No shame in fixing up your car in creative ways. I've use a similar method to reattach the air dam of my 2001 Saturn SL1. The springs that normally hold the air dam together rusted and broke, so I used a large zip tie to keep it held together. So far, so good.

Good on you for sticking with the old car. Not paying car payments is great and not paying insanely high insurance payments is another plus.

My Saturn is at 250k+ miles and I plan on riding it til the wheels fall off. Then I'll just zip tie the wheels back on.