thermidorthelobster Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I've managed to crack the plastic casing on the right hand wing mirror of my 2008 Fiat Ducato cab. It's the long-arm version. A replacement whole mirror is going to be around £180, because it's a heated, electric mirror. However, the heated electric part of the gubbins is still fine; it's just the casing that's the problem. Can I buy an unheated, non-electric long-arm mirror and transfer the giblets from my old one, thus saving quite a bit of cash? Or are the casings incompatible? Thanks! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I believe you can although I expect it requires a little bit of skill to work out the procedure. I am sure this came up a while ago on the threads so will see if I can find and if I do will post again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=22737&posts=56 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20627&posts=11 Try the above threads, 2nd one possibly. I shall let you read and see if any use to help you. As I said I am pretty sure you can swap over the covers and am sure someone else can confirm if you do not find in above links. I just do not want to say Yes you can and then you find paft you order cannot be. Also be aware by searching you can find cheaper sources for mirrors than the main dealers. They are identical (not copies) as only one company makes them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 I'm tempted to have a go at it for the saving; I can get a long-arm heated / electric mirror for about £170, but for just electric is half that, and manual should be even cheaper, although it seems they're not that easy to find. Although I might leave it until I wipe out the existing mirror altogether - don't want to install a new one and then ding it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Couple of things that might be worth exploring. You say cracked the casing, if you want 'mechanical' repair rather than cosmetic, you could try getting the plastic 'welded', might try bumper repairiers for that. Next would be mirror covers, these might cover the crack, been a couple of threads on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 You could repair it with epoxy or resin and then fit some mirror guards that way it would only be £120. If you have the longest arm version you pricing is a bit out, my mate brought one last week £340 + VAT + £40 + VAT to fit total £456. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-12-18 6:02 PM If you have the longest arm version you pricing is a bit out, my mate brought one last week £340 + VAT + £40 + VAT to fit total £456. I presume he went to a main dealer; I can get a genuine replacement for about £170 and fit it myself! Bits of the casing are missing altogether so epoxy repair doesn't seem feasible unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 He is in the trade but couldn't find anyone with the long arm in stock then the French driver was making a claim so insurance were paying so it was easier to get from main dealer. Out of interest what is your van as £170 sounds very cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvin Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We paid about £170 in October this year for our drivers mirror full electric and heated made by Lucas the same supplier for Fiat. We also noticed one Fiat dealer in Wrexham wanted £120 less than the Telford dealer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Melvin - 2011-12-19 12:02 PM We paid about £170 in October this year for our drivers mirror full electric and heated made by Lucas the same supplier for Fiat. We also noticed one Fiat dealer in Wrexham wanted £120 less than the Telford dealer ? You don't say what your van is it would help to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 The one I'm looking at is a current model Ducato, heated electric mirror, long arm version; I've been quoted £178.80 inc VAT and delivery by The Wing Mirror Man, wingmirrorman.co.uk. As I understand it this is the same part as supplied by Fiat dealers for a lot more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-12-18 6:02 PM You could repair it with epoxy or resin and then fit some mirror guards that way it would only be £120. If you have the longest arm version you pricing is a bit out, my mate brought one last week £340 + VAT + £40 + VAT to fit total £456. I bought one in a Fiat commercial dealers, in Liverpool, for just over £180 last year. Fitted myself in about 15 minutes. Heated, electric 2008 Fiat x250 long arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Wing mirror man does not do the long arm version he only stocks short & medium arm ones. From experience Fiat commercial dealers do not stock the long arm version they are only available on special order. No one who has brought them for £180 has said what their van is so we don't know the arm length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 The price they quoted to me was for a long-arm version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 thermidorthelobster - 2011-12-19 4:35 PM The price they quoted to me was for a long-arm version. You still don't say what van you have or the length of the arm, what Fiat dealers call the long arm is only the medium one when applicable to Motorhomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 It's a Swift Kon-Tiki 645, the single axle version. Not sure of the length of the arms; I'll measure them when it's not raining outside. Thanks for the heads-up on the different lengths - I hadn't realised "long arm" wasn't an absolute term. I wonder if the arms can be transferred between mirrors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Just checked mine which are the long ones they measure 190mm from the edge of the mirror on the glass side. I would expect yours to be the same as the Swift is 2.35m wide. When my mate brought his expensive one he tried Wing Mirror Man & a Fiat commercial dealer no luck. Slightly narrower vans such as Compass fit the medium length one. I don't see why the heads shouldn't be interchangeable Nick is the man who would know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 A 2009 MHF thread http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-70649-days0-orderasc-0.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 Thanks for the link Derek. Sounds promising but a shame the pictures are no longer with the posts. From what I read, it looks like it's not as simple as swapping the casings over, but the plastic can be butchered from a short arm mirror and glued on to replace a long arm mirror. I've now got to have a think about how much time and effort I want to spend on this, compared to just shelling out the cash for a new long arm mirror. The existing one is fairly comprehensively mullahed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Have a look at the mirror guard that Lenny suggested. It will cover the damage and keep the weather out. It'll be a lot cheaper than a replacement mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermidorthelobster Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-12-19 4:05 PM Wing mirror man does not do the long arm version he only stocks short & medium arm ones. From experience Fiat commercial dealers do not stock the long arm version they are only available on special order. No one who has brought them for £180 has said what their van is so we don't know the arm length. I've now bought and fitted one from Wingmirrorman. It cost £178.80 delivered, and is the right length to fit my Kon-Tiki 645, which I presume to be long-arm. Fitting took about 40 minutes including removing the fitted blinds. The speaker has to be removed in order to access the multiplugs inside the door, but the door card can stay put. The only hitch I had was that the lower locating pin in the new mirror was too long, but 30 seconds with a hacksaw sorted that out. It just needed a cross-head screwdriver and a set of star-head sockets. I have to say, anybody with a set of tools should do this themselves instead of paying a dealer to do it - it's very straightforward. I was slightly puzzled to find the new mirror had an extra multiplug on the wiring - a pink connector with pink and pink/black wire leading to it. I wonder whether this could be for a temperature sensor or GPS aerial. No matter, I left it disconnected and everything in the new mirror works as expected; this could also explain why the lower locating pin was too long. So if anybody is looking to replace the long-arm mirror on an X250 Ducato, my tip would be to get one from Wingmirrorman and fit it yourself - under £180 for the lot. Now I'm going to look into wing mirror protectors - don't want have to shell out for another one! All the best, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.