Replacing Wing Mirror

Pont

Last night my elderly neighbour had her wing mirror (passenger side) smashed by a couple of s^&*s. She's really upset and worried about the cost of replacing it. I've assured her that it's easily sorted - gulp! I've told her that the glass is probably about a tenner (?). She is now under the impression that I'll get it sorted - which is fine - if I knew what to do. I've priced up the glass on Ebay which suggests that it is double sided sticky. Is this right, or possibly a bodge job?

mikey72

I've had a few, they stick well, and if you get it right first time (you don't get a second time) they look good.
May not defrost quite as quickly, but you can't really notice unless you know.

vaio

Depends on the car but they generally have the glass stuck to a backing plate which then clips to the mirror mechanism.

Repairing, you have two options, either stick a new one on top of the old one or remove the old one and fit a new one complete with backing plate. If it's heated only the second option will work as the wires need to be connected to the back of the glass.

CAR-PARTS-MARKET <robertpenzance@yahoo.co.uk> have done a couple for me, they sell on ebay and were the cheapest

ali-t

Does it not depend on the car. I was £350 to replace mine on a honda as it was the whole mirror casing that came off. It had the indicators on it, was electric and was heated too which is probably why it was so expensive. Is it just the glass that is smashed, does the rest of the functions work ok?

Pont

At first glance it seems like it's only the glass that has shattered (it's a Vauxhall btw). My neighbour is really worried about the cost but I reassured her it was only about £10 for the replacement glass and that I would fix it for her. Of course I have no idea if I can do it easily or not! I thought that if I could remove the shattered glass and stick the new glass on top it would be OK.

neilmcl

Is it heated, electric, make/model of car etc?

mikey72

I've used them with no problem on heated mirrors, with the glass shattered into a lot of pieces, so long as there is enough left to stick the new one to, they still defrost ok. Only remove the loose glass, if it's stuck, leave it on to stick the new one to.

cyclonebri1

As sais it is a simple job, if you don't want to buy of the net try Halfords and follow the instructions on the pack.

Make sure you buy the right handed one, or left if you see what I mean

Ebe_Scrooge

If it turns out that you need to replace the whole mirror unit, rather than just stick on a new piece of glass, you should be able to get a second-hand mirror from a scrapyard. If it involves wiring up electrics ( e.g. if it's heated or electrically adjustable ), then a Haynes manual will prove useful. No need to buy a manual for a one-off job, just ask your local library to order one in for you and borrow it for a couple of days.

It shouldn't be a difficult job, and won't cost too much.

As above, if you can get away with a stick-on replacement glass then that should be fine.