Falling apart....

[jonjon]

I've only had my car for 6 weeks, and the cover of the left rear view mirror fell off in my hand after unfolding the mirror tonight. wth! The car seems so fragile.......I'm going to go to the dealership and complain about it.

Has any one experienced anything similar?

[hooba]

I'm the first to post after 95 views. The only complaint my wife has had is that her door "feels like a bank vault".

I'd say your experience is an uncommon occurrence, and I'd hope that your dealer will rectify and get you back to enjoying the car.

[blanch0b]

yea that has to be extremly rare... what other parts of the car seem fragile to you jonjon (u say the sentance "the car seems so fragile" - is that based on that one occurance or other things?)

the entire chassis on my car feels incredibly strong so if anything is lose or feels weak id get them to check that out too....

[Tim]

if thats the only thing thats fallen off so far then youre doing ok!

[Maverick]

I've only had my car for 6 weeks, and the cover of the left rear view mirror fell off in my hand after unfolding the mirror tonight. wth! The car seems so fragile.......I'm going to go to the dealership and complain about it.

Why/how were you unfolding the mirror? Assuming you're talking about the painted cover this requires a fair bit of force to remove so have the clips been broken? Or has the mirror been hit (hence the question about why you're unfolding it). Moving the mirrors takes a fair bit of force so if you've been just holding onto the painted cover to do this that could explain why it came apart, the black part on the bottom is a lot more solid for moving the mirror on a regular basis.

Has any one experienced anything similar?

No but what else has broken on your car to back up your wild assertion that your car is falling apart?

[G-rig]

That's very rare, never heard of that before..

[Idle]

Soon after I picked up my Mk6 TDI (wanted to see how much space it saved, which proved to be too little to be worth the effort), I folded the left mirror — when it snapped back into its locating slot again the glass fell out.

I was surprised just how flimsy the assembly behind the glass is — since then I've approached it with caution.

Fortunately the glass wound up dangling from the heater wire and didn't smash on the concrete.

OT, but relevant to mirrors, I hate the way the outside mirrors tell you lies — what looks to be far enough away to change lanes on can be just behind your elbow.

Time was, convex mirrors were banned here (for good reason IMHO — I regularly switch from convex to flat and it's thoroughly confusing. Even more so than remembering which side the indicators are on when I swap vehicles, and probably more dangerous.)

I'm seriously considering having some flat glass cut for the VW.

[hooba]

Be grateful that you haven't bought a 458 Italia.

Ferrari Flambé: Italian Automaker Probes 458 Italia Fires, Blames Drivers

/attempt to lighten up the mood in this thread

[TazzyVR6]

Be grateful that you haven't bought a 458 Italia.

Ferrari Flambé: Italian Automaker Probes 458 Italia Fires, Blames Drivers

/attempt to lighten up the mood in this thread

Makes a mirror falling off look a little trivial eh...

[MkVIGTI]

I've folded my mirror quite a few times now and have no problems with them

[Maverick]

Soon after I picked up my Mk6 TDI (wanted to see how much space it saved, which proved to be too little to be worth the effort), I folded the left mirror — when it snapped back into its locating slot again the glass fell out.

I was surprised just how flimsy the assembly behind the glass is — since then I've approached it with caution.

The assembly behind the mirror isn't flimsy at all so I have no idea how you come to that conclusion. As for the glass coming loose it's very well clipped in and can't come out unless it's been given a good yank so it must have been loose (but would have fallen out during normal driving), it's been damaged (clip snapped or similar) or you were really rough.

OT, but relevant to mirrors, I hate the way the outside mirrors tell you lies — what looks to be far enough away to change lanes on can be just behind your elbow.

I'm seriously considering having some flat glass cut for the VW.

Good luck with that. You'd be better off ordering a LHD glass for that mirror and it would be substantially cheap and would work.

[MurphyTheElf]

Earlier this year while squeezing into a turning lane past a stationery ute, my left side mirror smacked hard (I was doing 40-50kmh) into the ute's aluminium tray and folded against the door. When I pulled over to assess the damage, I was surprised to find nothing more than a smudge on the plastic cowling, which I've since buffed out. Flimsy? Hardly.

I actually have a bad track record with side mirrors. I'm very good at judging the width of my car within an inch or two, but I always forget to account for the side mirrors. I smashed the glass of my first car's side mirror on a wheelie bin by the side of the road in 1997, and then clashed mirrors with a parked EF Falcon in 1999 - that cost me $160. No damage to mine. I then clashed the mirror of my girlfriend's car on another parked EF Falcon in 2008 while avoiding an oncoming car not giving me enough room - that one cost me $200. Again, no damage to her car.

[REXman]

I'm very good at judging the width of my car within an inch or two, but I always forget to account for the side mirrors.

Yeah that usually helps.. hahaha I had to laugh when I read that man!

Good news with the side mirror though. Nice to know the cars are made tough!

[dave_r]

I actually have a bad track record with side mirrors. I'm very good at judging the width of my car within an inch or two, but I always forget to account for the side mirrors. I smashed the glass of my first car's side mirror on a wheelie bin by the side of the road in 1997, and then clashed mirrors with a parked EF Falcon in 1999 - that cost me $160. No damage to mine. I then clashed the mirror of my girlfriend's car on another parked EF Falcon in 2008 while avoiding an oncoming car not giving me enough room - that one cost me $200. Again, no damage to her car.

LOL must be a falcon thing! I had coloured bricks on the garage entry at the old place from 3 seperate frauds leaving the mirror paint behind. In once instance I smacked it so hard the whole cover popped off. Serves them right, rubbish cars.

[Corey_R]

Earlier this year while squeezing into a turning lane past a stationery ute, my left side mirror smacked hard (I was doing 40-50kmh) into the ute's aluminium tray and folded against the door. When I pulled over to assess the damage, I was surprised to find nothing more than a smudge on the plastic cowling, which I've since buffed out. Flimsy? Hardly.

Yeah - this is exactly correct. In fact, there's a video on YouTube from FutrellAutowerks on removing the Mirror Caps which shows you just how well put together they are.

The fact is, unless the mirror housing/glass has been pre-damaged (knocked in some way), or someone has really yanked at it hard and irresponsibly, there is no way either item is just going to "fall of into your hand".

This doesn't meant that you, the owner, has caused this damage. Some kid on a skate board may have barrelled into it and clobbered the mirror, and they've just pushed it back and rolled off cause it left no visible damage etc.


I find the overall tone of this thread rather negative, certainly a mirror cap falling off doesn't justify the response of "The car seems so fragile.......I'm going to go to the dealership and complain about it. "

So jonjon, please come back and answer peoples questions about what else has fallen off the car to justify this response, otherwise I think I'm just going to close the thread...