Hello all

I bought my lovely Fiat 500 in March and I absolutely love it. The street I live in is pretty tight for parking so I always fold in the wing mirrors when I park to protect them. I have to do this manually... its been fine up until a couple of weeks ago when the driver side wing mirror popped out of its hinges. I hadn't physically broken anything off - the first garage I went to told me I had broken it (and tried to charge me 130 quid for a new one) but the dealer I bought the car from managed to fix it and said that the pole holding the wing mirror together had worked its way loose every time I folded the mirror in.

I've just parked my car again 5 mins ago and folded the wing mirror in (very carefully!) and the same thing happened! I will take it back to the garage tomorrow to get it fixed but just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem. Is this a design fault or is it just my wee car???

the exact same happened to me last night!!!! It now is just hanging there, I am taking it to the dealership tomorrow, did yours sound like a big snap? It doesn't appear to look like i have broken anyhting but the wng mirror is just hanging there. I also have noticed that the paintork chips really easily, have you found this? I am sad....

The wing mirror of my Fiat 500 (brand new last April) has just popped off too. We were simply folding the wing mirror back into position after the vehicle was parked in a narrow road and it fell off in our hands.The dealership says that it has been caused by some 'outside force' and therefore will not be covered by the warranty. They want £209 (which they are not getting) I am very angry about basically being called a liar. Has anyone else had the same problem and have any suggestions of fixing it? The dealership told me it can't be fixed.......................

morteo500 said:

The wing mirror of my Fiat 500 (brand new last April) has just popped off too. We were simply folding the wing mirror back into position after the vehicle was parked in a narrow road and it fell off in our hands.The dealership says that it has been caused by some 'outside force' and therefore will not be covered by the warranty. They want £209 (which they are not getting) I am very angry about basically being called a liar. Has anyone else had the same problem and have any suggestions of fixing it? The dealership told me it can't be fixed.......................

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Thing is, if you pop it back in, or even replace it, what's to stop it happening again?

My recommendation, based on experience, is to always use two hands to fold/unfold the mirrors, applying equal force on both ends. So far, touch wood, I've not had a problem.

The other thing I do is to spray a little vinyl & rubber lubricant into the gap between the fixed & moving parts whenever I'm properly detailing the car. It helps to keep them turning freely.

As this gap seems to collect water, (which often drips annoyingly just after finishing detailing), take special care in frosty weather. Not only is this water likely to freeze solid, but the cold will also make the plastic more brittle & prone to damage.

hi! hope ur side mirror did not pop out again!

I bought my car in August 2011 (1.2 pop) and my side mirror popped out three times till now!!!

Dealer also said that I should learn to open and close a side mirror -_-

It just popped out this morning. Just like you guys I was simply opening it.. with both hands and really slowwwwlyyyy..

Now I'm trying to get it replaced under warranty... Seems like theres a long and tiring battle ahead of me to get it changed! Wish me good luck!!

chr500 said:

It just popped out this morning. Just like you guys I was simply opening it.. with both hands and really slowwwwlyyyy..

Now I'm trying to get it replaced under warranty... Seems like theres a long and tiring battle ahead of me to get it changed! Wish me good luck!!

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Good luck.

Similar thing happened to me, the mirror pod came away from the stalk and was left hanging by two wires (blue and brown), so I looked on shop4parts site and they have replacements, quite expensive at just under £100.

Florence, Galina and Chr500 - welcome!!

Have we ever had a thread before when 3 first posters contributed?

Wish you luck with your mirrors - it seems a shame you are suffering because you tried to protect your pride and joy.

A motorcyclist who was zigzagging in traffic (lane? what lane?) while i was changing lane got angry at me as i 'blocked his zigzagging excerciese' so he revs the engine really hard (it was a black GSX R i think 1000) and i stay halfway between lanes beacuse I found him a loser and there is a lot of traffic not going anywhere so as he comes past he hits my mirror as hard as he can with my hand and then in typical motorcyclist fashion gets out of the way before i react. The mirror plastic outershell was wiped clean off so i had to put it back on. When i touched the mirror after parking it came off again but this time i made sure i put it on really tight by essentially forcing it on worried i would break it doing so (it didnt) and it never fell off again.


The jist of the story is some people just arent born equal so we must accept losers in our world without giving them any attention and let them fail themselves. Knowing the way he drives he will probably kill himself one of these days, i just hope that he does not involve another motorist while doing so.


For the posters above, the thing i found out from this experience is that you have to push the mirror in place with quite some force for it to stay in place without falling off. I hope this helps.

ahmett said:

A motorcyclist who was zigzagging in traffic (lane? what lane?) while i was changing lane got angry at me as i 'blocked his zigzagging excerciese' so he revs the engine really hard (it was a black GSX R i think 1000) and i stay halfway between lanes beacuse I found him a loser and there is a lot of traffic not going anywhere so as he comes past he hits my mirror as hard as he can with my hand and then in typical motorcyclist fashion gets out of the way before i react. The mirror plastic outershell was wiped clean off so i had to put it back on. When i touched the mirror after parking it came off again but this time i made sure i put it on really tight by essentially forcing it on worried i would break it doing so (it didnt) and it never fell off again.


The jist of the story is some people just arent born equal so we must accept losers in our world without giving them any attention and let them fail themselves. Knowing the way he drives he will probably kill himself one of these days, i just hope that he does not involve another motorist while doing so.


For the posters above, the thing i found out from this experience is that you have to push the mirror in place with quite some force for it to stay in place without falling off. I hope this helps.

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I'm sorry, but your actions were the actions of an idiot. I'm all for a bit of road rage, but you do realise that if a biker comes off his bike that there's a high chance of him dying or being seriously injured? Grow up FFS.

306maxi said:

I'm sorry, but your actions were the actions of an idiot. I'm all for a bit of road rage, but you do realise that if a biker comes off his bike that there's a high chance of him dying or being seriously injured? Grow up FFS.

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Maxi you weren't there so you are in no position to comment. It is illegal and dangerous for motorcyclists to drive in between lanes in a three lane road while traffic is stationary and they are going at 30 mph. Of course there is a chance they can die or be seriously injured for the most of the time its up to them to behave on the roads and not commit suicide with their pocket rockets. The road is three lanes for all vehicles and not 6 lanes for motorcyclists 'as they please'.

Maxi i am not one to add fire to the flame but you are the one who is being immature by criticizing without knowing the facts.

ahmett said:

Maxi you weren't there so you are in no position to comment. It is illegal and dangerous for motorcyclists to drive in between lanes in a three lane road while traffic is stationary and they are going at 30 mph. Of course there is a chance they can die or be seriously injured for the most of the time its up to them to behave on the roads and not commit suicide with their pocket rockets. The road is three lanes for all vehicles and not 6 lanes for motorcyclists 'as they please'.

Maxi i am not one to add fire to the flame but you are the one who is being immature by criticizing without knowing the facts.

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There is NEVER any excuse for putting someone elses life at risk like that.

Ahmett - assuming you are not a traffic policeman (a fairly good assumption), your actions were absolutely wrong. Who are you to block a bike just because you are stuck in traffic when it is not?.

ahmett said:

A motorcyclist who was zigzagging in traffic (lane? what lane?) while i was changing lane got angry at me as i 'blocked his zigzagging excerciese' so he revs the engine really hard (it was a black GSX R i think 1000) and i stay halfway between lanes beacuse I found him a loser and there is a lot of traffic not going anywhere so as he comes past he hits my mirror as hard as he can with my hand and then in typical motorcyclist fashion gets out of the way before i react. The mirror plastic outershell was wiped clean off so i had to put it back on. When i touched the mirror after parking it came off again but this time i made sure i put it on really tight by essentially forcing it on worried i would break it doing so (it didnt) and it never fell off again.

The jist of the story is some people just arent born equal so we must accept losers in our world without giving them any attention and let them fail themselves. Knowing the way he drives he will probably kill himself one of these days, i just hope that he does not involve another motorist while doing so.

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I can't work out if he moved your mirror to get past you or if you started to block him because he moved your mirror.

I would have a lot of sympathy for bikers (I had 2 motorbikes & then got sense). If you drive along with the flow of traffic you feel like a 'sitting duck' - so you try and get some space by either getting ahead or dropping back. When you're on the bike you have a heightened sense of alert and you're running a bit (sometimes more) adrenalin. So really TBH IMHO wouldn't mess with a biker. The costs are too high for everybody.

If the biker damages your car your best course of action is to take his reg number and ring the Police and report it. One time the local Gardai was urging people to phone them to report dangerous driving (from a handsfree of course).

loveshandbags said:

The costs are too high for everybody.

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Exactly.

RobinPJ said:

Ahmett - assuming you are not a traffic policeman (a fairly good assumption), your actions were absolutely wrong. Who are you to block a bike just because you are stuck in traffic when it is not?.

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No what i was doing was changing lanes. He was far far behind like a good 100 meters behind when i was changing lanes but then he was going quite fast lets say 30 mph when the traffic was going at 5 so he was approaching at a dangerous speed and when he saw me he revved his engine in anger at me changing lanes. When i saw him rev his engine i did not appreciate his aggression so i moved more slowly then i could have to the other lane. He got angry and then hit my mirror.

I am sorry but i was not blocking a bike i was changing lane which i am allowed to do. It is illegal for motorbikes to ride inbetween lanes no?


He hit my mirror as retaliation for changing lanes when he was approaching which made the cover fall out of the mirror. He hit it on purpose. Not to make space for him, although that happens a lot motorcyclists hitting my mirror or moving it out of the way when i am stationary in traffic.
Many motorcyclists are dangerous and reckless people and thats why so many of them die on the roads every year. Its not 100% their fault all the time, the motorists can also be at fault for not seeing them as they can be quite invisible at times zigzagging around, but the more motorbikes there are on the road, the more dangerous the roads are.
Either that or they behave and dont turn a 3 lane road into a 6 lane road. If you zigzagged between lanes overtaking and undertaking other vehicles in a car, the police can stop you for reckless driving no? Same applies to bikes.

ahmett said:

No what i was doing was changing lanes. He was far far behind like a good 100 meters behind when i was changing lanes but then he was going quite fast lets say 30 mph when the traffic was going at 5 so he was approaching at a dangerous speed and when he saw me he revved his engine in anger at me changing lanes. When i saw him rev his engine i moved slowly to the other lane. He got angry and then hit my mirror.

I am sorry but i was not blocking a bike i was changing lane which i am allowed to do. It is illegal for motorbikes to ride inbetween lanes no?


He hit my mirror as retaliation for changing lanes when he was approaching. He hit it on purpose. Not to make space for him, although that happens a lot motorcyclists hitting my mirror or moving it out of the way when i am stationary in traffic.

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Ahmett, just because others choose to drive in a selfish fashion, doesn't mean you have to retaliate, irrespective of how angry you may feel at the time. I've assisted in scraping enough of the dead, dying and seriously injured off the tarmac to know what I'm talking about.

Loveshandbags advice of noting the index number of the vehicle, is better than someone being seriously injured or killed and certainly not worth the hassle over a door mirror!

ahmett said:

No what i was doing was changing lanes. He was far far behind like a good 100 meters behind when i was changing lanes but then he was going quite fast lets say 30 mph when the traffic was going at 5 so he was approaching at a dangerous speed and when he saw me he revved his engine in anger at me changing lanes. When i saw him rev his engine i did not appreciate his aggression so i moved more slowly then i could have to the other lane. He got angry and then hit my mirror.

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ahmett said:

i stay halfway between lanes beacuse I found him a loser

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?

RobinPJ said:

?

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Yes i delayed my changing lanes on purpose after he revved his engine behind me acting like a gangster.

Face it, Ahmett. you used your ton of metal as a weapon with which to threaten someone whose protection is a layer of cow skin.

Forgive me, but having been a biker and met people like you, I think you got off lightly. You were being a total areshole.