Plastic will kill future classic cars

[BruceK]

I decided to remove the tow hitch from my 2002 Cooper S since I now have a pickup truck I can use if I need to tow my classic Mini (or anything else)

(photo below of my tow rig. And Dave is there too!)

Anyway, I removed the rear bumper and in doing so the MINI's side marker lights on either side of the bumper just fell apart. The super brittle plastic just came apart in pieces with no stress on it whatsoever. I touched it and the orange colored plastic on the back broke. And this is on a 23 year-old car that has almost never spent any time exposed to the sun. It has always been garaged at home, and it lived in a parking garage when I took it to work. So it wasn't UV that killed the plastic it was just age.

Fortunately, replacement side marker lights are available and cheap.

I had a similar experience two weeks ago when I was changing out spark plugs in my 2014 Tacoma. The corrugated plastic wire wrap that houses the wires going to the coil packs just crumbled into little pieces when touched. And that was just on an 11 year-old vehicle. 

I realize that 3-D printing will help with some of this, but it's absolutely crazy how plastic in automobiles is just not holding up at all.

We are so lucky that there's very little plastic in our Minis. I can't imagine people in the future collecting today's cars with all this crappy plastic in them.

[MiniDave]

The good news is that you can still get those plastic bits.....for now.

I also think OEM electronic controls for the engine and transmichigan were going to be vulnerable - I still do - but at least the aftermarket has stepped in on  some of the more popular ones.

[94touring]

Everything in general is built like crap anymore unfortunately.

[cstudep]

Unfortunately, around here the rest of the vehicle will probably rust away before the plastic bits start getting too bad 

[Brit_in_TX]

The whole OEM making everything out of plastic is so frustrating.  My 2023 GMC has just had a coolant control valve failure.  From the research, it is made entirely out of plastic and the failure is pretty common. In fact GM have basically admitted the part is POS as they are now warrantying that part for 15 years or 150,000 miles.

They really need to redesign it, but looks like that is not happening. Some bean counter will have worked out it is cheaper to warranty than design a replacement. 

[MiniDave]

On my 2009 MINI Clubman S, the thermostat housing is a large, 2 stage affair all made out of plastic, it has a sensor in it that you cannot buy and usually leaks. Also the seam between the two halves of the housing leak. On top of that, there is a large plastic pipe that runs from the back of the water pump to the T-Stat housing, and THAT breaks, right where the o-ring attaches and fits into the water pump. From MINI, that T-stat is $180 and the pipe is $90!

I'm sure my Audis are no better......I know the oil filter housing assembly is all plastic, including the cannister that the filter fits into. MINI had problems with their version of that as well, as theirs is all plastic too.

All the intake manifolds have been made out of plastic for years, although I don't hear a lot of issues with those.