Name for a device purposefully put together from faulty parts
A tech jargon question: A friend thought he once heard a funny (?) jargon word for a device that was put together from faulty parts on purpose, maybe even with the very questionable intention to sell it as an online auction as "broken, but ready to get fixed by someone who knows a little electionics". If you were to buy the device, knowing typical failures and using good troubleshooting skills would not help you much because the device is pretty much a good-looking heap of junk sub-assemblies and has not failed for the reasons things usually fail.
Example: Someone has three bad laser printers of the same brand and model, and lucks out and is able to build two good ones from all the parts and sub-assemblies. Then, everything that's left is taken, being put together into a third, very broken printer and maybe even sold "as is" (very bad, of course), "with need to be fixed" (still bad, because someone intentionally sells junk and not just a device that went bad for just one reason), or "for parts salvaging" (still bad, because someone knowingly offers more bad parts than anybody could reasonably expect from the offer).
Now, ... what's the word for the junk device?
Any chance the word my friend is trying to remember was "diva" or something similar? As in its derogatory/slang meaning - good-looking but often useless - sometimes found with high-nosed personalities, and not limited to the original female context, but also heard when talking about male soccer stars.
Keeping to the popular use of automobile terminology, a lemon is something (usually a vehicle) the seller knows to be impaired but the buyer believes to be good.
How about a shiny turd, or polished turd ?
(I've heard both variants, while living in the UK. First one is more common.)
Looks good on the outside, inside is another matter.
cut and shut
I suggest you adopt the terminology that is used for cars. This is the term used in the UK. I'm not certain about US terminology.
A ‘cut and shut’ car is one of the biggest dangers to a car buyer. A cut and shut consists of two or more cars welded together. Usually, this happens when a car is damaged enough to be written off by insurers and is patched together with another car to hide the damage.
They are incredibly dangerous because the structural integrity of the car has been altered and can be a deathtrap if it is involved in a collision.
http://www.perrys.co.uk/car-news/buyers-guides/guide-checking-a-car-for-signs-of-cut-and-shut/