When I first jumped into the Jeep Wrangler I spent five minutes looking for the power mirror controls. We've come to take some modern features for granted.
But the Jeep is old-fashioned in that retro-cool kind of way. You still have to adjust the mirrors with your thumb...
It works well for the driver side mirror. But the right side is out of reach. I have to climb over to adjust the passenger side. Then get back into the driver seat and make sure it's lined up properly. Then climb over again to readjust. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm not that lazy.
But you get used to being able to make slight adjustments while you are driving. It's not practical or safe to try to unbuckle and climb over the seats at a red light.
The one real advantage to manually-adjusted mirrors is that it doesn't lower for you when you are trying to park. That feature always bugs me.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 4,868 miles
ahightower says:
11:48 AM, 08/13/07
"It's not practical or safe to try to unbuckle and climb over the seats at a red light."
I guess someone has to say it. Adjust your mirrors before you leave the parking lot.
dderosa says:
11:59 AM, 08/13/07
Duh. And some times you realize you want to readjust them. --Donna
jriz says:
12:13 PM, 08/13/07
I also discovered the manual mirror control when driving the Wrangler. Luckily I had a friend riding shotgun and asked him to push down the mirror with his thumb. I was surprised he didn't question this, but his late Jeep Cherokee was missing its rearview mirror for several years (actually it was in the trunk), so he probably didn't think anything of it.
I've also found that a lot of the auto-down mirrors can be deactivated by placing the L-R mirror selector in the middle position.
dderosa says:
12:15 PM, 08/13/07
Thanks Riz, I'll have to try that. --Donna
carfreak8394 says:
12:23 PM, 08/13/07
"Duh. And some times you realize you want to readjust them. --Donna"
ahightower was just trying to help you.
You don't need to be rude about it.
autoboy16 says:
01:34 PM, 08/13/07
Our expedition has that feature. If you cycle through the trip computer, you can turn off the mirrors. It also allows you to turn on or off:
- the automatic headlamp off delay and set the time
- the rear parking sensors
- the memory seat easy entry/exit (seat slides back)
and some other things.
-Cj
ahightower says:
06:14 PM, 08/13/07
"ahightower was just trying to help you.
You don't need to be rude about it."
Thanks bro, but actually I was just being a pain in the butt... I pick on Donna too much.
I do a lot of minor mirror adjustments too, especially if it's not a car I own and drive every day.
dderosa says:
07:00 PM, 08/13/07
We switch cars so often here. I'm always adjusting the seats slightly and then I find I have to change the mirrors.
It's amazing how quickly we get used to modern conveniences. My first few cars had manual mirrors. But I was the only driver so it was rare that I had to make adjustments. --Donna
priuscrusher says:
03:22 AM, 08/14/07
It's a Jeep. Didn't I read in a survey last month that Jeep is the least desirable manufacturer?
ahightower says:
06:18 AM, 08/14/07
I often regret not having the memory function for the power seats, mirrors, and pedals in our Yukon. But it was another $1200 packaged with the sunroof which I didn't want. My wife is 5'1", and I'm 6'3". She's the primary driver, but I drive it on the weekends, and it takes a few minutes to get everything just the way I like it. I move the pedals all the way down, the seat all the way back, adjust the recline, steering wheel, and mirrors. It would be nice if it did all that for me as soon as I hit the unlock button on my key fob. (Well, not all of it, there is no power steering column available in any trim level.)
While I'm at it, remote start would be nice, to give the AC a little head start in this 105 degree heat. Okay, somebody call the waaambulance.
greenpony says:
11:15 AM, 08/14/07
"Okay, somebody call the waaambulance." - lol. This suits this blog post (and all the responses) very well. These conveniences have become so commonplace that we forget how to live without them. How many people have slammed on the brakes in a non-ABS-equipped vehicle only to have the tires lock up? Or forgotten to turn on your headlights at dusk in a non-automatic-headlight vehicle? Or fumbled around for the cruise control at the start of a long trip, only to find that your rental isn't so luxuriously equipped?
By the way, Donna, is that picture a representative view of what you actually see when you look out the side mirror? Seems like the cross section is relatively small...
dderosa says:
11:21 AM, 08/14/07
Yes, I took that at a red light. Of course, the angle is where I'm holding the camera, not my eye view. But the mirrors are relatively narrow compared to some other vehicles. --Donna