It’s the little things. 

"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo) 03/06/2018 at 16:39 • Filed to: It's the little things

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The painted plastic around my ingnition button was a bit chipped which ticked me off. Would it have been so hard to just use black plastic? Why use clear plastic and then paint it, that seems so needlessly complicated, and presents the possibility of having that paint chip off an look bad. The previous owner of my car was an older woman, nails and rings take their toll on a car. My Galant had chipped paint all around the door frame, and absolutely destroyed leather on the steering wheel, from the previous owner’s many many rings.

Anyway I wanted to replace the trim, but you can’t. You’d have to replace the whole unit which is about 80 bucks new. So instead I got this aluminum ring off eBay for 4 dollars shipped from Hong Kong. The funny part is almost every seller has it for 13 dollars, or 4 dollars plus 9 dollars shipping except this one. Looks much better to me.

I also could have gotten a carbon fiber one, bur The aluminum suits the car better I think.

E90M3 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 16:52

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Interestingly enough, it was the button itself that wore out on my 1. I’ve been conscious of this on the M and the 3, both those buttons look factory fresh.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > E90M3 03/06/2018 at 16:54

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Not a 2008.

Sad!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > E90M3 03/06/2018 at 16:56

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I did find some little stick on buttons to cover that style of ignition button too.

Textured Soy Protein > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 16:59

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Dude! My car has the same flaking off black paint on the trim ring. I’m buying one of these right now. The carbon fiber M stripe ones look tacky as hell.

But since I have the aluminum hexagon dash trim like this...

I’m sorta kinda maybe tempted to get this red trim ring.

Or should I just do plain aluminum?

BeaterGT > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:03

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Agreed! New Oppo series/tag?

Nice Hong Kong treasure hunt.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Textured Soy Protein 03/06/2018 at 17:06

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With the aluminum trim I’d get the red. A nice accent wouldn’t hurt. I thought it would look bad with my wood trim.

E90M3 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:09

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It was like that in my dad’s 1, and BMW replaced it under warranty for free.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > BeaterGT 03/06/2018 at 17:09

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Good idea I added the tag.

Textured Soy Protein > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:18

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I decided the red would clash with my cream colored upholstery and bought a plain aluminum one for the low low price of $3.45. Thanks for the tip! My paint started peeling within the past few months and was bugging the hell out of me.

Matt Nichelson > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:20

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That’s pretty cool. I wonder if they do a blue one.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Matt Nichelson 03/06/2018 at 17:35

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Never seen a blue one. But with anything painted you run the risk of it chipping again. Although I wouldn’t be that hard to replace the little trim piece.

Vicente Esteve > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:37

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Same thing happened to me, couldn’t deal with it and bought a $50 used one.

CompactLuxuryFan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:45

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I have absolutely no idea what the state of that button in my car is. Now thanks to this thread full of replies, I’ll have to check with a magnifying glass. Thanks for that!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > CompactLuxuryFan 03/06/2018 at 17:48

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Yeah seeing some other showed me that mine wasn’t that bad. But When the repair is 4 dollar, it was bad enough to get fixed.

gettingoldercarguy > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 17:50

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They purchase one color and paint over it to simplify inventory and reduce costs. Dyes are typically some of the most expensive components in plastics and a single common source of the plastic minimizes the need for switching over to a different color or multiple machines. Common moulds save some cash cash money as well.

MBAs gotta get paid yo.

NKato > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 18:32

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 Fuck those buttons.

Matt Nichelson > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 18:34

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Yeah that’s true. I don’t need one at the moment, but something I would think about later. My main things right now are replacing the headlight switch and interior door grab on the passenger side. The material on it melted like the dash does on an IS300. It makes no sense since that’s the only thing in the car that’s done that.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > NKato 03/06/2018 at 18:38

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I don’t mind the button. I wish I had the actual smart key tho. Mine still requires you to put the key in a slot in the dash. So it’s not really any easier than turning a key.

404 - User No Longer Available > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 18:45

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I actually prefer the slot. I hate how there is no place to put my key aside from the cup holder, part of it because I have a key fob attached to it for my garage remote, so in the pocket would mean I have to dig for it.

I just dangle that fob on my Solstice’s key, much better location. I haven’t been able to turn off my ignition because of that yet.

CompactLuxuryFan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/06/2018 at 19:04

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I’m surprised you don’t have to remove the whole dash to replace it. Good to know for when mine gets torn up. As it stands, I don’t think I’ll replace it considering I haven’t even noticed. Also my car has done like 500 miles since I bought it in October, so...

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > CompactLuxuryFan 03/06/2018 at 19:16

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I think that panel is the first thing to come off on the dash, iirc. It was in a radio replacement DIY I saw. So replacing the button unit should be easy.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Matt Nichelson 03/06/2018 at 22:03

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I wonder if anodizing and dying an aluminum one would be an option.

Matt Nichelson > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/06/2018 at 23:06

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Haven’t thought of that. Could be an option. Would hold up better too.