Car repairs are just the worst.  Something bad happens, and you end up having to spend hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars just to get your car back to the state it was already in. For many, having a working vehicle is an absolute necessity for day-to-day life and skipping out on a needed repair is just not an option. This is why we like to stress the importance of having an emergency fund around these parts.

One of the most common car repairs out there also happens to be one of the most embarrassing. I am referring to the phenomenon of knocking off one of your side view mirrors. This most often occurs when pulling into or backing out of a garage, and is incredibly frustrating. The reason that I am talking about this, of course, is because I recently knocked my driver side Mirror off of the 16 year-old Nissan Maxima that serves as my work-sled. Believe it or not,  I did’t clip my mirror off while pulling in or out of my garage, instead— I ran into the side mirror while cutting my grass. It didn’t feel like I hit the mirror all that hard; but there was a bump, a crack, and then the mirror was dangling by the power cord.

When it happened, I didn’t know what to expect for repair costs. Fixing anything on a car always cost far more than it should, so I figured it could easily be a few hundred dollars.  A stiff price to pay for a brief moment of negligence. Because the frugal powers are strong in this one, I first considered my options for repairing this thing myself.

Super Glue Fixes Everything

Could I simply glue this thing back on? The side mirror itself was attached to a stem, which in turn was attached to the car. I had snapped the plastic right at the point where the stem connects to the car, which means the glue would have to be applied there. I quickly realized that this would never work. Even if I could somehow concoct a way to hold the whole contraption in place while the glue dried, glues and plastics never play especially nice together. It would never hold for more than a day or two, especially if I took the car on the highway.

Get Crazy With the Tape

Sure, it’s practical. But duct taping a side mirror was just far too redneck for my tastes. While I would keep my visibility of my driver-side “blind-spot”, it would come at the price of my pride.

Going Without

I still had to go to work the next day, so this the route that I ended up taking until I could assess my next move. Without a doubt, you don’t realize how often you really use that side mirror until you don’t have one!  Changing lanes was especially challenging! I ended up driving without a mirror for about a week and a half, but this isn’t something I would recommend. In fact, it is actually illegal in most states to drive without a side mirror, and I could have been pulled over at any time.

The Body Shop

To get a professional estimate on what it would cost to fix the mirror, I ended up contacting a local auto body shop. The mirror itself was still completely intact, so my hope was that I could somehow only purchase the connector piece. But that just isn’t how things work in the wonderful world of car repairs. They quickly informed me that the manufacturer only sold this piece as an entire mirror assembly (mirror, power cord, mounting stem, replacement door trim). In addition, they only sold this part in white, and I would need to pay to get it painted to match the rest of my vehicle. The total cost of all of this fun? A whopping $670.

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I responded to this quote the way that most reasonable people would, with complete and utter dismay. I asked the body shop assessor a tough but honest question; “That’s far too rich for my blood, my friend. Is there anything you can recommend to someone who just doesn’t have the cash to pay for that kind of repair?”

He came back with, “Sure, bud. I understand. You can always look online for after-market parts.”

Looking online is usually my natural response for many life situations, and I am really not sure why it wasn’t my first thought here. I ended up doing a search on Amazon for “2004 Nissan Maxima driver side mirror”, and amazingly there were several results! These replacement mirrors were available for about $30, and seemed to be exactly what I needed.

They didn’t have the exact color of my car available, but I quickly realized that this wouldn’t be an issue. I could simply purchase the replacement mirror (with the stem and mounting kit included), remove the mirror from the assembly, and put my old mirror in its place. I could then attach the assembly to my car and “Whabam!”, my car would be good as new for the perfectly reasonable cost of $30. That’s $640 of savings that I get to keep in my pocket, baby!

The part came quickly via Amazon Prime, I made the swap out in about half an hour, and it really wasn’t very difficult at all. Most importantly, I no longer have that nasty blind spot when trying to change lanes on the highway!

The moral of this story is if you end up knocking one of your side mirrors off, don’t panic!  Just head online and a cheap replacement may be only a few clicks away.