Sun Visor Mounting Bezel Issues
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,103
Likes: 472
From: Newark Delaware
Sun Visor Mounting Bezel Issues
I replaced my sun visors about 3+ years ago with reproductions from a forum vendor. They have been fine but last week, both came off in my hands within two days of each other. The triangular tabs on the mounting bezels (in pic below the arrow is pointing at one of the tabs) disintegrated and the visors just fell when I was flipping them down so I could latch (or unlatch) the top on my '99 convertible.
It appears that the plastic in those parts has a practical life of just under 4 years. It does not appear that these pieces can be ordered from anyone separately - you have to order an entire new visor. I do have my OEM visors so I do have these pieces. However, these are the originals and 16 years old so I expect that they, too, may be a bit brittle.
I have inquired with the vendor if this is a known problem (i.e., the plastic tabs breaking down after a certain amount of time). I have not received any response yet so I am not mentioning the name to give the vendor time to respond. I want to know if this problem has been addressed/resolved so that I can make a decision about whether to buy another set of reproduction visors. I won't buy these from this vendor again or from anyone selling visors from the same supplier unless I have some assurance this defect has been addressed. I don't want to have to replace them every four years when it is just a simple plastic part that has failed when the rest of the visor is still good.
Has anyone else experienced this same failure on replacement visors after such a relatively short period of time? Mine is garage kept although the visors do get flipped up and down every time the top is raised or lowered.
Also, for those that have installed reproduction visors, how have they held up? If they have been installed for longer than mine were (i.e., 4 years or more), are the mounting bezels still solid? If so, who supplied them/where did you get them?
On the other hand, I am enjoying the unobstructed view without visors. I drove it this way for a few weeks back when I removed the OEMs and before installing the reproductions. Of course with visors you rarely need them, but when you do need them, you really need them.
K9Leader
Red cars are faster. They did a study on it.
It appears that the plastic in those parts has a practical life of just under 4 years. It does not appear that these pieces can be ordered from anyone separately - you have to order an entire new visor. I do have my OEM visors so I do have these pieces. However, these are the originals and 16 years old so I expect that they, too, may be a bit brittle.
I have inquired with the vendor if this is a known problem (i.e., the plastic tabs breaking down after a certain amount of time). I have not received any response yet so I am not mentioning the name to give the vendor time to respond. I want to know if this problem has been addressed/resolved so that I can make a decision about whether to buy another set of reproduction visors. I won't buy these from this vendor again or from anyone selling visors from the same supplier unless I have some assurance this defect has been addressed. I don't want to have to replace them every four years when it is just a simple plastic part that has failed when the rest of the visor is still good.
Has anyone else experienced this same failure on replacement visors after such a relatively short period of time? Mine is garage kept although the visors do get flipped up and down every time the top is raised or lowered.
Also, for those that have installed reproduction visors, how have they held up? If they have been installed for longer than mine were (i.e., 4 years or more), are the mounting bezels still solid? If so, who supplied them/where did you get them?
On the other hand, I am enjoying the unobstructed view without visors. I drove it this way for a few weeks back when I removed the OEMs and before installing the reproductions. Of course with visors you rarely need them, but when you do need them, you really need them.
K9Leader
Red cars are faster. They did a study on it.
