After spending a wonderful Sunday out with my friends, I came back to my apartment around 8:30PM and parked my car on the street, just as I had done several times before without issue. After a restful nights sleep, I got up the next morning to less than pleasant surprise. Someone had kicked out my cars mirrors.
Thankfully, the driver side mirror was only bent out of shape with a couple of scuffs marking it up. A quick pull back into place and some glass cleaner had it looking good as new. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the passenger side mirror. It appears to have been hit quite hard, maybe with a baseball bat?
What did I do?
1. Bent the mirrors back into proper place
After a little bit of huffing and pouting about my mirrors being kicked in, I pulled both mirrors back into their correct locked position. It is not illegal to drive with a single broken mirror, but you do need to be careful. The mirror needs to be secure to the vehicle so that it doesn't fall off. You also want to make sure that the glass is stable enough so you won't be leaving broken glass all over the place. I positioned the biggest unbroken piece of glass towards where my mirror would normally be pointed so I would have some kind of visibility. After that I headed into work.
2. Filed a Police Report
Given that a crime had been committed (even if it was just a minor crime) I filed a report online with Edmonton City Police. It took about 15 minutes to fill out their forms online and process the paperwork. I made sure to add in the report that this was not the first incident of its nature in my neighborhood. It did make me feel a little better knowing that someone other than myself was aware that it happened. Filing an online police report can help the police department track crimes in your area and make adjustments.
3. Searched for a Replacement Mirror
With my limited experience with replacement parts costs, I called a couple of different places to try and find what I was looking for. Unfortunately for me, the housing of the mirror was broken. This meant that I couldn't just replace the glass in the mirror which would have only been about $70. I tried to get a new mirror assembly from the Subaru dealership in town but they didn't have anything available.
My next course of action was to get in touch with a friend who sells new and used car parts. Shout out to Darren from Edmonton New and Used for getting me setup with a salvaged mirror. The replacement mirror ran me $100 plus tax, which I thought was pretty reasonable.
4. Should I replace it myself or pay a professional?
I'm not necessarily known for being the most mechanically inclined person so I wasn't quite sold on doing it myself. After hearing a couple of estimates for the replacement coming back between $150-$300, I decided to try and fix it myself.
5. Did I go through insurance?
No. My car insurance plan has a $1,000 deductible so it wouldn't have made any difference in this case. If I were someone that had a fancy new car like a new BMW, Mercedes, or other luxury car that had fancy expensive mirrors, it might have been a different story. If it was going to cost me $3,800 for a new mirror, I probably would have at least considered going through my insurance company.
6. Installation
Using only a couple of screwdrivers and a can-do attitude I got the mirror replaced pretty quickly. I filmed a quick Tiktok of the process to show that it actually wasn't too difficult.
Conclusion
If someone breaks your car mirror, it is super frustrating, but try not to fret too much. Many vehicle components are available from salvage yards for a reasonable price. Should you go through insurance? It will really depend on the amount of damage done, your deductible, and if you're worried about policy increasing in price. If the amount of damage is going to cost less than your deductible, there's not much value in going through insurance. However, if the damage is a shockingly high amount, it might be worth your while to consider contacting your insurance company. Stay safe out there, and try to keep your vehicle parked in a garage or other parking structure.
