Freelander 1 Freelander 1 tailgate handle - what the frack are they made of?

As part of my winter preparations I decided to replace the ropey perished and split door handle gasket, and because the seal had failed the nuts were rusted to the studs, but living in Scotland I'm no stranger to rusted fastners, yet I still managed to snap a couple of the studs from their plastic. Initially I thought, not a problem, I'll buy a new one, if I order it sharpish I'll have it for the weekend...

...Then I seen the (list) price...
£270
Yup, you read that right... Two Hundred and Seventy Pounds...

Really?

Like; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??

What is the damned thing made of? Tusks of an exotic variant of Heffalump? Some interstellar paste comprising of dark matter suspended in a glue of melted down Extra-Terrestrial beings toenail clippings? Distilled ink pigment from an extinct subspecies of octopus?

I'm guessing that given how brittle they are, it must be the tusks, but none of those options wouldn't warrant a £270 list price for a stupid lump of plastic. Sure, you can get the lookie likey ones for a third of that price, and even the allegedly genuine ones but still, £90 for a silly little lump of plastic?

Had it been half of that, as in the £90 = £45, my debit card would be a little bit bruised and my freelander feeling a bit pampered, but no, £40 gets you a fecked up used one covered in green slime, lemme think abou.... NAW!!!

So yeah, I'm spitting bullets, and I'll do some jiggery-pokery with some M6 nuts, bolts, washers and 2 part epoxy paste nae doubt making for an abotchination of a thing, that thankfully will be hidden on the inside/underside of the handle.

I'm now scared to look to see how much a decent 5 door courtesy light will be to replace the tatty one I recently grafted into my three doors roof-lining as its switches are water damaged.

They're made of plastic coated gold.

I repaired mine with epoxy resin and some M8 coach bolts.

I'd already repaired one stud on mine with similar techniques, but that was when both kids were much younger and much more expensive, so I botched it to save the sheckles, but I thought I'd do it right this time, until I seen the price...

The price of the tail door handle has doubled in the last few years. You could buy them for about £120 5 years ago, but the price has been climbing ever since.

I got lucky with mine three or four years ago. The car was in for it's MOT and the tester broke the handle so they replaced it for free.

I've repaired them with cheap epoxy and strong silicone sealant. Both worked fine

Not an answer to a wrecked one but on my general maintenance schedule ("I'll do it when I can"), I pop the door handle off in the summer, wash the gasket, give it a good check over and lard every accessible component with Waxoil, so much that it squeezes out when I nip the nuts up. So far, no appreciable corrosion and it only takes half an hour.

DevonGuy said:

I pop the door handle off in the summer, wash the gasket, give it a good check over and lard every accessible component with Waxoil

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That is devotion if ever there was!!!!!

andyfreelandy said:

That is devotion if ever there was!!!!!

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Nooo mai ansum. Us Deb'n boys be not mean but us'd ruther zpend uzs foldin ont beer laike proper volks!

Jayridium said:

As part of my winter preparations I decided to replace the ropey perished and split door handle gasket, and because the seal had failed the nuts were rusted to the studs, but living in Scotland I'm no stranger to rusted fastners, yet I still managed to snap a couple of the studs from their plastic. Initially I thought, not a problem, I'll buy a new one, if I order it sharpish I'll have it for the weekend...

...Then I seen the (list) price...
£270
Yup, you read that right... Two Hundred and Seventy Pounds...

Really?

Like; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??

What is the damned thing made of? Tusks of an exotic variant of Heffalump? Some interstellar paste comprising of dark matter suspended in a glue of melted down Extra-Terrestrial beings toenail clippings? Distilled ink pigment from an extinct subspecies of octopus?

I'm guessing that given how brittle they are, it must be the tusks, but none of those options wouldn't warrant a £270 list price for a stupid lump of plastic. Sure, you can get the lookie likey ones for a third of that price, and even the allegedly genuine ones but still, £90 for a silly little lump of plastic?

Had it been half of that, as in the £90 = £45, my debit card would be a little bit bruised and my freelander feeling a bit pampered, but no, £40 gets you a fecked up used one covered in green slime, lemme think abou.... NAW!!!

So yeah, I'm spitting bullets, and I'll do some jiggery-pokery with some M6 nuts, bolts, washers and 2 part epoxy paste nae doubt making for an abotchination of a thing, that thankfully will be hidden on the inside/underside of the handle.

I'm now scared to look to see how much a decent 5 door courtesy light will be to replace the tatty one I recently grafted into my three doors roof-lining as its switches are water damaged.

Click to expand...

That's hilarious!!
Excellent writeup.
Whatever it is you do for a living, if doesn't involve you going to the bank with a wheelbarrow to collect the proceeds of literary work or comedy production, then you're certainly missing your calling!!

Bought one for mine about four years a go it wasn’t a genuine one but it was brand new cost about £90