Finally got my new car a few days before Christmas. A Mazda 3.

Still got my 2019 Fiesta ST-Line X 140 which is a lease car so due to be returned soon.

Hadn't driven it for a few weeks so I decided to take it up the road to make sure the battery had some charge in it, and put in a bit of petrol for the collection driver.

Had kept that car in absolutley pristine condition  for the past 3 years +, not a swirl in the paint or even a slight scuff on any of the wheels.

Just 1/4 mile from home driving at 20mph up a hill, some pillock in a white car came flying down the hill and ran wide onto my side of the road and wiped out the drivers door mirror.

They didn't stop of course and by the time I'd found somewhere safe to turn round they'd vanished. 🤬

Now I've got all the hassle of getting it fixed plus the cost.

The law of S*d, my very last journey in the car☹️

 

One reason I always have a dashcam.

And to make it even more annoying I had forgottten I'd transferred my dashcam to the new car, otherwise I would have had the evidence.

 

31 minutes ago, Blatto said:

And to make it even more annoying I had forgottten I'd transferred my dashcam to the new car, otherwise I would have had the evidence.

Had the same thing happen a couple of years ago.  Front wing got side swiped by a van veering across my lane but had removed the dash cam ready for the new car a couple of days earlier. 🤦‍♂️

Fortunately it happened outside a fuel station with security cameras.  Asked them for footage, had to go through loads of security and GDPR stuff...then they told me the camera covering that location wasn't working anyway!

36 minutes ago, Blatto said:

And to make it even more annoying I had forgottten I'd transferred my dashcam to the new car, otherwise I would have had the evidence.

 

That must be ruddy annoying mate.

33 minutes ago, Blatto said:

And to make it even more annoying I had forgottten I'd transferred my dashcam to the new car, otherwise I would have had the evidence.

 

There goes sod's second law!

No chance of piecing it together so it looks vaguely intact I assume? It's surprising what these collection guys don't notice if they're in a hurry and/or don't care, and if they sign to say the car was ok when they collected it, you're off the hook.

I had a couple of instances where my company lease cars sustained damage caused by an unknown 3rd party when it was too late to do anything about it before return, so I'd resigned myself to my departmental budget taking the hit, but both times the guy missed it and signed off as ok.

1 hour ago, Bobr said:

That must be ruddy annoying mate.

Yeah ruined my day can't get it off my mind now. Annoyed at myself for forgetting to put the dash cam back in too.

56 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

There goes sod's second law!

No chance of piecing it together so it looks vaguely intact I assume?

No it's wiped out the outer casing and the indictor light that is built into the mirror. The folding mechansim and the mirror itself are still intact but all the wiring and heater/motors are exposed. Got it wrapped up in plastic bags to keep the rain off at the moment.

Was just gonna be  getting it all spruced up for the return. Now I'm not sure what's best to do.

If I try and get it fixed at the dealers I'm probably going to have to wait for them to get the part in the correct colour (magnetic grey) and then get it fitted.

They aren't open yet after the christmas break so that will mean having to take a day off work to get it repaired then another day off for them to collect it for return to lease company. That's likely to be in January now but my extended lease ends on 6th of Jan, after that I'll have to renegotiate another extended lease until it's fixed.

The other option I'm guessing might work  is to see if the lease company will take it back broken and then bill me for the repair. That's assuming they would be willing to drive it with a broken mirror (although it still functions as a mirror just the adjuster isn't working). The other question there is how much they would charge compared to me getting it fixed.

Reported it on the local police website but can't imagine anything will come of that as there is no proof.

Damned annoying end to a relaxing Christmas break. Was hoping to spend some time getting to grips with the new Mazda and getting the Fiesta all done and dusted before 2023.

Oh well such is life......

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Had the same thing happen a couple of years ago.  Front wing got side swiped by a van veering across my lane but had removed the dash cam ready for the new car a couple of days earlier. 🤦‍♂️

Fortunately it happened outside a fuel station with security cameras.  Asked them for footage, had to go through loads of security and GDPR stuff...then they told me the camera covering that location wasn't working anyway!

 

Life would be boring if it were too easy, or so I've been told.....

 

 

In circumstances like these, yes frustrating, but count your blessings  👍

7 minutes ago, williamweb said:

In circumstances like this, yes frustrating, but count your blessings  👍

Well yes, it could have been much worse. Nobody was hurt and it was only the mirror, but annoying and hassle and expensive.

 

If it is a matter of a casing and an indicator, buy those off eBay, and buy an aerosol of paint. Pay for express delivery and go from there. If the mirror won't adjust, so be it.

Yes, loads advertised on EBay from various sellers. Also companies like this on the web: https://www.wingmirrorman.co.uk/wing-mirror-covers/ford-wing-mirror-covers/ford-fiesta-wing-mirror-covers/ford-fiesta-2017-2021-wing-mirror-covers/ford-fiesta-hatchback-2017-2021-wing-mirror-covers

https://ultimatestyling.co.uk/ford-fiesta-wing-mirror-cover-drivers-side-rh-ult4532-mc

There have been several threads in the last 2/3 months on similar topics with various suppliers mentioned.

If using a primed part, as Anon suggests you could use an aerosol or a local smart paint repairer. I had a mirror cover for my wife's car painted by my local Chips Away franchise fairly recently after some fool (me😀) scraped the mirror on the garage wall and they did an excellent job.

There will be a supplier in your area who will make up an aerosol. I have achieved an undetectable match with metallics so they work. You will need a can of lacquer too. Cheapest will do. Expensive ones are very good but take all day to flat once they have hardened.

Working indoors, get the tin up to room temperature by placing it in lukewarm water, then REALLY shake it for the full two minutes. This is the key to success. Two LIGHT coats half an hour apart. A third if needed. Less is more. After an hour, lay down a very light coat of lacquer and another an hour later. Don't waste time sanding and messing about. Just spray light coats. leave it overnight, put it all back together.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys n gals. I've spoken to the lease company and they say they will only charge for parts not labour to fix it. Have sent them some pictures and they are going to come back with a quote for costs.

The problem with delaying much longer to get and fit parts is I'll have to keep paying for the Fiesta whilst it's in my posession. It should have gone back in October so I am already on an extended loan. I'd also need to take some time off work to fix it myself or to get it to the garage.

As long as their quote for fixing is reasonable I'm thinking that might be the easiest and possibly the cheapest option.

 

Sad to be leaving the Ford camp really, the Fiesta has been a great little car (as was my previous one). Plenty fast enough for me with the 140 engine and great handling too. Has been 100% reliable apart from two faulty dampers (started leaking after about 1 year) which were replaced under warranty. Been getting low 50's mpg on average which is quite important when you are doing about 20,000 miles a year.

The new Mazda is a 2 litre but more inclined to economy so is also quoted as low 50's mpg and so far it's doing about 50mpg (but it's relatively cool weather and it's not run in yet).

The Fiesta improved in mpg after about 7000 miles or so on the clock, so hopefully I'll be getting similar mpg to the Fiesta in about 4 months or so.

The one thing that will take some getting used to in the new car is the dash keeps telling me to change into 6th gear at 35mph, apparently it will do that quite easily but as I'm running it in at the moment and they advise not lugging the engine I'm staying in 5th at 35mph.

It will need a few more services than the Fiesta as it's a 12,500 interval but that will be offset a bit  by the fact that the tyres are cheaper for the Mazda.

Just have to hope some pillock in a Golf doesn't side swipe the Mazda now.

 

19 hours ago, williamweb said:

In circumstances like these, yes frustrating, but count your blessings  👍

Indeed. Could easily have been your brand new Mazda!

2 hours ago, Blatto said:

. I've spoken to the lease company and they say they will only charge for parts not labour to fix it.

That sounds pretty reasonable.

2 hours ago, Blatto said:

Just have to hope some pillock in a Golf doesn't side swipe the Mazda now.

 

Yep, keep everything crossed!

Hope you'll keep us updated with how you get on with the Mazda.

 

On 12/28/2022 at 5:05 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Hope you'll keep us updated with how you get on with the Mazda.

Yeah I'll still be hanging round these forums despite not having a Ford at the moment.

Put about 400 miles on the Mazda so far and it's shaping up to be a really good car. Build quality and interior are excellent..

Still running it in so taking it carefully (says 600 miles in the manual) so not sure how it's going to be performance wise.

Think it's needs to be kept on the boil a bit compared to the 140 ecoboost engine but I'm not taking it over 3500rpm yet.

So far it's indicating about 50mpg so pretty good for a 2 litre engine and I'm buzzing around towns more at the moment rather than my usual commute. I'm hoping for 55mpg + on my commute and maybe closer to 60mpg when the weathers warmer.

 

On 12/28/2022 at 3:41 PM, alanfp said:

Indeed. Could easily have been your brand new Mazda!

Yeah I'm getting panic attacks driving the Mazda at that spot now. It's a dodgy corner as people come flying down the hill too fast into a left hand bend and the road is fairly narrow, they run wide and it doesn't leave a lot of a margin for error.