Broken driver's wing mirror- MOT failure?

travel_freak

Hi there,

Some kind person smashed into my wing mirror on the driver's side (and drove off without stopping - great!! - what a schmuck!). Anyway, the mirror itself is cracked in a few places. Halfords say a new one is about £45 which I can't really afford to spend at the moment. However the MOT is up soon so my question is will this count as a failure? Also, does anyone know whether it would be possible just to replace the mirror itself (or stick another mirror on top?) rather than replacing the whole unit?

I'd be really grateful for replies to these questions.

Regards,

waster_2

I assume when you say mirror you mean what is normally referred to as the glass?

What are Halfords saying costs £45? The glass or the whole mirror unit? You can normally just buy the glass. It sticks to the metal backing plate with double sided sticky tape. If the mirror door assembly is OK you should just be able to buy the glass. Normally these are under a tenner. Halford sell these - either off the shelf for popular cars or on otherwise on order. The hard part of fixing the new glass is picking all of the old glass off the metal backing plate.

What car have you got? There are lots of parts specialist out there, especially for European and Japenese cars, that will probably sell the glass if you cannot get it from Halfords (or want to see if you can get it cheaper?).

With reagrds the MOT; if the glass is dangerous then it would constitute an MOT failure if the tester is doing his job properly. However, from recollection you only need two rear view mirrors, so if your internal mirror and nearside door mirror are OK there should be no problems if the off side mirror is in a safe condition.

IvanOpinion

Alternatively try a breakers yard ... should be much cheaper

As a safety issue you are better getting it replaced irrespective of whether or not it is needed to pass MOT.

Ivan

wazza

regarding mot i always thought you should have a fully functioning rear view and drivers door mirror

if you have problem locating a mirror or a unit from scrappers then see if a family/friend has a similar car. simply swap it with his for mot. this will give you time to locate another unit

Chester_Draws

I had a similar problem.

Official answer from tester at MOT station:

Do I need an exterior mirror?
Only if your vehicle was first used on or after 1 August 1978 when an exterior mirror is required to be fitted to the offside (right-hand side when seated in the driver's seat). You can fail if the mirror is not clearly visible from the driver's seat, or incapable of being adjusted to be clearly visible from the drivers seat.

ohreally

As a point of interest it should no longer be considered a mirror if the glass is cracked.

micko2602

Loads of spare on ebay. Just enter your make and model in the search bar. Ive just picked up a switch off there for my car £40 +vat at dealers, £20 delivered off ebay.

Also look at https://www.eurocarparts.co.uk they may have one for you and reasonably priced too.

travel_freak

Thanks to all who replied - as ever really helpful tips/advice given. In answer to questions, the £45 was for the whole unit - at the time I didn't ask if just the glass could be replaced as I only thought about this possibility when I got home and I wasn't even certain this could be done. If I can save this money I'm certainly willing to sit and "pick" off the cracked bits. I can still see out of it but sometimes it kind of distorts things as the crack is down the middle as luck would have it!

The car is a Clio. I think firstly I'll try and get hold of the replacement glass and if that doesn't work then I'll try some of the other suggestions on here for picking up the unit cheaper than the price Halfords are quoting.

Thanks once again.

waster_2

At GSF the glass for a Clio (depends upon model) is available for £3.50 however, £4 postage unless there is one of their shops close to you - they have 46 branches? To check click on contact your local branch at top right of web page! If you have to pay postage, you may find it cheaper in Halfords than a total of £7.50?

Good luck.