How do power mirrors actually work?

If you drive around Hamilton a bit, especially along Ulster Street or through the stop-start madness around Te Rapa, you’ll know how important those side mirrors are—especially with some of the windy days we get here. Power or electric mirrors just make life easier, letting you adjust your view with the push of a button instead of fighting with a stuck mirror in the middle of a rainy Hamilton morning.

Most cars these days—from trusty old Toyota Corollas and Honda Jazzes to newer Kia Sorentos and even the odd SsangYong Tivoli or Peugeot 308—come with electric mirrors as standard. Inside, it’s pretty simple: each mirror has a couple of tiny electric motors. One moves it up and down, the other side to side. You control it from a switch on your driver’s door, which connects back to the battery through the fuses. Flick the switch, and the current gets those motors moving—easy as.

Learn more about how power mirrors work >

If you’re heading down Grey Street or doing the school run out to Cambridge, having your mirrors right is a must. Helps with merging onto SH1 or creeping through Borman Road’s speed bumps in Flagstaff. More importantly, you’ll need working mirrors to pass your WOF in Hamilton or anywhere else across the Waikato.

Car mirror WOF requirements >

Why do electric side mirrors stuff up?

  • Dodgy wiring or connections: Ever had a Nissan Leaf or Suzuki Swift in the shop where a corroded connector or dodgy wire was stopping the mirror from working? That’s pretty common, especially after a few wet Hamilton winters.
  • Blown fuse: Nearly every week, someone brings in a Mazda Demio or Audi A4 with a blown fuse, and suddenly both mirrors stop adjusting. Quick fix, but you need the right fuse.
  • Faulty switch: That little knob on the driver’s door, some brands like Renault Koleos or older BMW 3 Series, those switches can wear out from daily use.
  • Mirror motor carked it: Eventually, the motors inside the mirror give up. We’ve seen this heaps on Toyota Estima and Skoda Superb models that have run up big Ks.
  • Wiring harness damage: Seen this a few times after a minor scrape down Rototuna Road, or after someone squeezed through a tight gap in Morrinsville. A bit of impact and the wiring gets tugged or pinched.
  • Control module faults: A few late-model Hyundais and Volvos use little control modules for the mirrors. When these fail, nothing works until it’s replaced.
  • Physical damage: Funnily enough, we get plenty of cracked mirror housings from drivers clipping letterboxes in Chartwell or brushing the walls at The Base. Once that happens, the electrics are pretty vulnerable to damage too.

Mirrors stuck folded in? What to try

It’s a pain when your mirrors are jammed inwards after a trip through rough Te Awamutu roads or a run-in with a car park post in Hillcrest. Here’s what we’d do:

  • Check the fuse: Pop open your fuse box (grab the owner’s manual if you’re not sure which is which). If that fuse has blown, swap it for the right size and see if your mirrors spring back to life.
  • Try manual adjustment: Some mirrors, especially on imports like Daihatsu Boon or Citroen C3, you can manually push them back into position. If that works, wiring or the motor might be the culprit.
  • Bring it in to get checked—If that doesn’t sort it, just bring the car in. One of our techs will trace the issue. Sometimes it’s a five-minute fix, other times we’ll need to swap in a new part, but we’ll show you what we’re doing either way.

Power mirror repairs and replacement in Hamilton

Whether you’re cruising from Ngaruawahia or ducking into Hamilton East, your mirrors need to be on point—especially with changing traffic, random potholes, and all the action around town. At Grimmer Motors, this stuff is our bread-and-butter. We’ll test, diagnose, and fix everything from stuck motors to blown fuses and frazzled wiring. We’ve sorted plenty for local drivers—everyone from first-car learners to folks bringing in family wagons or their hybrid for a regular car service Hamilton check.

If your power mirrors are playing up, give us a bell at Grimmer Motors. We’ll sort you out so you can get a clear view on the road, no matter the weather or where you’re headed.