Rant: stupid Previous owners!

This is not so much aimed at my Disco, but the last 5 used cars I have bought,

In all the years (25) and miles I have driven, I have never broken a switch on any of my cars. I have had one or two die, but never broken. The last 5 cars I have had all had broken switches.. as in physically broken.

The Disco has the passenger seat controls pushed into the console.
the Volvo was missing two window switches
the BMW had a broken Fog light switch
The Saab NG had most of the buttons on the climate control destroyed
and my 900 SPG has several buttons on the dash pressed in that will not snap back out.

are people just -that- ham handed that they can crush, maim, and destroy the heavy duty switch gear in cars? I just find it amazing that things that are designed to last many years and thousands of use cycles get so easily destroyed. What am I missing?

Last night I bought an 04 Volvo S60R from a Volvo technician. The previous owner (a women) drove the car without coolant despite the "stop engine" message on the dashboard, blew a head gasket and warped the head. Seizing the oppurtunity, the technican bought it, swapped in a used engine w/ 90,000mi. (with a lifetime warranty) and that's where I bought it. While I was cleaning the car today, I realized that the water ducts had never been cleaned (ever), they practically had their own ecosystem. As I progressed into the interior I found the previous owner had a collection child's toys (Barbie dolls, little mermaids, hello kitty sunglasses, pink sparkly sunglasses, etc.) and a strange obsession with nuts (I found pistachios, almonds, peanuts, walnuts and pinenuts!). When I opened the owner's manual, I found a note with the letter head from a Las Vegas hotel with an adress, part of a phone number and the unmistakable $35/hour which was underlined. There is also an assortment of goodies lurking under the rear seats but I am waiting to recover from my surgery before I make an attempt.

I've destroyed a few buttons. Never by actually pressing them. Usually by trying to wedge something big/awkward into the car and nailing them with a sufficiently solid corner or whatever.

Think loading skis form the trunk through the little hole in the backseat and going too far and bashing the buttons up front. That sort of thing.

Dude, that s60 is going to give you the clap.........better get your VD booster shot of penicillin before you go any farther.

My idiotic previous owner comments are directed solely at my '95 sho.......I finally determined why it had seen under 1k miles from '02-07.....it had been pieced back together from multiple other cars at some point. One brake caliper bracket was for an 11.6 rotor and the other side for the stock 10.9".......wtf!?!? Good thing I bought it for cheap. And I haven't even put 50 miles on it since '07.....lol

Don't get me started on my old WJ. I can take those apart blindfolded now.

The best was draining the super expensive tcase oil. Pulled the drain, about 1/2 oz came out. It was black. I'm surprised it didn't grenade.

NP242 T-case? Those usually grenade under normal circumstances

You haven't seen weird E36 M3 till you've owned an ex-squad car.

Is it bad I read the thread title "Stupid Prius owners" at first glance?

You don't know stupid PO till you buy something cheap and hard to buy parts for. Like how my Yugo had a not a Fiat alternator and crooked brackets to match, or "berkeley tracking down a bypass thermostat I can buy at any berkeleying NAPA for $9 if I get a X 1/9 one, I'll just assemble it without". Cars cool really funny when they don't have a bypass t stat. Or how every $0.60 gasket he touched is made of apple jacks box. Electrical tape is not a correct vacuum line repair. Roofing tar is not for filling holes in strut towers. You don't fix bad rake lines by pinching the rear line at a spot that getting a flare bar in is damn near impossible, nor do you rebuild the rear brakes oblivious to this. I'm not gonna go into the horn wiring.

Don't let me get started on the 98 Mirage I had, lets just say what I found under the new looking brake pads was the least confusing.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Is it bad I read the thread title "Stupid Prius owners" at first glance? You don't know stupid PO till you buy something cheap and hard to buy parts for. Like how my Yugo had a not a Fiat alternator and crooked brackets to match, or "berkeley tracking down a bypass thermostat I can buy at any berkeleying NAPA for $9 if I get a X 1/9 one, I'll just assemble it without". Cars cool really funny when they don't have a bypass t stat. Or how every $0.60 gasket he touched is made of apple jacks box. Electrical tape is not a correct vacuum line repair. Roofing tar is not for filling holes in strut towers. You don't fix bad rake lines by pinching the rear line at a spot that getting a flare bar in is damn near impossible, nor do you rebuild the rear brakes oblivious to this. I'm not gonna go into the horn wiring. Don't let me get started on the 98 Mirage I had, lets just say what I found under the new looking brake pads was the least confusing.

you have to understand that you are one member of a very small population of people that would not only own a Yugo if you had any other options, but actually spend the time, money, and effort to properly fix one...

regarding the new brake pads on the used up rotors: i bet it made the grinding noises stop....

NP242 T-case? Those usually grenade under normal circumstances

NP242HD with the stupid gerotor pump inside. Works well when lubed with the expensive $20 a quart fluid. This is what I drained out of mine.

Here's a shot of the dumb designed CV rear driveshaft where it meets the T-case. Another fun fix. Only cost $100 though.

Driver CV boot.

And of course the climate control resistor. Fixed this for free when my neighbor's started failing. Swapped hers out for a new one, she paid me $50 and gave me the old one that was still salvageable. Easiest fix is to ditch the stupid connector and solder in some wires.

Somehow the PO installed front rotors on my Firebird without using grease seals.

In reply to novaderrik:

Yeah, but its like the dude made an effort, just decided to often take more time to do it wrong rather than right. He put all new brakes on it aside from lines, hoses, MC and the rear drums, yet failed to address, or notify me, of the pinched line.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Somehow the PO installed front rotors on my Firebird without using grease seals.

that would have added $6 to the whole project... money's tight..

42 cents each on Rock auto.....The good ones from Timken are $1.30 !

Gearheadotaku wrote: 42 cents each on Rock auto.....The good ones from Timken are $1.30 !

Tried to edit my typo and double posted. Oops...

the Timken grease seals for my Camaro were like $3 a piece at the local NAPA..