How to Prevent Side View Mirror Damage?

While automotive mirrors are an essential part of your vehicle’s visibility system, you likely don’t think about them often while you’re sitting in the driver’s seat unless they’re dirty or damaged. Side view mirror damage can cause unsafe and immediate complications with your regular driving routines. Despite the apparent seriousness of damaged side-view mirrors, many drivers don’t know how to approach this issue. We will try to discuss common problems with this topic and help you with the details about mirror replacement.

How Side Mirrors End up Damaged

When you think about damaged side mirrors, you likely imagine a narrow street, and hitting another car that’s going in another direction is the number one reason for damage. Close quarters in parallel parking spaces do account for many mirrors that snap, but mirror damage can occur due to a variety of other causes as well.

Common causes of side view mirror damage include:

•    Backing into or out of a tight parking space
•    Collisions, especially T-bone accidents
•    Leaving your car in a high-risk area
•    Driving too close to ATMs or drive-through windows
•    Pulling into parking spaces too quickly
•    Not paying attention while parking
•    Washing side view mirrors too roughly
•    Playing with power controls

These different causes can result in a range of damage types and severity. Incidents, where the mirror hits an object, tend to alter the position of that mirror to the vehicle and may break the glass or casing. There are other causes also. For example, excessive use of power controls or neglected maintenance of internal mechanisms could result in mirrors that do not move and therefore limited visibility.

Sometimes, while you wash your car minor collisions can happen like starching, shattering or distortion, or rendering, leaving your side mirrors inoperable.

When Side Mirrors Must Be Replaced

Side view mirror replacement can be to either of two services: replacing the entire mirror part, including the internal mechanisms, or replacing the mirror found in the casing.

The type of damage helps you determine which kind of replacement is necessary.

For example, any damage that affects the glass but does not prevent adjustment of the side view mirror to improve visibility does not require more than a mirror replacement.

Don’t be the guy/girl that thinks he/she can go down the road with two functioning rearview mirrors, cause this can cause more problems than it avoids.

If you notice one of the few things, you should bring your vehicle in for side mirror replacement:

•    Heavily cracked glass
•    Missing glass
•    Distorted glass and reflection
•    The side view mirror hangs down
•    The side view mirror is detached entirely
•    You cannot move the mirror at all

Not having a reliable side mirror can put you at risk.

Why Professional Mirror Replacement Is Important

Replacing the mirror is not an average DIY project. If there are issues with the power controls within the apparatus, replacing the mirror yourself could permanently disable these controls.

Don’t risk it cause DIY could also mess up your warranty on these components.