Hey!

I bought the new fabia a few months ago,

but I never tried to fold my mirrors..

 

Its not electric, so how can I fold the mirrors manually?

 

It might be a dumb question, but I tried with a litle force, and it didn't fold, I dont want to smash my mirrors.

 

Somebody tried this?

 

Thanks.

Maybe try a sort of rotating folding movement backwards from the front?

Maybe try a sort of rotating folding movement backwards from the front?

I've tried, but its not folding, just moving a little bit, but not folding.

Mirrors naturally latch in the 'in-use' position - so its a kind of rotating motion that has to overcome the spring that holds them latched. Rotate clockwise on the right clockwise on the left. I'm basing this on the mirrors on my UK spec SE.

I have found that they do fold but it takes quite a lot of force, at least the first time. If in doubt, call into a dealer and ask for a demo.

Mirrors naturally latch in the 'in-use' position - so its a kind of rotating motion that has to overcome the spring that holds them latched. Rotate clockwise on the right clockwise on the left. I'm basing this on the mirrors on my UK spec SE.

 

 

I have found that they do fold but it takes quite a lot of force, at least the first time. If in doubt, call into a dealer and ask for a demo.

 

Thank you guys for the reply! I will try, if its not working, I will take it to my dealer.

Mirrors do fold, travel is short and requires quite a "push" to move...   

Mirrors naturally latch in the 'in-use' position - so its a kind of rotating motion that has to overcome the spring that holds them latched. Rotate clockwise on the right clockwise on the left. I'm basing this on the mirrors on my UK spec SE.

 

 

I have found that they do fold but it takes quite a lot of force, at least the first time. If in doubt, call into a dealer and ask for a demo.

Thank you!

 

I have just folded my window, strange, I had to unlock my car, and with the same force I applied yesterday, it folded so easily. I think its about unlocking the car. Thank you very much guys for the replies

Had my car since April 2015 The mirrors are stiff to fold in and they don't move very far Joe

Thanks for the info, I'll try it on my daughter's fabia, as she has not managed to fold them yet.

18 minutes ago, BlueTigger said:

Thanks for the info, I'll try it on my daughter's fabia, as she has not managed to fold them yet.

Try cleaning the mirror housings first particularly underneath and when they're pushed in clean any exposed bits of the plastic arm.

 

Once clean or at least free from grit and debris spray with GT85 (better in all things than WD-40 Multi-Use) contains PTFE and smells nice, useful for lots of things on the car and home and garage. - https://gt85.co.uk/

 

Thanks again, pushed them up and back and folded easily.

Thanks nta16, I'll look for some GT85 to make it easier for her.

13 minutes ago, BlueTigger said:

Thanks nta16, I'll look for some GT85 to make it easier for her.

They were three cans for £10 at Wilco.

 

And I have paid £2 a can but can't remember from where, I got two cans, gave one away to a neighbour and with the other I forgot to put the cap back on and it had just about emptied itself being wedged in the side of a plastic box I was using to transport the items I needed to do a little job somewhere as a favour to a mate, if only I'd let him pack away the stuff I could have blamed him.  😄

 

Got one from Amazon for £2.75 thanks

Good that you've got one, remind your daughter to read the instructions on the can (hold can upright, shake well before use) and to always replace the cap and straw on to the can (good to learn from the mistakes of others).

 

I find with folding the mirrors in best is a swift movement but you don't need to be trying to knock the car sideways, a very occasional spray of GT85 and she should find the mirrors fold easily enough.

 

The door mirrors on my wife's car are very rarely folded in so when I have I've forgotten the passenger side until I'm sat in the car.

Edited 28 February, 20233 yr by nta16

Thanks nta16,  my daughter does non of her own maintenance other than putting fuel in!  So I'm the one lubricating the mirrors!  As you say, shake,  upright, cap, straw, is how I always treat sprays.  Thanks again.

On 28/02/2023 at 18:53, BlueTigger said:

Got one from Amazon for £2.75 thanks

I've just ordered a tin myself, it looks like good stuff.

That said, for mirrors, I'd be using a silicone-based lubricant to be kinder to the plastic and most importantly, any rubber seals it might come into contact with.

Ironically, WD-40 do a decent silicone lubricant, but there are lots of others available.

7 hours ago, BlueTigger said:

Thanks nta16,  my daughter does non of her own maintenance other than putting fuel in!  So I'm the one lubricating the mirrors! 

As the driver car owner you should teach your daughter basic driver maintenance like check the brake fluid (level and colour), tyres (condition, tread depth), battery (condition of clamps and are secure, charge), etc., etc..  This will empower her.  Once she knows how to do these things she may well decide still to leave the jobs to you but at least she'll know and understand about these things and how to do them if required.

 

My wife went to a night class course of basic car maintenance in the 1980s so that she knew about basic maintenance herself but has always left such stuff to me as she's not so stupid as to be messing and farting about with cars but if I hadn't been around she could do it herself and probably better and certainly with better humour.

  

7 hours ago, EnterName said:

I've just ordered a tin myself, it looks like good stuff.

That said, for mirrors, I'd be using a silicone-based lubricant to be kinder to the plastic and most importantly, any rubber seals it might come into contact with.

Ironically, WD-40 do a decent silicone lubricant, but there are lots of others available.

The GT85 is PTFE and fine on plastics and rubber seals but I tend to use silicone on rubber seals including AutoGlym Bumper & Trim Gel or silicone oil as in photo below.

 

Some feel silicone should be kept away from paintwork.

 

Have a look on the can of GT85 you'll see it's one of the products from the WD-40 Company, originally a British company GT85 but like many swallowed up by the large invasive American companies, I used to use it on my pushbikes in the 1980s.

 

2 hours ago, nta16 said:

The GT85 is PTFE and fine on plastics and rubber seals but I tend to use silicone on rubber seals including AutoGlym Bumper & Trim Gel or silicone oil as in photo below.

 

Some feel silicone should be kept away from paintwork.

 

Have a look on the can of GT85 you'll see it's one of the products from the WD-40 Company, originally a British company GT85 but like many swallowed up by the large invasive American companies, I used to use it on my pushbikes in the 1980s.

 

It certainly contains PTFE, but I think it's mineral oil based, judging from the safety sheet.

(That said, I can't say I'm an expert at reading safety sheets.)

https://media.gt85.co.uk/app/uploads/2022/06/01155628/F00270_EN.pdf

I understand silicone oil is more difficult to shift than mineral oil when it comes to paintwork, though.

 

Edited 3 March, 20233 yr by EnterName

22 minutes ago, EnterName said:

It certainly contains PTFE, but I think it's mineral oil based, judging from the safety sheet.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, that was my point that IIRC it's not silicone, I struggle to read anything so safety sheets are beyond me I was just going on my wobbly memory.

 

People say about silicone spray on paintwork but I can't remember having any issues on a car that was resprayed but perhaps if the silicone spray is fresh to when the paintwork is being done, I don't know, just nice to has one can of a good penetrating/ releasing fluid and general lubricant than half a dozen taking up space and running out halfway through a job as Sod's Law always applies.

 

I've not tried GT85 on rubber seals just because it's a spray and our cars are always outside, no garage, and even spraying on to a cloth has some spray going elsewhere, plus sprays like this are too thin and fiddly and add too much excess farting about to whatever farting about is being done on the car.

 

At the risk of magicking up my troll, for rubber door and other seals I apply AutoGlym Bumper & Trim Gel or silicone oil to a 35mm cube of old clean sponge and the on to the seal.  Having put that I no longer fart about cleaning and maintaining the Fabia anywhere near as much as I used to fart about with cars in the past, not that I ever done it for the 'joy' (?!!?) of such stuck, good luck to those that enough such things but it wasn't really for me other than necessity.

 

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Sorry, I wasn't clear, that was my point that IIRC it's not silicone, I struggle to read anything so safety sheets are beyond me I was just going on my wobbly memory.

 

People say about silicone spray on paintwork but I can't remember having any issues on a car that was resprayed but perhaps if the silicone spray is fresh to when the paintwork is being done, I don't know, just nice to has one can of a good penetrating/ releasing fluid and general lubricant than half a dozen taking up space and running out halfway through a job as Sod's Law always applies.

 

I've not tried GT85 on rubber seals just because it's a spray and our cars are always outside, no garage, and even spraying on to a cloth has some spray going elsewhere, plus sprays like this are too thin and fiddly and add too much excess farting about to whatever farting about is being done on the car.

 

At the risk of magicking up my troll, for rubber door and other seals I apply AutoGlym Bumper & Trim Gel or silicone oil to a 35mm cube of old clean sponge and the on to the seal.  Having put that I no longer fart about cleaning and maintaining the Fabia anywhere near as much as I used to fart about with cars in the past, not that I ever done it for the 'joy' (?!!?) of such stuck, good luck to those that enough such things but it wasn't really for me other than necessity.

 

Yes, GT85 is not silicone. I honestly don't know what it's made of other than it lubricates and has PTFE in. It sounds like WD40+ to me, which can only vbe a good thing.

For rubber care, I use this stuff, which seems to work pretty well.

39 minutes ago, EnterName said:

It sounds like WD40+ to me, which can only vbe a good thing.

It's not WD-40 Multi-Use and it is a good thing it isn't as GT85 is better than WD-40 Multi-Use.  As I put I remember using GT85 (before the American company bought it) and using WD-40 Multi-Use before that.

 

I've no idea if WD-40 Company has changed GT85 in anyway since they took it over but it stills seems very good to me (and way better than WD-40 Multi-Use).

 

Whether the WD-40 Specialist® Dry Lube with PTFE is as good or even the same stuff as GT85 I wouldn't know as I've never seen let alone tried it.

 

I can remember loyal VW owners recommending (VW?) Gummi-Pflege for use on droptop rubbers as they had issues with their convertible at the time then I looked for more reasonably priced alternatives at the time to discover Gummi-Pflege wasn't a formula or product or product name but rather Gummi-Pflege was just German for rubber care.  😄

 

Glad you get good results with Liqui Moly, I know the name for their (black) oil and stuff but have never used their products (that I can remember but might have).

 

Edited 3 March, 20233 yr by nta16

2 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I can remember loyal VW owners recommending (VW?) Gummi-Pflege for use on droptop rubbers as they had issues with their convertible at the time then I looked for more reasonably priced alternatives at the time to discover Gummi-Pflege wasn't a formula or product or product name but rather Gummi-Pflege was just German for rubber care.  😄

I'm filing this under "You learn something new every day." 😄