Yahoo Finance Wing mirror repairs costing van drivers £665 million
Almost two-thirds of van drives have had their wing mirrors clipped when driving along narrow streets or while parked, costing them millions in repairs.
It’s according to a new study from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which found that 62 per cent of the 1,000 drivers it spoke to have had their wing mirrors damaged at some point while over a third admitted that it had happened to them multiple times. As a result, the hidden cost of wing mirror repairs – including the housing and glass – comes to £665 million over a van driver’s lifetime.
The most commonly-cited cause of the damage is driving down a narrow street, followed by on-street parking and public car parks.
Replacing a wing mirror is the most common repair that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle technicians have to deal with each year, with glass and mirrors being 10 times more likely to be repaired than any other part.
James Allitt, head of aftersales for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “As one of the most common repair jobs, we know that a broken wing mirror is all too common for van drivers and leads to frustrating downtime.
“The impact of wing mirror damage on finances and business operations shows how important it is to manually fold in wing mirrors, and how cost-effective automatic folding mirrors can be to van drivers and fleet managers – that’s why they’re fitted as standard on our latest models.”
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles operates a Mobile Service Clinic as part of its aftersales package, which allows them to repair issues – including wing mirrors – quickly, minimising the amount of time that a van needs to spend off the road.
