These are the plugs that keep the handle from falling off.

The Koleos has roof grab handles that are held in place with springy metal clips that are themselves prevented by springing out by rectangular plastic plugs that plug into the handles. The only problem with that theory is that some individuals are heavy enough to pull the handles off anyway. I refitted the handle once but it came off again. In the process, the little plastic plug went flying off somewhere in the hospital carpark at the Wexton Centre. I did try looking for it but I couldn't find it. Anyway, the handle has been sitting around at home for the last month or two and I wasn't keen on having to pay for a replacement, given that you can bet that the plugs are not available on their own. I had the plug sitting around in my room for a while and finally sat down to make a replacement.

Every time I've sat down and twiddled the Vernier calipers in my hand I've been super unmotivated but today I did it. I opened up Blender, created a cube and started modelling.

I might be a little dense but it's taken me quite a while to figure out the essential elements of the design, which is simply a tongue of plastic that locks into the metal clip to stop it from squeezing inwards and popping free. The original design had a bunch of little mini knobs and whatnot. I copied the essential elements without bothering with the elaborations that I suspect are intended to save $0.001 per piece.

I printed out the finished solution at 100% infill and 0.12mm layer height in beige PLA and stuck it in the hole. It worked first time, so yay for that. Reinstalling the handle was as simple as refitting the metal clips, popping the handle into place and ramming home the plugs. Can't be sure of how robust the handle will be because it came off with the original hardware in the first place, but we will see.

I printed a second copy because I noticed that the front passenger handle was also missing a plug. The colour matching isn't perfect, because the handles are more grey than beige, but you don't see the plugs anyway. Overall I reckon the project came out pretty well. So there we are, the first of my 3D designs is now in service in the Koleos.