I made the move down to Tucson a couple weeks ago for college, and brought the Z with me. It had been in a parking garage for a few days when a bunch of us decided to go out to dinner. Well, we're getting in the car and this girl pulls on the lever that makes the seatback go up and down, thinking it will flip the seat forward (like veryone does, basically). I watched her do it; she didn't pull that hard, but the lever broke off in her hand! And then I get in the car, shut the door and notice that the plastic panel that surrounds the panel with the window/door switches, etc. is cracked too!

Why is all the plastic in my car breaking all of a sudden? Is it just because of the climate down here or something? Its not like I'm leaving it out in the sun for extended periods of time or anything. Also, can I replace just that black panel around the window switches (driver's side) without replacing the whole door panel? Same goes for the seatback lever, can I fix that easily as well?

Sorry for the long post, I'm kinda pissed about this...

 

yes you can replace to just the window switch panel. Just use a screw driver and the old one will pop right out.

 

No not the actual panel that has the window switches, sorry. It's the panel surrounding that panel, that forms part of the armrest, contains the door pull and lock, etc...

 

If you are talking about the part with the door handle and the orange lock ****. Then yes you can replace it.

 

Yeah, that is the part I was talking about. Thanks for the info!