Smashed wing mirror

[keiron99]

I ran into a branch hanging off a tree and cracked the housing on the passenger side wing mirror. Dammit. See attached. In fact it has knocked a hole in it.

Now, I'm going to ask Lexus about a replacement but I know it will be an arm and a leg.

But I can't help thinking this could be a relatively straightforward repair for a body shop? Couldn't they plug the hole and fill and respray?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

PS I have taped over the hole in the meantime as I assume there are some electrical gubbins in there, all of which, fortunately, appear to be working OK.

[Britprius]

I would class that hole as an easy DIY repair with a small fiberglass repair kit, and a spray can of matching paint. Materials would cost less than £20.

John.

[The-Acre]

I agree, I'm sure that can be repaired.  Clearly better than repairing the even larger hole that Lexus would put in your pocket!

[soramad]

This is the way I have done repairs when the pieces were not available to glue back in.

Take out the glass, remove the screws holding the motor unit , let it dangle on the wires if there is no connector handy , tape some oiled/greased , grease proof paper over the outside of the hole , use some fibre glass resin  to blend in and fill the hole from the inside allow to harden remove the tape and repeat the process on the out side, blend in the contours of the mirror case by adding layers of body filler, sand to a smooth finish , blending into the surrounding paint work cover with primer, smooth with 1500/2000 grade wet and dry abrasive paper , repeat until smooth finish is obtained , spray with final colour until you are satisfied with final finish , use abrasive between coats if you get runs or am not happy with the finish as is.

[Britprius]

Time for action, and not words. This morning an unlucky pigeon and my door mirror had a collision at about 50 mph "probably more like 70 when you add the speed of the pigeon". The result is in the picture below. Damage is more than it looks in the picture but at leased I have all the pieces,

John

[keiron99]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to see you suffered a similar fate Britprius :(

Fixing this myself is just beyond me. I could perhaps do the filling but no way could I make a decent job of the painting.

I've had a quote of £197 plus VAT from Lexus to replace it, and £140 inc VAT from a local body shop to repair it.

Is there a possible downside to getting it repaired (and saving £100)?

 

[cruisermark]

Seeing the difference is £50 I would replace it

[steve2006]

12 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Seeing the difference is £50 I would replace it

Difference is nearly £100.00 as one is plus VAT and the other including.

£140.00 still seems excessive for the repair, does this include them removing and refitting the mirror and the associated risk of breaking the glass?

You may also find the broken piece inside the housing as I would assume it was pushed through which would make the repair easier.

[cruisermark]

ah ok

[GSLV6]

The cracks can be glued with Q-Bond, a mix of reinforcing carbon powder with a sort of superglue than many bodyshops use on plastic repairs.

Personally, I'd use a glass fibre kit in the inside, then fill the gap from the outside in layers using P38 2-part car body filler.  Once done, it can be smoothed and then the whole wing mirror rubbed down (you'll never blend that in) and re-primed and re-sprayed.  It needs to be water based base coat as acrylic tends to crack with any flexure on plastics.  The top coat is a lacquer.  I've done minor repairs in the past this way.  It's time consuming but will likely save you £100 or so over a replacement.  You can get the paint from Lexus if you ask  or a car body repair shop but be aware, its about £40/litre and some only sell it in litre pots.

[Britprius]

The paint is available in large aerosol cans freshly mixed to the paint code for your car. The can comes with two spray heads one fan horizontal or vertical, and the other round. At under £10 per can.

They supply in base coat, and clear lacquer "lacquer extra" or in gloss finish "needs no lacquer". The companies name is "Romart" at 8 Providence St Lye, Stourbridge  01384 891281.

You can order all refinishing products, and they will supply by return post.

I have nothing to do with this company other than buying there products for many years.

John.

[GSLV6]

Great resource John, thanks for sharing. Sounds like a very economical solution to the paint.

[Britprius]

41 minutes ago, GSLV6 said:

Great resource John, thanks for sharing. Sounds like a very economical solution to the paint.

Romart sell just about everything for car repair refinishing. The paint matching is superb making small area body repairs very do able. There is enough paint in an aerosol to paint easily a complete front or rear bumper. They also do primer undercoat for plastics, bumpers, mirrors ect.  

John