Falling apart....

[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...

[blanch0b]

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.

Where abouts in perth do you live Murphy (i need to know which suburbs to avoid!)

[jonjon]

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...

I guess i did overreact to it, but i'm quite disappointed with what has happened. It has never happened to other vehicles I've owned, and certainly didn't expect it from a VW. However, I am certainly not conveying a negative tone about VW vehicles in general with my post because I still believe they are good quality vehicles. I posted this to see if anyone else has experienced same/similar things because I believe its very rare for something like this to happen. Certainly, your reaction would be different if I told you my door handle came off.

No, nothing else has fallen off, but the fact that I've only folded my mirrors half a dozen times over the last 6 weeks, and the other night it just magically came off in my hand without any effort would naturally make you feel like my car 'seems' fragile.....it does make u wonder what else could come off without much effort?

Oh and I forgot to mention that it was also pouring down that night. I was concerned that the electrical wiring behind the mirror would get drenched in the rain. Unfortunately, it didn't pop back in as easily as I hoped, and ended up having to secure it with sticky tape. Seriously, tell me you wouldn't be peed off.

Anyway, i didn't mean to come across sounding like the car 'is' fragile and everything else has fallen apart, it just 'seems' fragile after that incident. I still think I have a right to complain to the dealer, given its something you wouldn't expect to come off like that. I guess the most they'll do is pop it back in (which is what i'm having trouble doing).

[Maverick]

I guess i did overreact to it, but i'm quite disappointed with what has happened. It has never happened to other vehicles I've owned, and certainly didn't expect it from a VW. However, I am certainly not conveying a negative tone about VW vehicles in general with my post because I still believe they are good quality vehicles. I posted this to see if anyone else has experienced same/similar things because I believe its very rare for something like this to happen. Certainly, your reaction would be different if I told you my door handle came off.

Why would the reaction be different for a door handle coming off? I don't recall seeing anyone have this problem. You should really lower your unrealistic expectations, no car manufacturer makes a car without faults and yes your post was overly negative towards VW vehicles and still is.

No, nothing else has fallen off, but the fact that I've only folded my mirrors half a dozen times over the last 6 weeks, and the other night it just magically came off in my hand without any effort would naturally make you feel like my car 'seems' fragile.....it does make u wonder what else could come off without much effort?

Oh and I forgot to mention that it was also pouring down that night. I was concerned that the electrical wiring behind the mirror would get drenched in the rain. Unfortunately, it didn't pop back in as easily as I hoped, and ended up having to secure it with sticky tape. Seriously, tell me you wouldn't be peed off.

I wouldn't be peed off at all, it's one of those things that happens.

If the mirror is that hard to clip back into place doesn't it stand to reason that it's just as hard to unclip in the first place? If the mirror came off without any effort it's because someone or something has dislodged it so it has nothing to do with build quality.

The mirror and it's electrics are designed to be able to get wet without harm.

Anyway, i didn't mean to come across sounding like the car 'is' fragile and everything else has fallen apart, it just 'seems' fragile after that incident. I still think I have a right to complain to the dealer, given its something you wouldn't expect to come off like that. I guess the most they'll do is pop it back in (which is what i'm having trouble doing).

Considering it's not the dealers fault I don't see why you would complain to the dealer, why not just drop past, explain what happens and they'll have someone pop the mirror back in and 2 seconds later you will be on your way. Or you could look at any one of the howto guides on the internet which tell you how to do it.

[Brian]

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

Ive had to unfold my mirrors a few times after careless pedestrians have bumped them in the car park. Never broken anything though

[Corey_R]

I guess i did overreact to it, but i'm quite disappointed with what has happened. It has never happened to other vehicles I've owned, and certainly didn't expect it from a VW. However, I am certainly not conveying a negative tone about VW vehicles in general with my post because I still believe they are good quality vehicles. I posted this to see if anyone else has experienced same/similar things because I believe its very rare for something like this to happen. Certainly, your reaction would be different if I told you my door handle came off.

I would be annoyed or frustrated yes, but the fact that it wouldn't go back on easily indicates that it's not really that fragile is it. Something fairly significant has caused the housing to come off all its clips to then be lose enough that you could pull it off when you grabbed the cover.

But what is frustrating about this thread, is that it isn't titled "Mirror housing issues" or "Mirror cap fallen off" or anything about the actual issue at hand, it's titled "Falling apart...."

And then in the first post you have your comment on "The car seems so fragile.......I'm going to go to the dealership and complain about it. "

This isn't just an issue with this thread. This has been occurring a lot in the MK6 forum recently. There are too many overly negative / blown out of proportion threads and posts in this forum. Too much of mine and the other volunteer's time is spent having to "edit thread titles" to change them from "the entire car is faulty" to the exact small issue it is, and often just merging them into other existing threads for that issue.

So since this thread is called "falling apart", and the car (nor anyone elses) is actually doing that, the topic is now closed.