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Wing Mirror Glass
Furyous - 8/2/15 at 11:23 PM

I recently lost the wing mirror glass for my Holden Astra. Not a problem, I thought. I'll just go to the parts shop and get a replacement. So I went to two Halfords style shops and a large autofactor chain. None of them supply any kind of wing mirror glass. Strange, I was sure you could get that kind of stuff off the shelf in the UK. So I went to a Holden dealership and was quoted $310! That's over £150! Just for the glass! The options I was given were either a scrap yard or an Autoglass windscreen type place who would cut a mirror to size for the bargain price of $170.

So I got home and checked ebay.co.uk where there is plenty of choice, and the going rate is £5-10. There's even an entire wing mirror housing for £35. I've ended up buying the glass for £21 delivered all the way to NZ.

Can someone confirm my thinking that wing mirror glass is easy to buy in the UK?

bart - 9/2/15 at 01:27 AM

Yep !
Easy just about every car accessories shop or parts place
Got yourself a good business opportunity there bud

Slimy38 - 9/2/15 at 09:10 AM

I once got a bit close to a car and my wing mirror got the brunt of it. Unfortunately as it was powered, heated, etc I was getting quotes of £300 ish for a replacement. When I looked closer, I found the outer shell had just come unclipped and the internal glass had shattered. A bit of brute force and £19.95 for a replacement glass and it was sorted!

Bog standard mirror glass is less than a tenner, mine was heated and powered so it cost a bit more but still a fraction of a new unit.

I guess us Brits clip our wing mirrors a lot more than you lot down under!

rusty nuts - 9/2/15 at 06:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38


I guess us Brits clip our wing mirrors a lot more than you lot down under!


That's probably due to the lack of traffic in NZ,

Furyous - 9/2/15 at 07:10 PM

It did cross my mind that I should buy a dozen and sell them on. I checked TradeMe (ebay equivalent) and there was just a handful of mirrors for German cars at $80. That would still be a £20 profit on each one.

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
I guess us Brits clip our wing mirrors a lot more than you lot down under!



You should see some of the wrecks on the road here. Cars hold their value very well because of no insurance requirements, relatively slack testing, and a smaller amount of cars available. In the UK a dent pretty much writes off a cheaper car but here it would still be worth a few thousand. In the UK if you're shopping and find a dented car you just move onto the next hundred to choose from.

I was back in the UK last October and it was so refreshing to see such tidy cars, and all less than about 15 years old.