came away quite easily, revealing what looked
> like hardened crazy glue on one surface. The other side was much more
> difficult to get free, and eventually I was able to remove it, but it
> showed every sign of having been glued in place with crazy glue or
> something similar.
>
> Are such improper (incompetent, fraudulent?) repairs even by authorized
> dealers common? SOP?
>

I'm not sure if the broken retaining tabs your referring to are part of
the trim or the switch. But I'll assume the switch.

It's entirely possible the dealer parts department ordered the switch from
the factory and it arrived with the tabs broken off, and the dealer decided
not
to return the switch to the factory - maybe the factory claimed that was the
only switch in stock, etc.

Unfortunately it is not uncommon to have parts arrive at the dealer parts
counter from the factory which are clearly used. I've had it happen to me
twice when I went to the dealer to buy parts. Both times I noticed it
because
I opened the package AT the counter IN FRONT of the parts guy, pulled
out the part from the sealed bag, inspected it closely, and pointed out the
evidence. In one case the part was covered with greasy fingerprints and was
missing some mounting screws.

Both times I tried having them re-order the part and they refused, claiming
that the part might not be new but it would work. I ended up taking the
parts
anyway, but I did get them to knock the price down.

As long as the switch worked electrically, and the glue didn't destroy the
mounting hole, while it's not an optimal repair, it did work and didn't do
any
lasting damage.

Ted

On 02/19/09 01:31 am Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:

>> The power mirror switch (the L-Off-R rocker part) of our then brand-new
>> '02 300M either was broken when we took delivery or (I no longer recall
>> which) broke within a day or two. It was replaced under warranty, and I
>> thought no more about it. Not long ago the switch broke again, and I
>> bought a new one on eBay. The service manual says to pry off the switch
>> with a trim stick. One side came away quite easily, revealing what looked
>> like hardened crazy glue on one surface. The other side was much more
>> difficult to get free, and eventually I was able to remove it, but it
>> showed every sign of having been glued in place with crazy glue or
>> something similar.
>>
>> Are such improper (incompetent, fraudulent?) repairs even by authorized
>> dealers common? SOP?
>>
>
> I'm not sure if the broken retaining tabs your referring to are part of
> the trim or the switch. But I'll assume the switch.

No, I was referring to the tabs on the trim. So they were dealing with
an existing part, not with a replacement they had to order in.

Perce


> It's entirely possible the dealer parts department ordered the switch from
> the factory and it arrived with the tabs broken off, and the dealer decided
> not
> to return the switch to the factory - maybe the factory claimed that was the
> only switch in stock, etc.
>
> Unfortunately it is not uncommon to have parts arrive at the dealer parts
> counter from the factory which are clearly used. I've had it happen to me
> twice when I went to the dealer to buy parts. Both times I noticed it
> because
> I opened the package AT the counter IN FRONT of the parts guy, pulled
> out the part from the sealed bag, inspected it closely, and pointed out the
> evidence. In one case the part was covered with greasy fingerprints and was
> missing some mounting screws.
>
> Both times I tried having them re-order the part and they refused, claiming
> that the part might not be new but it would work. I ended up taking the
> parts
> anyway, but I did get them to knock the price down.
>
> As long as the switch worked electrically, and the glue didn't destroy the
> mounting hole, while it's not an optimal repair, it did work and didn't do
> any
> lasting damage.

On Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:16:26 -0500, "Percival P. Cassidy"
> wrote:


>Are such improper (incompetent, fraudulent?) repairs even by authorized
>dealers common? SOP?
>
>Perce

I once had the battery on my '97 Neon replaced at Sears. After I got
home, I noticed that the entire air shroud assembly used to insulate
the battery from the underhood temperatures was missing.
Seems the installer thought it wasn't needed with his "Die Hard"
battery. Since they admitted to losing the part they credited my
account with the amount of a new shround assembly from the dealer.
All subsequent battery replacements have been done by "me" and
AutoZone.

You didn't carefully read the repair order for the vehicle when you
picked it up from having been repaired???? IF they had a switch charged
out, there should have been a new switch installed. Not to say that the
tech might not have damaged the new part in the process of installing
it, hence the adhesive issue. Or the tech wanted to make sure it didn't
re-break again. So much for full size "snap fit" model cars that have
engines, these days.

C-BODY