Just bought a 2013 Leaf, rear-view mirror question

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ivh

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2017
Messages
9
Hello! I'm new to the club, I got a 2013 Leaf a few weeks ago and very happy with it so far. It's the basic S but with the fast-charge and rear-camera. Someone imported it from California to Sweden earlier this year, so I'm exepcting to lose the first capacity bar soon in this colder climate.

Anyway, the reason I write is one of the few things I find annoying. The outside rear-view mirrors, both left and right, are very magnifying instead of wide-angle, which means that there is no way to use them for seeing cars in adjacent lanes. Is this an American thing? Will a European replacement at least be flat instead of magnifying? Are there off-brand wide-angle replacements?

thanks & cheers
thomas
 
I also have a 2013 Leaf (US version) and the left door mirror (driver's door exterior mirror) is completely flat. It's not a wide angle mirror like the right one (passenger's door exterior mirror).

Here in the US, I think the left mirror is required to be flat. If not a legal requirement, it is a pattern that is universally followed.

On the other hand, I find the side mirrors to be small and oddly shaped, and a bit hard to see much in. (But to be fair, I'm comparing them to the giant mirrors in my Chevy 2500 diesel truck, which are so large they can block my view of an entire car.) Could it be you are just having trouble with the size and/or shape of the driver's mirror?

ETA: Hmm. After re-reading your post, I think you're saying you'd prefer the driver's mirror to be curved, like the right one (is that common in Sweden?). A US replacement would be flat, but I'd bet the left mirror from a UK or Japanese version would be curved, since that would normally be the passenger side.
 
Someone imported it from California to Sweden earlier this year, so I'm expecting to lose the first capacity bar soon in this colder climate.

Unless it's right on the very edge of losing a bar, and you plan to Quick Charge a lot, I'd expect the opposite: for the 12th bar to hold on at least until you get some Hot Summer weather...
 
LeftieBiker said:
Unless it's right on the very edge of losing a bar, and you plan to Quick Charge a lot, I'd expect the opposite: for the 12th bar to hold on at least until you get some Hot Summer weather...

Well, that certainly would be a bonus. My daily commute takes the battery from 80% to 20% which is good for long life, as far as I have read so far.
 
brotherjethro said:
ETA: Hmm. After re-reading your post, I think you're saying you'd prefer the driver's mirror to be curved, like the right one (is that common in Sweden?). A US replacement would be flat, but I'd bet the left mirror from a UK or Japanese version would be curved, since that would normally be the passenger side.

I'd have to check with a ruler but I'm quite sure both are magnifying. But since you say there are at least flat replacements, I might get one of those. I wouldn't mind wide-angle on both sides, but no, this is not common in Sweden either.

(I'm comparing to a 2009 Yaris which had no huge mirrors but much better field of view, also better visibibility all around.)
 
ivh said:
Hello! I'm new to the club, I got a 2013 Leaf a few weeks ago and very happy with it so far. It's the basic S but with the fast-charge and rear-camera. Someone imported it from California to Sweden earlier this year, so I'm exepcting to lose the first capacity bar soon in this colder climate.

Anyway, the reason I write is one of the few things I find annoying. The outside rear-view mirrors, both left and right, are very magnifying instead of wide-angle, which means that there is no way to use them for seeing cars in adjacent lanes. Is this an American thing?
Beats me. FWIW, I live in California and have only ever leased ('13 Leaf SV w/both packages) and owned a Leaf (used '13 SV w/premium) in California. I noticed nothing unusual about either of the outside mirrors vs. all other cars I've owned.

The used '13 I mentioned is my current and primary car. I've put more than 24K miles on it and just under 24K miles on my former leased one.

I've been using the technique at https://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot since maybe late 2003 on all my cars. My mirrors are basically turned pretty far outwards. I had to due to the huge blind spots in the corners of my former 04 Nissan 350Z that I got in Sept 03. As such, I got used to this and do this on every car I drive.
 
EU mirrors are straight, no distortion.
Leaf has a nice mirror design. Big enough.
Also the only right way to have mirrors adjusted is so that you
can see one door handle tip (and no door) without moving your head.
Leaf's mirrors are have a corner. Exactly at that corner should one see
crome handle.
 
I don't doubt that they are stock mirrors, the question was whether "stock" means different things on either side of the Atlantic. :D

Anyway here are two pictures with the the phone held at the same ruler distance. Quite sure I'm not imagining that the phone fills a larger portion of the left mirror than the right - the right seems flat to me so left is magnifying.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XucWYcMjvNLLoIwx2
 
arnis said:
EU mirrors are straight, no distortion.
Interesting. https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/in-defense-of-convex-drivers-side-mirrors/ claims otherwise.
Anyone who has driven a car in Europe knows these mirrors. In contrast to the United States, where vehicles must have flat (or planar) outside mirrors on the driver’s side, European cars can have convex, wide-angle mirrors on both sides of their vehicles.
...

The petitioners, which include General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, argue that drivers with convex mirrors on both sides will have a much wider field of view. The companies support the idea that the United States simply adopt the European rules for driver’s-side mirrors.

In the United States, drivers and automakers can install convex mirrors as long as the mirrors also have the required flat portion, as some manufacturers, including Ford, have done.

In Europe, either flat or convex driver’s-side mirrors are permissible, yet for all practical purposes, only convex mirrors are used. Having driven for years in Europe, I have never seen a car with a flat driver’s mirror.
I will go out and check my Leaf later tonight to compare at least the appearance of the mirrors. From glancing at your pics, those look like stock '13 Leaf mirrors to me. The wide angle mirror on the passenger side is standard practice and the verbiage on it is standard, as well.
 
There is a very simple fix to this that will make everybody happy. I have been using it for years.

Yes, all side view mirrors, especially the drivers side, do not give a wide angle of view. They do allow for some blind spots, especially of other cars that are in the lane next to you and close to you. I have been driving for almost 50 years, and mirrors have always been that way.

As a driver, before you change lanes, it is your responsibility to verify by turning your head that there are no cars in your way. What I have ALWAYS done when I get a new car is get a small round 1.5-2" fisheye mirror, and stick it on the top left corner of the drivers side view mirror. It is a life saver, and costs less than $2. I think all cars should have this.

We cannot expect that the car companies or the government should be the ones to solve our problems or protect us from ourselves. So we must be inventive to adapt the world to our needs. SO, stick on a mirror, put a full size spare tire, and a good jack in the trunk, and customize your car to your needs....
 
There are no blind spots with most cars if mirrors are adjusted properly.
This has been the case for ages: people pretty much ALWAYS see overlapping rear view.
Which is wrong. Interior mirror and exterior mirror areas should not overlap. The end.
My Leaf does not blabla-idiocracy legal BS written on the mirror. Including warning about hot surface :lol:

cleanup-blindspots-photo-519796-s-original.jpg
 
I agree, arnis, that this is the way to set mirrors, I've been doing it for years, but the narrow view made it awkward, almost confusing.

Luckily, powersurge points out the solution. I'll just get one of those stick-ons instead of looking for replacement glass.

Cheers!
 
I checked my mirrors this morning and I think the OP's are stock US mirrors. Mine have the symbol for heated mirrors as well as the standard verbiage on the passenger side one. I guess we do things differently here given what NYT says.
 
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