This kinda sucks

[PriusRos]

Me and my boyfriend spent several hours this weekend washing and waxing my month-old Prius.

Today, as I was driving home from the Metro station parking lot, I noticed that my driver side view mirror was bent back, which is not the position I left it in. I opened the window and pulled it forward. Somebody had smashed the mirror!

I checked the outside of the car and there were no scuff marks or anything else (which is good). But it led me to believe that the the damage to my mirror might have been intentional.

If somebody inadvertently hit it while backing trying to pull into the space next to me (I don't know why, since I was parked pretty far from the entrance to the Metro and out of a congested area), I would imagine they would have scraped the side of my car too.

Opinions?

[DougSlug]

I've bumped side mirrors with my arms or shoulders in crowded lots (without damaging them, of course)...maybe somebody was carrying something large or otherwise unwieldy and clipped your mirror. It's possible they didn't even realize it, but I doubt it. My kids watched a delivery truck run a parked car into the neighbor's mailbox--then take off without hesitation--two doors up on my quiet suburban street recently...yes, there are those kinds of people out there, and it does suck.

- Doug

[tacomel]

I'll have to admit here that both my wife and I have backed out of our garage and clipped the side mirror on the edge of the garage. (This was with the CR-V, pre-prius.) There was no other sign of damage to the car, or to the outside casing of the mirror for that matter, yet the glass was completely smashed. The damage in our case was a moving vehicle colliding with a stationary object, but I can easily see the other way around.

I can't say what happened in your case, but can definitely vouch for the fact that it's possible to smash the glass without doing any other damage to the vehicle, by doing something other than vandalism.

[PriusRos]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Taco Mel @ Jul 25 2006, 09:40 PM) [snapback]292329[/snapback]</div>

I'll have to admit here that both my wife and I have backed out of our garage and clipped the side mirror on the edge of the garage. (This was with the CR-V, pre-prius.) There was no other sign of damage to the car, or to the outside casing of the mirror for that matter, yet the glass was completely smashed. The damage in our case was a moving vehicle colliding with a stationary object, but I can easily see the other way around.

I can't say what happened in your case, but can definitely vouch for the fact that it's possible to smash the glass without doing any other damage to the vehicle, by doing something other than vandalism.
[/b]

I guess it's possible, but this is an outside parking lot with plenty of open space. The spaces are fairly generous. There is actually no need for anybody to back up into a space. I'd imagine that if somebody was pulling up next to me, they'd have to been really close to my car and parallel with it in order to hit the mirror (and what could have hit the mirror dead on except another mirror at exactly the same height?) and not have scraped the sides of the car.

[Scott_R]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Jul 25 2006, 08:48 PM) [snapback]292297[/snapback]</div>

Me and my boyfriend spent several hours this weekend washing and waxing my month-old Prius.

Today, as I was driving home from the Metro station parking lot, I noticed that my driver side view mirror was bent back, which is not the position I left it in. I opened the window and pulled it forward. Somebody had smashed the mirror!

I checked the outside of the car and there were no scuff marks or anything else (which is good). But it led me to believe that the the damage to my mirror might have been intentional.

If somebody inadvertently hit it while backing trying to pull into the space next to me (I don't know why, since I was parked pretty far from the entrance to the Metro and out of a congested area), I would imagine they would have scraped the side of my car too.

Opinions?
[/b]

That blows. I cringe a little every time I leave my week-old Prius in a parking lot.

If I were put on the spot, I'd say it was an accident rather than vandalism (not that it makes you feel better either way). I could be completely wrong, but I don't think a sideview mirror is an obvious point of attack for intentional damage. And smashed glass... you know how much it takes to smash glass? You need a hard object (rock, pipe, etc.)--it's not something a person does with their hand while strolling by.

Apropos of nothing really, but I once drove down a windy, single-lane road in my previous car when some moron barrelled down towards me. I pulled so far over that my right wheels were in the leaves, but he didn't bother to pull over at all. There was a thud and... huh. Strange. My mirror had moved out of position. What was strange about it was that the sideview mirrors were fixed--the mirror INSIDE the casing had moved, but the casing itself was fine, just a little nick in it. Apparently our two mirrors housings had collided and the shock had been transmitted to the mirror itself (and it only needed to be realigned by hand).

He never even slowed, and I'd would have had to drive for a distance to find a spot to turn around in, so I never saw the guy again.

Well, I guess the slightly relevant point is, mirrors can interact without any other damage to the vehicle.

[momfortheenvironment]

prior to my prius , I once came out of a hair salon and my side mirror was all smashed and whoever did it had to have known. I'd say if there were no marks it was probably someone bumping it.

[Scott_R]

Here is a flickr page about bad parking. The one labeled "2close" brought to mind what happened to PriusRos.

Also notice the numbskulls in the SUVs who squeezed into the parking for compacts.

[PriusRos]

Thanks for all the feedback and I loved the bad parking pictures.

I've come to the conclusion that it probably was a case of bad parking. Why on earth they would get that close in an open parking lot with plenty of (non-compact) spaces is beyond me though.

To add insult to injury, what happened next was really aggravating.

Last night, after calling the Metro police to report the incident, I called my local Toyota dealer (not where I bought it, but the one closest to me). The service department was closed and I was told to call back at 7 the next morning. This morning I called a little after 7 and explained the problem. They said I would need to check whether they had the part, so to call back at 8, which is when parts department opens. I waited until 8 and called again, asking for service. After explaining my problem I was put straight through to parts. I told him my problem and the guy went and checked, then told me that the mirror itself cost $72, but if the housing is broken it's another $240 or something. I said, I think it's just the mirror, but I guess I would need you to look at it to tell, and can I bring it in this morning. They said sure.

So, I took it in, was greeted nicely and given a seat in a service manager's office. He was on the phone with another customer for about 10 minutes. After hanging up, he did apologize for the wait and I gave him my story again. He asked me whether the parts department told me they had the part. I said they didn't tell me that, but they gave me the price, and told me I could come in this morning, so I made the assumption they had it. He warned me that they might not have it because he's had to deal with this before. After spending some time entering my info and checking the VIN, etc. and having somebody drive the car to the service area, he looked up the part. Then he called the parts department. Of course, they didn't have it and would have to order it.

The price didn't include labor. That would be another $55 or so. He also said that he would try to change just the mirror, but if that doesn't work, he would have to change the whole thing (which would require another parts order). If they have to change the entire assembly, it would come to around $450. I have a $500 deductible.

So, the upshot was I was 2 hours late for work and wasn't able to get my car fixed --still have to go back again.

Oh well, what's time and money for anyway except to spend on maintaining the stuff that you've already spent time and money on? :P

[Scott_R]

Holy @#^%, look at this one. It's a closeup of this shot, so clearly it's the fault of the idiot who owns the SUV.

Makes me want to carry around a couple of these.

[Sarge]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Jul 26 2006, 11:25 PM) [snapback]292973[/snapback]</div>

The price didn't include labor. That would be another $55 or so. He also said that he would try to change just the mirror, but if that doesn't work, he would have to change the whole thing (which would require another parts order). If they have to change the entire assembly, it would come to around $450. I have a $500 deductible.
[/b]

First, sorry to hear about your misfortune, that really sucks.

I had a similar problem with some careless fool who did a hit & run on my 72-day-old car a few weeks back.

My in-laws bought a brand new Corolla last year and also had someone take out their mirror when it was parked, when the car was only a couple months old. I guess their damage is not as severe as your own, as at least the glass remains intact, though the plastic housing was half-gone. They figure it happened in the parking lot at a nearby hospital while visiting a friend. No other damage to the car.

Of course, Toyota wants $300 to replace the mirror, and apparently the glass comes with it as one piece (?), or so they're told by the dealer.

Their mirror remains unrepaired, and it's been about a year now. My paint is not fixed yet either.

On a related note, another friend of mine also bought a Corolla this past winter, and within a week some punk teenager smashed one of his taillights right in his driveway with a beer bottle. I guess that comes with the territory of living next door to a high school, and decreased police funding in the community (as evidenced by greatly increased graffiti in a formerly 'clean' neighborhood).

It's just really sad that you can't have anything nice anymore in this society without someone trying to take it away from you.

- Kevin