Ford Fiesta (2009 - ) - door mirrors on wrong side

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Tue 14 Apr 2009 22:17
door mirrors on wrong side - stevew
Hello all. We have just bought a fiesta style+ diesel. 1100 miles in. One teething trouble so far - passenger door lock sticking - now sorted after 10 days wait for the part.
But - we have noticed that the convex overtaking mirror is on the passenger side and not where it should be - on the drivers side. Garage says all new fiestas are like that so it must be ford policy. Doesn't seem right to me. Unsafe on motorway and inconvenient. Views anyone?
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Tue 14 Apr 2009 22:49
door mirrors on wrong side - zookeeper
actually my passenger door mirror says" objects may be closer than you think" blah blah but the driver mirror doesnt , whats that all about?
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Tue 14 Apr 2009 22:53
door mirrors on wrong side - bathtub tom
>>Garage says all new fiestas are like that so it must be ford policy

Tp paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies, "they would say that wouldn't they".
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Tue 14 Apr 2009 23:26
door mirrors on wrong side - Altea Ego
None of mine are convex. I dont think you want a convex mirror on the drivers side, the distance perspective would be all wrong.
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 00:02
door mirrors on wrong side - bell boy
i quite agree AE
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 09:14
door mirrors on wrong side - Cliff Pope
>>
Tp paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies "they would say that wouldn't they ?".


That's not a paraphrase - she did say that in exactly those words.
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 10:05
door mirrors on wrong side - ifithelps
..That's not a paraphrase - she did say that in exactly those words....

Think you'll find it was more along the lines of: "He would, wouldn't he?'

The remark was made in court when it was put to her that a prominent society figure had denied having an affair with her.

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Tue 21 Apr 2009 08:58
door mirrors on wrong side - drbe
As we all seem to be in pedant mode with regards to Miss Rice-Davies -

The alleged gentleman was a prominent businessman - not a society figure.
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 08:51
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
If the profiles of the glass parts are a mirror image (how else could I describe it!) of one another in the vertical plane (in other words if they are symmetrical about the horizontal centre line) then swap them over.
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 12:38
door mirrors on wrong side - mike hannon
A convex mirror on the driver's side is to make the 'blind spot' visible, isn't it? Seems extremely sensible to me. The specially-shaped convex mirror on the driver's side of my Volvo 940 Wagon was invaluable. I always fit a blind spot mirror anyway but this was the first car in my experience to have it there from new. I thought it was a compulsory fitting on all new cars now?
I guess Ford have just cocked up but won't admit it. Nothing new there then...
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 16:58
door mirrors on wrong side - J500ANT
Garage says all new fiestas are like that so it must be ford policy.


Have you looked at others for yourself?
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Wed 15 Apr 2009 23:31
door mirrors on wrong side - kithmo
My 2008 mondeo has a convex mirror on the nearside too. I found myself cutting in a bit early, after overtaking, initially.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 07:50
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
My 2003 Focus has concave mirrors both sides, but they're only slightly concave. They appear to be a good compromise between flat and overtly concave.

Edited by L'escargot on 16/04/2009 at 07:53

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Thu 16 Apr 2009 22:55
door mirrors on wrong side - Andrew-T
My 2003 Focus has concave mirrors both sides


I sincerely hope your mirrors aren't concave, Snail - do they really magnify things? Not what I would want.
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 08:27
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
>> My 2003 Focus has concave mirrors both sides
I sincerely hope your mirrors aren't concave Snail - do they really magnify things? Not
what I would want.


When I slithered between the casing and the glass they were definitely concave.

:-D
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 10:41
door mirrors on wrong side - bathtub tom
>>When I slithered between the casing and the glass they were definitely concave.

They would appear to be so from that side.

IIRC the correct term for their shape would be convexo-concave, or even concavo-convex, or does that only refer to lenses?

O levels, too long ago......
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 09:18
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
I found myself cutting
in a bit early after overtaking initially.


I've never relied on mirrors when changing lanes or overtaking. I've always turned my body beforehand and looked over my shoulder ~ the right one for pulling out and the left for pulling back in.

Before the days of exterior mirrors this technique was essential.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 09:38
door mirrors on wrong side - jc2
Rear visibility is a legal requirement in the EU and in most countries in the world and will be checked by government inspectors before a range of vehicles is homologated so they can be sold.
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 16:28
door mirrors on wrong side - kithmo
I've never relied on mirrors when changing lanes or overtaking. I've always turned my body beforehand and looked over my shoulder ~ the right one for pulling out and the left for pulling back in.


What do you use your mirrors for then, putting on lippy ;0)
My use of mirrors stems from my HGV training, where you have to be very accurate with your mirrors, I find it much easier than straining to look around headrests and rear passengers etc. and I'd rather be looking in front of me when travelling at 70mph on the motorway, with a quick glance in the mirror rather than turning around and taking my eyes off the road for a few seconds.

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Sat 18 Apr 2009 07:05
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
What do you use your mirrors for then putting on lippy ;0)


I said I didn't rely on them, not that I didn't use them. Mirrors are there as an aid to carrying out a manouvre, not as a means of guaranteeing safety to carry out a manouvre. I turn and glance over my shoulder after I've checked the mirrors.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 10:52
door mirrors on wrong side - TheOilBurner
It seems to me this is another example of manufacturers being too lazy to properly convert to RHD.

How long before they won't be bothered to even move the steering wheel over?
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 11:14
door mirrors on wrong side - jbif
It seems to me this is another example of manufacturers being too lazy to properly convert to RHD. >>


Not so.
USA:
www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae449.cfm
"If you inspect both side mirrors on your car, you will find out that the driver side mirror is planar, while the passenger side mirror is (convex) spherical. "

Australia:
"Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 14/01 ? Rear Vision Mirrors) 2006
142.0 Any internal rear vision mirror fitted to a vehicle and intended to provide the driver with a view of following or overtaking vehicles shall have a flat reflecting surface i.e. of unit magnification.
.....
14.2.3. External Rear Vision Mirrors
14.2.3.1. Driver's Side
14.2.3.1.1. Field of View -A flat external mirror shall be installed
....
14.2.3.2. Passenger?s Side
14.2.3.2.2. The mirror shall be flat or convex. "

As stated by others above, it all makes perfect sense.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 11:20
door mirrors on wrong side - TheOilBurner
Fair enough!
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 11:39
door mirrors on wrong side - bathtub tom
My driver's side is flat, with a convex section at the far end and a little dotted line separating them.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 11:51
door mirrors on wrong side - Hamsafar
Driver's mirrors are flat/flatter than passenger because of the distance you are from it. If it was flat/flatter on the passenger side it would give a narrow keyhole view. Most driver's mirrors have around the outer 1/3 bent round slightly to reduce the blind-spot.
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Thu 16 Apr 2009 14:30
door mirrors on wrong side - captain chaos
It seems to me this is another example of manufacturers being too lazy to properly
convert to RHD.
How long before they won't be bothered to even move the steering wheel over?

>>
In the seventies some UK manufacturers were so lazy the windscreen wipers were set up for left hand drive. Shameful on a top of the range Jaguar XJ12. And they looked like they'd been thrown on.
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 10:37
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
In the seventies some UK manufacturers were so lazy the windscreen wipers were set up
for left hand drive.


Take a detailed look at your car ~ outside, inside and under the bonnet ~ and work out what would need to be altered to have two different wiper configurations to suit two different markets. For every part which ends up with two versions, the quantity of the original part is reduced and the economies of scale are reduced. Consider the impact on other components of having two wiper versions. To move one item may well involve moving another item to get the necessary space. In some cases this either may not be possible or it may require a major redesign and repositioning of the whole of the underbonnet components and assemblies, which would just not be practicable.

Edited by L'escargot on 17/04/2009 at 10:38

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Fri 17 Apr 2009 20:47
door mirrors on wrong side - Westpig
for left hand drive. Shameful on a top of the range Jaguar XJ12. And they
looked like they'd been thrown on.

still goes on now....have a look at any 5 series BMW
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 08:32
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
It seems to me this is another example of manufacturers being too lazy to properly
convert to RHD.


It's nothing to do with being lazy. It's to minimise the cost of manufacture and hence to minimise the selling price, which is to your advantage. Would you really want the price to increase?
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 12:23
door mirrors on wrong side - mike hannon
Yes, I would want the job done properly and if I was a manufacturer I hope I would realise that cost and corner-cutting would eventually lose me customers in valued export markets. (Of course the dried out husk of the once-great British motor industry is witness to the fact that manufacturers have actually been pretty thick).
Anyone remember the sometimes dreadful spongy brakes on Volkswagens of about 20-odd years ago, caused by the botched conversion from LHD to RHD?
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 15:11
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
Yes I would want the job done properly .........


That's not the same as being willing to pay a higher price.
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 16:20
door mirrors on wrong side - seasiders rock
Try the door mirrors on the new Panda, my dogs ears are bigger.
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 17:13
door mirrors on wrong side - Alby Back
That's actually my only real gripe with my 02 Mondeo estate. The door mirrors are too small. I think the later models got bigger ones. Bit late to worry about it now though, I guess they must work well enough. Either that or there has often been carnage behind me and I just couldn't see it......
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Fri 17 Apr 2009 18:49
door mirrors on wrong side - Pugugly
Biiiiiig sensible mirrors on the Roomie - even bigger on the CRV - BMW's were always a sensible shape and size.

Edited by Pugugly on 21/04/2009 at 17:08

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Fri 17 Apr 2009 18:53
door mirrors on wrong side - Alby Back
Big mirrors on the Signum too. Or maybe they are just big by comparison to the Mondeo. Frightened the life out of me when I pressed something and they folded in against the car. Never had a car which could do that before. Suppose it must be useful if you have a narrow garage but if it was that narrow how would you get out of the car......
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Mon 20 Apr 2009 21:44
door mirrors on wrong side - stevew
I started this thread off and I realise that I may have misled.
The mirror on the passenger side has the convex outer part with a vertical separator line between it and the flat part.
The driver's side is just plain flat and will not adjust far enough out to see into the overtaking blind spot on motorways.
All the other 2009 model fiestas and focus on the dealer forecourt were the same.
But I still feel that the drivers side should have the overtaking blind spot section.
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Wed 22 Apr 2009 12:28
door mirrors on wrong side - Reentrant
You can get replacement mirrors (ie just the glass) in Halfords which are designed to be stuck on to broken ones. They do flat and convex-at-the end options - the latter for about £16

So you could stick a convex one onto the existing flat glass assuming the sticky pads are thick enough to take up the "gap".
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Tue 21 Apr 2009 08:53
door mirrors on wrong side - L'escargot
There's no reason why the curvature of door mirrors can't be graduated to give a different perspective in different parts of the mirror. You get varifocal spectacle lenses so why not varifocal door mirrors?
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Tue 21 Apr 2009 23:10
door mirrors on wrong side - none
I know it's not car related, but recent legislation regarding HGV rear / side / wide angle / view mirrors includes them as part of the HGV test. (Ordinary door mirrors always have been ). This means that at least four mirrors must be fitted, including wide angle, and that the angle of view is a testable item.

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