One thing I can't do without is the convex mirrors, a habit from when I drove trailers for a living years ago......so how about you guys???.....I know my wife prefers to turn around when backing up and turn her head when switching lanes..... :roll: .....women..... :wink: ( just kidding about the women comment.... :lol: )

I barely use my side mirrors... I'm quite used to just giving a quick look over my shoulder before changing lanes.

Drew

Well, I bought those little convex mirrors and I thought they were great until the other day when I backed into a newspaper box! I guess I should've just cranked my head around. :oops:

I purchased 2 little self adhesive rectangle convex mirrors and boy did they wipe out the blind spot issues!

The convex mirrors are necessary, as twice I've had very low cars (which can't be seen from an over the shoulder look because of the height of the windows) on the passenger side just shadow me in the blind spot. Without the convex mirrors I may not have seen them for a lane change or evasive move.

Has anyone found a convex mirror better than the the cheap $2 and $3 ones you see erverywhere?

[quote:06d28bd104="Cameraman"]Has anyone found a convex mirror better than the the cheap $2 and $3 ones you see erverywhere?[/quote:06d28bd104]

I will answer your question with a no...but I have one for you?....what's the difference ?....Personally I buy them for a dollar each normally at the checkout counter from any auto parts store and the clarity is as good as it gets....so paying more than a buck is IMO a waste of money....but I won't go there :wink:

The cheap ones corrode in no time. Besides, I appreciate good optics. Comes with the territory :wink:

i love the convex mirrors. i had them on my truck and recently bought them for my element and our other compact car (the compact had really, really small mirrors)

i haven't seen anything more than the 2 or 3 dollar ones at the local autozone or wal-mart.

i think they're a requirement. takes time to develop trust in such a little mirror...but once you do it's really convenient.

Hi all,

I never felt comfortable using those tiny round mirrors. While in one of those auto chain stores (don't remember which one) I found another type of convex mirror called Auxillary Mirrors. They clip on top of the side view mirror. You can also tilt the mirror up, down & side to side.

Had the small size on my Safari van on both sides for the past 5 years. They never moved & after all that time only had minor rusting on edges. Great for backing up, changing lanes, etc. I'm lost without them on my new E.

I found 2 places online that carry them. Autobarn.com has 2 sizes small & large. CampingWorld.com only has the small but better pricing.

Hope this help

The $2 Pep Boys crapola ones. I fully expect them to fall off or get nasty over winter.

http://mcguirk.org/BOO03/web/images/IMG_1779.jpg

I'm still scouring junkyards for larger mirrors that might fit on the E mirror mount. I tried the S10, but they droop down. One guy suggested F350 mirrors, I'll probably try those next.

PSM, thanks for the picture. I always wondered if they go on the outside or inside of the mirror. Know I see they do really good when placed towards the outside bottom corner. I need to get some of those because it is very hard to see low cars when they are beside me.

[quote:167eff7ce7="ElementalWon"] I need to get some of those because it is very hard to see low cars when they are beside me.[/quote:167eff7ce7]

One of the first things I discovered about my E was the need to set
the side mirrors much lower than I had in my sedan.

However, you also need the supplementary convex mirrors.
You'll get used to them.

I bought two small convex at Wal-Mart today for $0.97 each.

I like the ones in the picture posted above. We do not have Pep Boys here in St. Louis though....and I haven't been able to find that style here at any of the stores around here.....I may have to wait until I go up to Chicago. But I really need to do something about the blind spot....my husband thinks that I don't know how to drive, because I am always asking him "Can I get over? Is it clear?"

[quote:d213d2b17b="StLouisPenguin"] We do not have Pep Boys here in St. Louis though....and I haven't been able to find that style here at any of the stores around here.....I may have to wait until I go up to Chicago. But I really need to do something about the blind spot....my husband thinks that I don't know how to drive, because I am always asking him "Can I get over? Is it clear?"[/quote:d213d2b17b]

You may find this discussion on "Car Talk" helpful. I was pointed here in an earlier thread on this subject:

http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/2002/November/07.html

It's a real good treatise on how to set your mirrors.

BTW, I didn't find those nice mirrors at my local Pep Boys, either. Neither Manny, Moe, nor Jack was able to help. :(

I found those same mirrors in the picture at Advanced Auto. They came in a set of 2 for less than 2 bucks.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....thanks for the tip.....I think we have one of those here,I will check it out today!

I just got some of those .97 mirrors at Wally-World. They really do make a big difference. On a related note; a friend of mine also swears by them. He considers them so essential that he carries some with him for installation on rental cars. Sort of a $2.00 insurance policy, I guess.

Do the convex mirrors help with pedestrians? I haven't had any issues with other vehicles, but I've had two incidents with pedestrians while backing up. No one got even close to being hit but I still feel that if conditions had been a little different it might have been a bad day for everyone. What scares me is I feel I am being careful. I'm going to have reverse gear anxiety attacks. Someone was telling me about rearview mirrors that streach across the whole windshield. Has anyone tried these? Maybe I need one of those mini cameras that attaches to the rear of the car and displays the image on a screen inside.

There's a very helpful discussion about setting your mirrors on Car Talk.

It can be seen at:

http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/2002/November/07.html

I have a habit of backing into things anyway, so one day while I was cautiously backing up, looking into my little mirrors, I ran straight into a newspaper box. It was behind and slightly to the right. I was so cautios that I didn't back far enough out of the driveway :!:

I couldn't find the cool ones pictured in this post....but I went to Walmart and bought the .97 ones....installed them this morning, what a difference!

Thanks for all the great tips!

I've had my Element now almost a week and for the first time I had the back seats up. With those seats up I couldn't see anything on my right side so I'm wasting no time in getting those little convex mirrors. Definately a worthy purchase.

i didn't want to put the convex mirrors on because of... well, didn't want to put those funny little mirrors on my beautiful E. But in the end, i did and it's great. 1.39 each at pep boys. a friend of mine put the same ones on her civic years ago and they still look nice, okay a litte corroded along the edges, but not too noticeable. but then we live in SoCal where it's pretty temperate.

anyway, i agree with the posters above. even with adjusting my mirrors like the car talk guys said AND looking over my shoulder (those drives training classes in high school are still with me twenty years later) i almost hit two very low profile cars (once a mini cooper, and once a bug). so i promptly went out and attached the little mirrors. so now those little buggers, excuse the pun, are within sight.

[quote:a0b13e546c="Bart Thomas"]There's a very helpful discussion about setting your mirrors on Car Talk.

It can be seen at:

http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Archive/2002/November/07.html[/quote:a0b13e546c]

Bart- great link! Wish i'd seen it before i stuck a convex mirror on my driver's side rearview.

To all- check out that link, it makes sense and is amazing at how uneffective "traditional" mirror placement is. I've been using this placement for 2 solid weeks now, and love it.

I found the blind spots on my "E" very daunting, especially when trying to change lanes on the interstate. I installed some rectangular convex mirrors (Auto Zone) and they are great! They even look like they belong there because they are square rather than round. I now use them almost exclusively to change lanes. WHEN IS HONDA GOING TO OFFER US SOME CONVEX REPLACEMENT MIRRORS?? The "E" is the only car I have ever owned in over 40 years of driving that I have ever backed into something with. It was a dumpster and it cut my rear bumper. The good news was that the whole center panel of the rear bumper was only $40. Be careful! By the way, I now see another Element every day while driving here in South Florida. Sometimes three! :D

I installed the convex mirrors on the outside top of the mirror, wow what a difference. Even my wife who was not to thrilled to get them on after 1 day came home and said they made the biggest difference with regards to the blind spots, of which the E has a lot of.