armstrongpiper Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I have just had to replace the nearside Door Mirror on my Tracker at a cost of about £300. The mirrors fitted to Motorhomes are extended arm units making the overall width of the vehicle 2.74M, or 8ft 11ins. The commercial Ducato chassis cab overall width is 2.508M, or 8ft 2ins. This extra 4.5ins a side makes the M/H very much more vulnerable to damage and seems to me unneccessary (go out and use a tape measure and you'll see that a mirror 4.5 ins closer to the side still would give good rear vision). Also, I could buy 2 short arm units for about £350. So next time (and I have no doubt that there will be a next time) I am tempted to replace both door mirrors and reduce my vulnerability. I would be interested to hear any comments on this idea, such as insurance/warranty implications. I think I will write to my insurance company (Caravanguard). Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 armstrongpiper - 2009-08-24 11:19 AM I have just had to replace the nearside Door Mirror on my Tracker at a cost of about £300. The mirrors fitted to Motorhomes are extended arm units making the overall width of the vehicle 2.74M, or 8ft 11ins. The commercial Ducato chassis cab overall width is 2.508M, or 8ft 2ins. This extra 4.5ins a side makes the M/H very much more vulnerable to damage and seems to me unneccessary (go out and use a tape measure and you'll see that a mirror 4.5 ins closer to the side still would give good rear vision). Also, I could buy 2 short arm units for about £350. So next time (and I have no doubt that there will be a next time) I am tempted to replace both door mirrors and reduce my vulnerability. I would be interested to hear any comments on this idea, such as insurance/warranty implications. I think I will write to my insurance company (Caravanguard). Neil B I find all this a bit strange, or am I missing something. My m/h is a coachbuilt and the rear bodywork is wider than the Fiat cab but width at the widest point is 2.24 mtrs excluding mirrors, so how is your cab 2.5mtrs or is their more than one Fiat x250 base. I to smashed a nearside extended arm mirror and a replacment with full electrics was £183.00, now this was six months ago but find it hard to believe they have gone up by that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Rupert, Yes you are missing something. The overall width, ie to the outside of the mirrors, on the Motorhome is 2.74 M, whereas that of the commercial cab is 2.5M. My point is that the mirrors on the commercial cab would have been OK on the Motorhome, too, and would be less vulnerable and cheaper to replace. nEIL b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I think the answer is relatively simple. The Tracker is not so much wider than the Ducato cab, and is relatively narrower than most other coachbuilt bodies. However, Autotrail presumably specifies the extended mirrors for all its vans, so that they have the greatest flexibility when selecting stock bases for conversion. Thus the narrower body gets longer than necessary mirrors, whereas a wider body with shorter mirrors would not give the legally required rear view.Answer: it probably would be feasible to replace the extended version with the shorter ones, but it would be wise to check how wide a body the standard Fiat mirrors can legally accommodate. This information should be available from Fiat, in relation to fitting box bodies to chassis/cab units.However, I'd be surprised if the quoted price differential is quite like for like. The standard jobs sound a bit like the non-electric, non-heated variety, possibly without the side repeater flashers incorporated? If they are, you'll need to up the spec, and possibly add suitable repeater flashers, and I'd guess the cost advantage will disappear like summer snow! On the bright side, bashing a mirror is a lot cheaper than bashing the side of the van, so having extended tactile collision sensors is not altogether a bad thing. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 armstrongpiper - 2009-08-24 12:54 PM Rupert, Yes you are missing something. The overall width, ie to the outside of the mirrors, on the Motorhome is 2.74 M, whereas that of the commercial cab is 2.5M. My point is that the mirrors on the commercial cab would have been OK on the Motorhome, too, and would be less vulnerable and cheaper to replace. nEIL b Fair enough Neil, misunderstood you, what about the price though might be worth checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Just fitted an offside mirror to mine (non electric/long arm) and it cost £134.80. I don't know where the£300 comes from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Just replaced the offside on my A/T Cheyenne (X250); damn white van man again! Full electric, cost £186 + VAT from County Motors, Carlisle. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Peter and Mike - are these prices for units only and self-fitting? Also, if Peter's van is X250, if no electric, how do side/indiator lights get their 12V?. My mirror cost was including fitting and VAT. Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave G Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Brian Kirby - 2009-08-24 2:47 PM On the bright side, bashing a mirror is a lot cheaper than bashing the side of the van, so having extended tactile collision sensors is not altogether a bad thing. :-) Loved the "extended tactile collision sensors" but hope I don't ever use mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Hello all, Some general info for you. All X250 mirrors come with repeater indicators and the necessary wiring. All but the most basic SWB panel van are fitted with electric operation and demisting (UK models). There are about 20 different versions of offside and nearside mirrors with 3 different lengths and various other wiring permutations depending on the cab options fitted. If you have climate control you will need a different mirror to if you have basic air con, and there are sensors in some mirrors that work with remote central locking, alarms and even the comfort-matic gearbox. The only way to make sure that you get the correct mirror is to remove the old one and check the part number because strangely the Fiat parts disc will not know which mirror you have even if you enter the chassis number. To complicate matters further, the part number on your mirror will have been superceded but the dealer will see which new part number is in use. Some of the longer arm variants with multi function antennae and that sort of thing are nearly £300+vat Clear as mud, no doubt. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Nick - thanks for that info - no surprise that there is a range of prices quoted by correspodents to the Forum then. I don't think I will be getting into the complications to change mirror sizes as my van is equipped with Comfortmatic, Air con etc. I will just have to be quick to fold mirrors in when necessary, ie if I get the chance even. The fact remains, though, that we are driving something around that is nearly 9 feet wide., and I thought that there was a maximum vehicle width limit on our roads of 8 feet. Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Hi Neil, Mine was purchase only, fitted it myself in less than an hour; brilliant instructions on a thread in this forum early July Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Some clot bashed our offside mirror when he cut a corner turning into the road we were waiting to exit (we were stationary at a T junction) :-S The mirror was ok but the housing was split and open so a new unit was called for. Cost just over £235 plus VAT - plus fitting - 1.5 hours quoted @ £32 per hour.( That was the body shop price of the same dealer where the van is currently in for service, which interestingly charges £55 per hour!) We are not surprised at a cost of over £300 being spoken of and we're just glad it wasn't the nearside mirror containing the aerial. *-) As Brian said, at least it was a mirror not the bodywork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.