For quite a few weeks, the left-hand wing mirror on my car has been making a rather unsettling clicking/knocking noise every time it folds out.

And at lunchtime today it decided it was finally going to give up the ghost. It folds in, but doesn’t fold out. Repairing it shouldn’t be too difficult, or so I thought. It seems as if the linkage between the motor and the wing mirror joint has decided to become dislodged, or broken at worst.

So, armed with my trusty Torx screwdrivers, and a few other choice items from my toolbox, I went out to change its mind.

Or so I thought.

Imagine a wing mirror. Not a complex piece of equipment, really. Just a bit of glass with some tin foil glued to the back, right? But add to that a heated mirror element. And the remote adjustment motor. And the powerfold motor. Suddenly it’s actually quite complex. And so Land Rover, presumably to make things easier and quicker (and not to raise revenue through repairs), decided the whole thing should be one atomic unserviceable assembly. Yes, the external door trim, the motors, the heating element, the wiring connectors and the mounting pillar. They’re all part of one untouchable lump.

One untouchable lump that costs £169 + VAT from your nearest Land Rover parts centre. Hmm, I think not.

I’m not paying that much money for a wing mirror, only for it to make my other wing mirror look old and dirty. It would bother me. Really, it would. I think I’ll try finding one from a breaker’s yard, or something. Presumably there have been car accidents where the passenger wing mirror hasn’t been broken..?