I know it's not that big of a deal...but I offered to let my friend drive my V-8 car yesterday and he needed to pull the seat up a bit...and he grabbed the pot metal handle and pulled up on it like some fricken latch on a WWII submarine....pop...there it was in his hand...all freshly powder coated and gleaming in the sunlight...I told him I had another one in the basement and that it wasn't a big deal. I searched everywhere this morning and cannot find one that hasn't cracked off already. (anyone have one?) I may have to go back to the "No one drive's my car" rule again.

Passengers can do that too. (unless you have an early car)

Whenever I get some "newbie" to my cars I look 'em in the eye and tell 'em this, "This [Porsche 914 or VW Squareback] is an old car. You don't need to slam the doors shut. Anything you can adjust, for example, a window crank, you do so gently and smoothly. If you feel resistence or it stops, you stop and don't try to force it, because you'll break it and you don't want to know how much replacement parts cost."

Short, to the point, but let 'em know to be gentle

Sorry about the breakage but at least that is common (happened to both of my teeners...by ME ) and there's an after-market replacement for it

It was dumb for Porsche/VW to make that part out of pot metal. Honestly, you don't need the handle. I just pull up on the tab underneath.

When I started dating James ten years ago he let me drive his car once and that was the first thing I did. I had to adjust the seat and the thing snapped right off.

Hiedi

Wasn't someone looking into making these handles out of aluminum?

I did that to my perfect handles.. then I tried to weld it... HA!

To be honest, someone needs to make a replacement..

Same thing happens when someone gets in and pulls the door closed like it is the door of a bank vault and just about pulls it thru the car.

OMG and he married you still? You broke a part in his 914 and he married you!!!

You must be hot!

Just kidding. except about the hot part of course....

i have a way to prevent this from happening...(for non-914-ers)

friend: "can i drive your car?"

me: "get anywhere near my car and you will lose the capacity to reproduce. want a beer?"

I haven't had one on the drivers seat since I got it. I just push up on the metal tab to move the seat.
Had a passenger break the window winder on the passenger side. Said passenger bought and replaced it.

URY914,

I know how you feel. I hate it when somebodey jumps in my car and they slam the door as if it is a 67 Fleetwood!!!!!!!!!!!!

I usually worry about the outer door handles. Some people really grab those and pull hard to open the door quickly. I cringe every time that happens.