Rear view mirror fell off and damaged windscreen - what now?

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

For the £50 excess on your insurance, I think I would.

But why? I wonder if it's been removed in the past, and superglued on - then expansion/contraction has weakened the glass?

It's very odd.

Thus spake snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

I think you'll probably find it'll constitute an MOT failure. I'd get it replaced pronto. Insurance should cover it without affecting your GF's NCB. It's a bit suss that the mirror took away a chunk of windscreen with it. In fact I'd venture to say that the windscreen glass gave way and took the mirror with it, rather than t'other way round, which doesn't say a lot for the likely strength of the windscreen as a whole.

Earlier this week the rear view mirror on my son's Ka fell off, as this problem appears to be pretty widespread across at all makes and models of vehicles it begs me to ask the question, is there any 'technical' reason why it appears to be now an impossibility to securely afix a rear view mirror by a couple of self tapping screws in the metalwork directly above the windscreen, just as in the old days?

It's cheaper & easier to glue them, and the glue probably fails less often than the screws shaking loose.

I would have wondered too, had I not seen the damage caused some years ago to my father-in-law's head when he was involved in a serious accident whilst driving a Morris Minor 1000.

Chris

Hardly an insurmountable problem with the decent fittings available in this day and age, so as you say, it's all down to cost.

Well it's difficult to see an advantage, they seem to fall of windscreens less often than they went all wabbly hanging from the roof.

Agreed, but back when virtually all fittings and mountings were made of steel or cast alloy, however I hardly think that an inch or so of plastic fitting coming down from the trim above the windscreen would present anywhere near the same kind of hazard, certainly one would suspect no worse than head butting a conventionally windscreen mounted rear view mirror.

Really, shake proof washers or bolts out of the question then?

Dunno what cars you've owned but I've never had one with a mirror glued to the windscreen that didn't eventually fall off and I've never had one with a mirror bolted above the windscreen, like my Focus, that caused any trouble at all. I know which method I prefer. Gluing things loosely to glass when there's an easy rigid alternative that also has no downside if the screen needs changing seems like a bloody stupid idea at the best of times.

No. But the time and cost of using two screws will bankrupt Ford.

She'll have given it an inadvertent clout. The glue was so effective that it pulled some of the interior glass laminate with it. I'd have a go at sticking the entire thing back with some rapid epoxy or WHY. It won't be an MOT failure. Don't change the windscreen for the sake of it, it's a PITA and always seem to occupy about 1/2 a day's worth of time....

Julian.

It's more than just the cost of the screws. Designing a car where you stick the mirror on almost as an afterthought, means one less complication when planning out the trim panel, interior light, header rail, etc. If they could get away with it, they'd probably glue the sun visors onto the screen too.

I'm failing to see the advantage. You could just glue it to the windscreen.

I don't think I can actually remember one I've owned falling off.

Well I don't think I've ever been in a old Escort where it didn't vibrate in an irritating fashion. Morris Marinas would be an unfair bit of point scoring...

T'wife's Mondeo mirror is currently sitting in the floor after about the third sticky pad gave up. We had the same problem with a Cavalier once after it had the screen replaced. It didn't seem to matter how careful you were about cleaning the glass, warming it, etc., they never stayed on for more than a month or so.

Yebbut _everything_ vibrated in them.

;-)

Im sure in my old Corsa when i had the windscreen replaced there was a little plastic blob moulded into the glass for the mirror to clip onto.

Tom

"DFA" Design for Asembly - it is easier to get a robot to position a mirror and glue it than to have one attach screws.