Mirror Mashed.... not a great day

[Rannsachair]

Driving along this morning on a 60 mph road and an oncoming van drifts over and hits my drivers side mirror. Happens in the dark, van does not stop and i get no details 😠

So I have popped the glass back in as it was not broken but the indicator lens in the mirror is broken and the mirror casing scuffed. So I have just ordered a second hand one of eBay (anyone swapped  a mirror before) - any difficulties changing?

I am thinking of getting a dash cam - though not sure if it would help as would not have shown the impact,,,,,,

[C Mclean]

You’d get a good bit of evidence on how close the other vehicle was with the wide field of view from most cameras.

[Britprius]

A dash cam would also have captured the number plate to trace the van.

John.

[Britprius]

I should also have said although a cam might not have caught video evidence it would have picked up the sound of the mirror being hit with the side of the van still in the picture through the screen.

John

[Rannsachair]

Managed to pick up a good second hand mirror the right colour off eBay. Came from Lithuania which was a concern but polished up like new.

Fitting was not too hard, I managed to find a video on how to remove the door card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5KYJ9JJZX0 just needed to be careful not to drop the nuts from the mirror inside the door.

So all good, just need to decide on a dashcam now 😀

 

[Barry14UK]

Great result.  It's surprising that so much stuff is available as spares in a comparatively small country.  I bought a later version of a BMW satnav from there some years ago which had recorded extensive journeys throughout Europe.  I didn't think much about it at the time and I am not casting aspersions now but one does wonder why/how so many parts become available for sale in Lithuania.

Interested to learn what dashcam you go for and how satisfied you are with it. 

 

[Herbie]

54 minutes ago, Barry14UK said:

one does wonder why/how so many parts become available for sale in Lithuania.

It is financially viable for them to come over here with a trailer to buy a scrap or damaged car and take it back there for stripping. We've seen many such cars on trailers on our drives around Poland too.

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, Rannsachair said:

just need to decide on a dashcam now

I've recommended this one below many times on here and other forums. This guy has reviewed about 50 or 60 dashcams and this is the one he chose to use in his own car, so if it's good enough for him.....

Actually, if you have an interest in any technology and/or gadgets, his other videos are well worth watching. Very informative and entertaining.

My own dashcam is a Viofo A119S (which is very similar to the Aukey one) because I hadn't seen the review before buying mine.

 

 

[Barry14UK]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

It is financially viable for them to come over here with a trailer to buy a scrap or damaged car and take it back there for stripping. We've seen many such cars on trailers on our drives around Poland too.

Interesting.  Have seen lots of stripped parts being transported in the past and was told these were going to Africa.  However, I suppose that with the relative high cost of indigenous labour in the UK now combined with high land values, it is more viable for this to be done in some other European countries which then enables individuals to buy them from abroad.  Some sites formerly of major UK breakers I know off have been sold off for redevelopment and there must be many others gone too. So good that used parts can be obtained.  The cost of buying new replacement parts from the likes of Lexus can make some otherwise good but older cars an uneconomical proposition. 

[Britprius]

Barry wait until cars with LED headlamps begin to to fail. With typical prices for a replacement being £850 a headlamp failure could mean the scrapping of a car in a few years time.

John.

[Lager shandy]

It will be the next thing moving on from cats headlights being nicked .vauxhaul corsa are having complete front ends nicked 

 

[Barry14UK]

John,

It's strange that you raised this because I was only thinking about this aspect recently. 

At one time there was the near universal (I think seven inch glass headlamp), sometimes incorporating a sealed beam  available from most motor factors.  This progressed to more shaped models where you could sometimes just replace the glass portion at reasonable cost.  But in modern times almost all manufacturers fit models and sometimes year specific cars with purpose designed acrylic or similar intricately formed headlights.  These may be a little more aerodynamic, blend better with the bodywork and perhaps be a little lighter than glass but at a very high price.  These all deteriorate over time, particularly so where left in the sun. Although they can be burnished and coated they cannot be brought quite to new appearance.  Then in some cases a combination of rays from the sun and internal heat causes the internal adjusters to break. I assume this arrangement  will apply to our cars as on my BMW E39.

Concerning this latter point , the situation is so bad that you can buy replacement adjusters either in a type of plastic again or pay more and get them in aluminium.  You can also buy pattern acrylic/plastic fronts from abroad.  Whilst at one time these bonded on fronts could be separated by putting the headlamp in an oven or parting them using a heat gun, Hella, who make the units for BMW, subsequently changed the glue to a type that doesn't melt at sufficiently low temperature making this much more difficult a conspiracy to make customers buy expensive complete new units?

I have not given this much though yet as regards my RX but it would be interesting to know whether members with older cars are able to get even pattern acrylic/plastic fronts and adjusters if the latter is applicable.

Agree the outrageous cost of new replacement headlights is likely to encourage thieves to steal

 

[Britprius]

Hi Barry.
I could not agree more with your observations.
I know it was some years ago now, but I remember the glass 7" headlamps that were fitted to most cars. At first these were made with replaceable bulbs, but were later made into sealed beam units that gave out a little more light. These sealed beams could be bought new for £1.50 each were available with a small window at the rear for inclusive side lamps, and took minutes to change with a Phillips screw driver "no removing the front end of the car as is common today" 
Sealed beams were also available in 5" diameter versions, and were sometimes mixed with 7" units to give a 4 headlamp setup or even as a 4 lamp setup using all 5" units as on the Triumph Vittesse.
I see little advantage with modern purpose made headlamps as the circular lamps could be made more aerodynamic by covering them with shields as with the Jaguar E type.

The cost of modern headlamp units is crazy often now becoming fashion items rather than functional requirements. A standard pattern headlamp with a light source of choice would reduce costs to both the manufacturers, and the consumers.

John.

[Rannsachair]

 I ended up getting a good deal on a Garmin 66W:. I managed to quickly tuck away most of the cable, will try for a neater installation when it is warmer out. The camera is magnetic mount and seems well made and very small.