Not accidental build faults as such, but what *seemed* like a present, just for you, the new car owner, *seemingly* done on purpose, by an individual on the line.
For me, the passenger door window dropping straight into the door bottom when the handle was touched for the first time, on my new Rover Maestro Clubman D, in 1991.
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Only ever had new VWs. And build quality of mine has never been a problem.
Think I found a spare screw under a seat once.
Sorry.
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I expect if anything shows up it will be in the distant past, not on a modern car.
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>>Think I found a spare screw under a seat once.<<
Are you sure it was spare ???
Edited by Pendlebury on 21/12/2007 at 13:27
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I've only ever had one new car, nothing left for me in this car :o(
I've had a few good finds at scrapyards (just to turn this thread on its head), tools, cash, new set of brake pads in the spare wheel well etc ;o)
Bought a second hand car with the wrong locking wheel nut key (swapped at auction no doubt) and the last person to fit the wheels was an ape with a scaffold pole :o(
Edited by Dox on 21/12/2007 at 13:47
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My best present was seats.
My Cortina 1600E was fitted with seats designed for the two door versions ( only four door 1600Es were on the UK market)
So I had a four door version with seats that also tipped forward which was quite usefull for carrying some bulky items.
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This wasn't from the production line but was "fitted" as an after market accessory on the day of delivery. The car in question had been delivered to my then, employers and was to be allocated to the company's most prolific practical joker. A straw poll was taken in the office and it was decided that come-uppance time was nigh. This guy was so proud of the fact that he had been promoted and this was to be his first company car. He had spent hours poring over its brochures and colour options etc and generally sung its praises ad nauseam for weeks.
Well the car arrived and the delivery driver intercepted before "joker boy" saw it. Two addional features were added under the spare wheel. The first was an initially fresh but ungutted mackerel ( it was summer ) and the second was a cricket ball.
The smell and clonking noise combination was effective for about a month !
Very childish I know but some people just have it coming !
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When I worked for Vauxhall parts (in a dealership) an engine was on backorder for a 16v Astra diesel, it had blown due to the owner never checking the oil level & was out of warranty anyway. So having agreed to pay for a genuine re-con lump (head & block only), the part was duly ordered but as alread said went backordered with no estimated time of delivery. Eventually Vauxhall pulled a brand new unit from the production line which came as a complete assembly with alternator, air con pump, manifolds, and even ecu's & injection pump & turbo.
The customer had already resigned himself to a big bill but was pleasantly suprised to have all the other parts changed as well.
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Disaffected production line workers in Detroit sometimes used to weld bits of metal inside doors to make a knocking noise over bumps (for example) as a form of protest or sabotage, labour relations in Detroit being, er, a bit different from what we used to be used to here, if you see what I mean. I imagine Austin Rover suffered a bit of the same sort of thing in its day.
On the other side of the coin, Detroit factories had the phenomenon of the 'foreman's friend', an example that would be followed down the line and assembled and finished with extra care, and that would also get a hand-picked or blueprinted engine. These cars were destined for company executives, their wives and friends, and probably for testing by magazines and so on. No doubt the foreman himself could make sure his motor worked properly too.
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I always thought the foreman took his new car out one piece at a time in his snap box L ud,i also reckon those specal attentin cars were for gangsters and their molls ;-)
Edited by bell boy on 21/12/2007 at 15:18
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Bellboy, you should listen to "One Piece at a time" by the late, great Johnny Cash!!
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Whem I worked at the Peugeot/Citroen Import centre for a while it was common for Tools to be left in cars - we had more Phillips screwdrivers than we we knew what to do with some factory's were very good at presenting clean well made cars of the boat but some ...well dire... coke cans etc even the odd apple core etc.
Biggest problem we once encountered was when the block train which moved the cars to Calais for onward shipment to the uk was used as a version of the the Orient express by some homeless. When it arrived in Calais all the "travellers" were met by the police. Problem was they didn't remove their stuff !! When the cars turned up in the UK 48 hours later it took 4 hours per car to clean them.
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for gangsters and their molls ;-)
No doubt some were bb, but surely they just used to go round to some hapless car dealer they had over a barrel and 'borrow' what they needed for as long as they needed it, like the Krays? Must be great being a gangster if you are nasty enough.
I can see halfshafts down your trousers bb, but what sort of snap box would you have to have to take a Vauxhall Cresta crankcase out without being noticed? 'He loves his snap, the foreman.'
:o)
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