The mishap came as a bit of a surprise. The road from Torla to Aínsa in Aragon is a secondary road but a good one and we were pottering along in the sunshine, enjoying the views over the Rio Ara and of the villages perched on hilltops. The road has a white line down the centre but the carriageways are on the narrow side and the light traffic was driving considerately giving enough space to oncoming traffic.
Coming towards us were two massive white motorhomes in convoy. The leading motorhome was taking up more than his fair share of the road and we moved over to the edge of the road to ensure everyone could pass by safely. We assumed the big guy would do the same but it seemed he too had been watching Game of Thrones and fancied a bit of wing mirror jousting with our Blue Bus. Bang! We both cursed him as our passenger side wing mirror was slammed inwards and the glass broke.
We know this isn’t a tragedy, it is really just one of those things that will happen to lots of people in campervans. Those big wing mirrors are a perfect target after all and this is the first time we have broken a wing mirror in our 13 years of having a ‘van. The idiot in the motorhome didn’t stop – to be honest there wasn’t really anywhere safe to stop – and we limped along for a couple of kilometres until we found a lay-by to pull in to. Shaken we gave each other a hug and investigated the damage. The glass of the main mirror was shattered but fortunately the small blind spot mirror at the bottom was still intact. The mirror no longer responded to being moved. Our only consolation was that the big white motorhome would most likely have the same damage to his wing mirror and we hoped his replacement mirror was even more expensive than ours.
Our Renault has no internal central mirror, so the wing mirrors are essential. We had a go at fixing a shaving mirror we carry in to the housing of the wing mirror to help the driver see behind but we couldn’t get this to work. We have since found that you can buy temporary ‘mirrors’ and may invest in one or two of these. After some thought and consideration we felt it was safe to drive using just the blind spot mirror for the remaining 25 kms to Aínsa. Although this mirror is small it functioned pretty well.
A call to our breakdown sorted out a garage that was expecting us and the mechanics there spent some time ensuring they were ordering the correct mirror for our Renault. The next day it took them 15 minutes to fit the new wing mirror and it cost us around £200! An expensive jousting session.
Back on the road again 
You can get over stick mirrors from Amazon or eBay..we carry a spare one of these..every handy and only around a tenner from eBay..food for thought nexttrip out..take care. Safe travels
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Thanks and yes. We didn’t realise these existed until after the jousting. We will be buying a spare just in case there is a next time. We constantly live and learn! Safe travels to you too.
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Hello, I just came across your post on a blog, do you know which stick on mirrors are best for a Fiat Ducato type van? Any clues would be great.
Thanks
Liz
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Hello. Our van is a Renault, so I can’t help specifically. We found the temporary stick on mirrors on Ebay, they weren’t expensive but we feel reassured that we have them. For a Fiat Ducato you can get these – http://www.mirrorguard.co.uk/ – that will help to protect your wing mirrors. It is frustrating that no one makes them for the Renault Master. Good luck!
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That happened to us twice within our first few months of owning our van! Both times were on narrow Devon roads, and likewise neither of the other drivers stopped.
Luckily we found that we were able to buy replacements for only £27.50 from Euro Car Parts. So after the second time, we also bought a spare mirror for each side, which we haven’t needed, yet!
Sorry to hear yours was so expensive, was that simply because it was for a Renault in Spain?
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Goodness you were unlucky. It was more expensive because we were at a dealer. At home we would have bought on line. We’ve not really got room to carry spares but will get the temporary glass things as we’re lost without mirrors:-) Hope you two are okay.
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Ah, of course! Thinking about it, the mirrors we got weren’t genuine Ford parts, so I guess that made them considerably cheaper.
We’re ok thank you, still near Norwich, staying in Nick’s sister’s annexe, kicking our heels somewhat whilst we wait to get through some medical appointments. Then we’ll be off southward as soon as we can be, intending to be in Italy for Christmas again. Keeping a close eye on all things brexit though, as we’re hoping to still be over in Europe until the summer, and don’t want to fall foul of any new regulations which might come into force….
Hope you two are well too!
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Well we can live in hope that the whole Brexit palaver and how that will affect us all will at least be clear by next April – can’t we? 🙂
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Hopefully sooner than April! One of our main worries is actually whether Bramble’s Pet Paaport will be useable after the 29th March. If the existing treaties aren’t sorted out that’ll be our main reason for heading home early. If it wasn’t for that we might be quite happy to sit and watch it all unfold from a distance!
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