Question is whats wrong with a good screw, a good nut and a good bolt? Instead of these stupid plastic clip type things that either break or dont hold tight.

I guess car manufacturers are trying to make the car look more attractive by hiding the screws. I would much rather have a hole and screw that wont break.

I suspect that manufacturers use plastic lugs because they're cheaper and lighter than metal screws. They're also much quicker to assemble (push to fit rather than having to screw in). This all saves time on the production line and equals more profit. It also equals more hassle for the home mechanic working on a ten year old car where the damn things just snap or break off every time you try and remove them... :bang:

They really naff me off. Take my door card for example there are 16 fixing points 3 of which are the plastic lugs, all broken. What’s the point of that!

For the sake of 3 clips they may as well be proper manly screws.

I find a 2cm wide chisel with masking tape round the head good at leavering them out.

By the way I haven’t personally broken any of mine yet but some have been broken by a mechanic I presume.

look at how many interior plastic clips theer are. If they were all metal, our cars would weigh too much. It would also make the cars more expensive to buy. One or two is ok, but when you are talking about hundreds of extra metal screws, it soon adds up.

oh, and plastic doesnt rattle as bad as a loose bolt


its a pest i agree, but its still the best compromise.

I can not agree with that there’s no way an equivalent number of screws to those popper things pictured can make any significant weight difference a couple of KG at the very most.

I think they are used to make the interior look better. The three on my door card are behind what would be the most visible position.

I do I have screw holes rather than plastic bits on the interior, But it does use those plastic things to mainly to do things like hold the wheel arch liners in where a metal screw would corrode.

So true

in many cases plastic clips are not reusable. yeah you can bodge them back on, but for the sake of £3 at a dealer you can get a bag of new clips.