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Its always the little things...

Toastedlightly

Toastedlightly

Diamond Member
How many of you have little things that are wrong with your cars that you just live with because they don't seem worth the effort to fix? I'm talking a misaligned body panel, perhaps a piece of interior trim that squeaks, things of that nature. Well I have taken to fixing all these little annoyances on my 96 Miata!

My list of things to fix (so far):
-Fix the gaps on the headlight covers to remove the "hood scoop" effect DONE!
-Fix the carpet retaining clips so the carpet doesn't pull out of the bottom door trim DONE!
-Fix the vibrating piece inside the driver's door which vibrates when bass heavy songs are playing
-Remove old dealer sticker from previous previous previous owner's purchase
-Fix slight misalignment of rear bumper on passenger side
-Re-aim windshield washer sprayers
-Tighten down spare tire to reduce rattle

EDIT: I forgot to add the following:
-my seat is started to fray on the shoulder bolster... this needs to be fixed before a tear develops.

So, what things do you want to fix on your car?
 
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where do I start with the '87 bmw 325e...let's see:
- The whole suspension gotta go: front struts, rear shocks, control arms, tie-rod ends, and whatever else I found is broken or worn out. I estimated the whole thing will cost me at least $300 for parts.
- The whole car needs to be repainted
- The dash is cracked in A LOT of places
- The A/C
- Front and rear seats upholstery needs changing
- Power window only works for some windows and, of those, they only work sometimes
- Door lock mechanism needs fixing on driver and passenger doors
- Put in new radio

Those are just the things on top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty more, but other than that, everything works great! 😛
 
Couple nicks and scratches on the bumper, paint chips in the hood, door ding on the right side, paint faded a bit on the trunk mounted spoiler, wheels looking tired and in need of refreshening.

Mechanically it is tip top though.
 
2008 Sky Redline with 32k miles.


  • Light rock chips on the hood.
  • Scratches under the front bumper and on the air dam from my old apartment building, probably needs to be replaced.
  • The chrome trim around the gauges rattles and needs to be glued down.
  • Wheel damage from my dad losing it around a wet corner.
  • Bushing/suspension squeek when it's cold.

Also needs a really good under hood detail.
 
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1) Front passenger side speaker mount is a little loose, vibrates on very low bass notes. No biggie, but just gotta find the time to do it.

2) Big a*s crack on the front windshield (L-shaped - 1" down, 3" across). Already fixed with sealant so that it doesn't spread. Will probably fix after I move back to IA.
 
Factory subwoofer is disconnected because the little preamp I installed using crimp-on wiring fell off.

Check engine light keeps coming on and going off. Dealer has no permanent fix. Something related may be sometimes (but not always) a hard fuel cutoff during WOT.

Seat squeaks against center console. Sometimes. May be related to plastic dressing (Armor-all type stuff).

Center console squeaks against bottom of climate control panel. Sometimes. Worse on certain roads.

Car pulls to the right a bit. Always done that since new. Got worse after I nailed a curb while sliding sideways in the snow. One rim now has a huge ding in it. Will see if it gets better once I switch wheels to my Summer tires (on different rims).
 
My free '98 Altima:

The left-hand motor that moves the driver side seat is locked up.

No light behind the shifter position indicator.

The passenger-side blinker/running light is loose (a clip behind it is broken)

Gas door/trunk release clip is broken so trunk can only be opened with the key, and the gas door doesn't latch. It stays closed on it's own, though.

No antenna. It broke off completely, and I don't have the adapter plug anyway.

Only have 3/4 of the rear bumper cover. The rest got tore off when my cousin backed into something when it was her car (my dad popped out the dent, the bumper cover is only $45, but I can't afford to have it painted).

Needs the spark plug tube gasket installed. I have it, but I forgot to order the valve cover gasket too and I don't want to re-use the old one. It would be a 5-min job if I just went and bought the damn gasket.

The biggest problem I have with it is the door locks. The passenger door will lock/unlock every door except the rear drivers side door, while the front drivers side door lock only lock/unlocks itself and the rear passenger door. When the key fob worked, no matter how many times you pressed unlock, it would only unlock the drivers side front door.... but it would lock all 4. I'm really puzzled over this one.

Oh yeah, my amp died too, but I've a new one scheduled for delivery today.
 
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2001 dodge ram1500

-bumper leans up
-hood is leaning about 3/4" to the passenger side
-dash is totally cracked up and pretty much nonexistent
-windshield wash reservoir hose is worn out and wont stay attached
-hood light (the one under the hood for convenience) is burned out

theres other issues with the truck, but they all really sound minor to me, enough to lump them under "some other stuff thats wrong" instead of listing.
 
Just had my wheels and a couple of body items done, but one thing that constantly gets on my nerves is the bulb shell that snapped off in the main cabin light up front. When changing it out it snapped at the base and fell into the light unit (e46) and I need to remove the unit again to shake it out. It's simple, but I procrastinate at Olmypic level, so it's been in there for almost two years. Corner left, <rattle as it moves to the left of the unit>, corner right <rattle>, etc. :|
 
Something in the driver's side door squeaks sometimes. It's rather obnoxious when it happens but it's not frequent enough to warrant any work. If that changes though I'll fix it.
 
Free '01 Civic EX

Aesthetics:
-Headliner is hanging off in certain areas
-Clear protective coat is starting to chip on the trunk lid
-Drivers seat bolts need to be tightened
-Pretty sure I need to replace battery in my door opener

Mechanics:
-Engine will sputter and almost die on warm days during warm up but run fine after that.
-Tires need replacing ASAP but I'm too lazy because my commute is 10mi roundtrip
-Oil Change is due
-Gas mileage is shit (maybe 30 or so) but that's probably due to tires

I really need to take it in and get the engine hiccup fixed and get the tires replaced, just gotta find the time to do it. I'm most likely selling it come the end of june, but I need to fix these issues to help out the resale value.
 
I've lost all four center caps over the years, sometimes when it's cold out the memory seat buttons will stick, my headliner is starting to droop where it meets the back glass. Mechanically the car is perfect. 1996 Crown Victoria with 160k on the clock. Daily driven, 28-30 MPG highway, extremely quiet, smooth and loooonnng paid for.

Everything works on this car from the auto-dim rearview, to the sunroof, to the ice-cold A/C, and of course the engine and transmission are bullet proof. Uses no oil, shifts perfectly.
 
'01 z28 had too many things to list. I sold it last week, so solved all of them instantaneously I guess you could say lol.

'01 Trans Am -

on two of the A/C air vents, one fin is missing
driver's seat has a small tear and pretty worn where you slide your ass to get inside, something that plagues these cars
front bumper/hood needs to be repainted from rocks/clear coat peel
minor clear coat scratches on various other panels

All power windows/antenna/seats/locks etc. work perfectly, which is surprising after being around F-Bods for over a decade.

Only things I would fix would be the A/C vents as it'd be like $10. Paint/seat are just going to get fucked up again cause I like to drive it, not wash it.
 
I have one annoyance I ahve been living with...the fact that my car does not have a Kenne Bell stage 2 supercharger kit on it. This problem will be resolved as soon as the wife allows me to fix it
 
Here's the list for my C55.

Rear hat shelf is sunfaded and there's a high pitched rattle coming from the passenger side. Quoted $1200 for replacement by the dealer with 3.5 hours of labor. Ordered the part online(saved $150) and waited two weeks to get it. Open the box, looks to be the correct part so I head out to the garage and struggle for 2 hours to get everything freed(not really knowing what I'm doing just taking things apart). Get ready to finally pull the thing and I notice that the part I received doesn't have the holes cut out in the front for the child seat mounts and the locking indicators for the fold down seats. So I put everything back together convinced I got the wrong part and call the place I ordered from. After some research they tell me that the holes were cut during final assembly and that's the only part MB makes. A little shocked but no less determined, the following weekend I took the old shelf out, cut the holes, transferred the eyelets and locks and bolted the whole thing back in in less than 2 hours.

It was a royal pain due to the rolling sunshade thing on the back, weighs about 10 pounds and makes the thing really hard to maneuver, especially because the mounts to the shelf itself are barely adequate to support the weight. Some real gymnastics were required to maneuver it back into place, using my fingertips to support the motor through the tiny holes in back trunklid. What I know with absolute certainty is that the guy at AMG who assembled my car or installed this particular part sure as hell wasn't 6'1" 180lbs, no way.

Only casualties were two clips for the upper part of the seat bolsters that I nuked because I couldn't get them out, will cost about $5 for new pieces. The rattle I was chasing down is mostly gone, there is a newer different rattle that is probably from the clips and/or something I wiggled loose in the c-pillar. Will resolve when the clips come in. It looks fantastic though, no more ugly grey fabric when I look in the rear view, nice and black now and hey the sunshade still works and so do the speakers...high five!

All in all it was a fun little project, I learned a bit about how my car is assembled and built up some confidence. Lots of clever engineering goes into even the most pedestrian of parts.

Other things on my to-do list - replace the interior door handles, I have the parts just need to take the doors apart. Previous owner had rings or fishhook fingers that scuffed them up pretty bad.

Have a .5 inch scratch in the windshield right in my line of sight, drives me crazy under certain light. Probably just going to live with it until I get a real rock chip and then replace the windshield. Given my track record it shouldn't take too long 🙂

Lastly there's a small dent in the aluminum trim right above the hvac controls, part isn't that expensive but you have to take the entire console apart to replace this piece as it's screwed into the controls from the rear. Haven't decided if I'm going to take that on or not.
 
89 dodge caravan turbo
where to start lol
1. Paint is falling off
2. Rusted wheel wells
3. Head liner is falling down
4. sliding door doesn't lock
5. lock cylinder in the drivers door is busted
6. both front power windows are messed up but work
7. one of the bushings in my wiper arms is loose so they clunk
8. passenger side power mirror moves on its own
9. rear window wiper quit working
10. a/c compressor bearings are going out so I pulled the belt
11. I could keep going but those are bigger ones I can think off

95 mazda miata
1. typical lifter tick when cold
2. power windows are slow
3. high beams don't work
4. power antenna broke so I duct taped it till I can get around to fixing it.
 
My Malibu Maxx would develop this obnoxiously annoying squeek that got progressively worse the hotter it got. I took it to the dealer and they said it was a lose hubcap. Whatever. I had my wife drive the car around a really bumpy block a few times and finally identified what it was...the headliner was drooping in the back and pins were squeeking as they slid in and out of their holders. I took a piece of paper and folded it up a few times and jammed it between the roofliner and the roof to remove the slack. Squeek solved.

My other issue is plastic housing that wraps around my rear hatch wiper blade cracked and now the cam that moves the blade turns freely in there and the wiper no longer works. The dealer wouldn't replace it under warranty...fuckers. (yeah it broke in 2 years, 20,000 miles). It's a $150 + labor part that I could do myself. I just don't care enough right now to do it.
 
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