Folding Mirrors

[181962]

What is the purpose for the electric folding mirrors? I have truck with manual folding which I only fold if I go through a car wash. My wife's 2019 Mazda folds everytime the door locks and is used by her to verify the doors locked. What is their real purpose?

Good question. Yeah, there's Asian and European tight spaces, maybe some U.S. urban situations, but I think it is a fair guess that the preponderance of folks commenting on this forum are U.S. suburban dwellers such as myself. I don't see many people talking in kilometers.

For U.S. suburban dwellers, one application I could foresee is if you have a narrow garage with a bunch of yard equipment, garbage cans, whatnot, lining the walls. That might make life a little easier getting between and around the vehicle or vehicles.

There's one other concious reason I can think of that somebody might put these mirrors on auto fold other than "because it's there". I'm loathe to say this, and I'm likely to get blowback, but it is a way to signal to those around you that you have an upper trim level.

You can drop over $40k on a Signature with options and tax, and there really isn't much to distinguish its appearance from lower trims. There's a little badging on the back and the upgraded rims and tires, but the coloring of the base charcoal rims, oddly enough, is actually more in line with the upgraded rim coloring on other makes and models these days.

 

[DwightFrye]

The more gimmicks that are added to a vehicle, the greater the chance is of failure and of course that usually occurs about the time the warranty expires. I have my mirrors set to only fold upon the manual control on the door panel. I run them back and forth every couple of months just to make sure that they still work. The only reason that I could see for ever folding them in would be for example if parking in an area where there is a good chance of someone walking between the parked cars not paying attention (like looking at their phone) and walking right into the mirror.
On my previous vehicles that had manually folding mirrors I just pushed them inward when parking in a high risk area.

 

[yrwei52]

Good question. Yeah, there's Asian and European tight spaces, maybe some U.S. urban situations, but I think it is a fair guess that the preponderance of folks commenting on this forum are U.S. suburban dwellers such as myself. I don't see many people talking in kilometers.

For U.S. suburban dwellers, one application I could foresee is if you have a narrow garage with a bunch of yard equipment, garbage cans, whatnot, lining the walls. That might make life a little easier getting between and around the vehicle or vehicles.

There's one other concious reason I can think of that somebody might put these mirrors on auto fold other than "because it's there". I'm loathe to say this, and I'm likely to get blowback, but it is a way to signal to those around you that you have an upper trim level.

You can drop over $40k on a Signature with options and tax, and there really isn't much to distinguish its appearance from lower trims. There's a little badging on the back and the upgraded rims and tires, but the coloring of the base charcoal rims, oddly enough, is actually more in line with the upgraded rim coloring on other makes and models these days.

Some CX-5 Sig. owners also use the power folding mirrors to verify the doors are locked by Auto Lock function as it’s not 100% reliable.

 

[181962]

The more gimmicks that are added to a vehicle, the greater the chance is of failure and of course that usually occurs about the time the warranty expires. I have my mirrors set to only fold upon the manual control on the door panel. I run them back and forth every couple of months just to make sure that they still work. The only reason that I could see for ever folding them in would be for example if parking in an area where there is a good chance of someone walking between the parked cars not paying attention (like looking at their phone) and walking right into the mirror.
On my previous vehicles that had manually folding mirrors I just pushed them inward when parking in a high risk area.

That makes perfect sense to me. It would a good idea to work them periodically to keep them from getting gummed up with whatever junk might get in there.

I may be in the 1% of buyers who works their way through the entire manual figuring out what I have exactly, testing what can be tested, figuring out what I want to use and what I don't for lack of appealing utility. I'm nine days in on the vehicle with a ways to go.

However, I've found this manual to have been written by a robot who reverse engineered the vehicle into human language and left out a lot of important stuff it couldn't manage to translate.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯
However, I've found this manual to have been written by a robot who reverse engineered the vehicle into human language and left out a lot of important stuff it couldn't manage to translate.

Or got translated directly by Google from original Japanese owner’s manual!

 

[181962]

Some CX-5 Sig. owners also use the power folding mirrors to verify the doors are locked by Auto Lock function as it’s not 100% reliable.

That was noted by CX-FIVER vis a vis his wife, though I don't know if that was a Signature. Dysfunction is unfortuante. If the manual was better you might find there's a way to simplify it. I discovered in my newly purchased Touring, after head fakes from the manual, that when I lock with any of the methods the four side doors locks but not the manual liftgate. When I walk out of range the liftgate locks; when I walk back in range it unlocks. That's pretty efficient and so far reliable. Maybe there are settings to dumb down a Sig into something instilling more confidence.

 

[181962]

Or got translated directly by Google from original Japanese owner’s manual!

There's no broken English I've detected so we probably can't blame Google. Seriously, there are two ways to write any kind of user manual, looking from the inside out (like this) or from the outside in, if you get my drift.

I spent several decades designing custom enterprise software applications, user workaround procedures for stuff too expensive to automate, before that a business analyst and before that an actual user of similar applications and manager of such users, with a lot of manual procedure design mixed in. I was even a rule writer for a condo association, though more often than not it was stopping other people from writing poorly thought through rules.

You could say that's most of a working life and then some writing instructions, procedures and rules of one sort or another. Generally speaking, you're going to get a better written product looking at it from the outside-in from the user perspective, than inside-out from the technical perspective. All other things being equal, if you're going to write a user manual you'll get a better product from the user-tester than the engineer who built the thing. It looks like they went the wrong way with this, the worst vehicle manual I've ever laid my hands on.

 

[GTA-CX9]

Generally speaking, you're going to get a better written product looking at it from the outside-in from the user perspective, than inside-out from the technical perspective.

Honestly this runs through my mind every day. Every. Day.

 

[GTA-CX9]

if you have a narrow garage with a bunch of yard equipment, garbage cans, whatnot, lining the walls. That might make life a little easier getting between and around the vehicle or vehicles.

I'm loathe to say this, and I'm likely to get blowback, but it is a way to signal to those around you that you have an upper trim level.

Narrow garage here. As is, I park one car nose in and one rear in. Then the drivers can get out in the middle area of garage. No room to exit on outer walls, passenger enters or exits car before you pull in. And thats with nothing along one side of wall and just few inches of space lost on other due to tires flush against wall. Not a lot of room to play with, so I'm thankful they fold. I could see one day the boy on a bike taking an unfolded mirror out with his head.

If both are nose in, and mirrors unfolded, I'd not have much space to move my skinny frame between the mirrors with mower etc.

And I'll admit, when I first saw them fold, high end vehicle visions went thru my head. It wasn't that I liked mine folded and other CX9 trims didn't. It was more I have always noticed luxury brands fold, and I liked that mine similarly did... But I'll be first to admit I have a vain side to my personality.

BUT absolutely the biggest benefit for me, as mentioned couple times above, is the confirmation all is locked. That lock beep could be a bit louder. I'm not like my attention seeking father in law who hits his button eight times or more so the horn goes eight times...he's THAT guy...but I'd like just a bit louder so I can be sure i'm locked. With noise, and not the greatest hearing, I just find I'm not sure until i see mirrors in.

 

[181962]

Narrow garage here. As is, I park one car nose in and one rear in. Then the drivers can get out in the middle area of garage. No room to exit on outer walls, passenger enters or exits car before you pull in. And thats with nothing along one side of wall and just few inches of space lost on other due to tires flush against wall. Not a lot of room to play with, so I'm thankful they fold. I could see one day the boy on a bike taking an unfolded mirror out with his head.

If both are nose in, and mirrors unfolded, I'd not have much space to move my skinny frame between the mirrors with mower etc.

And I'll admit, when I first saw them fold, high end vehicle visions went thru my head. It wasn't that I liked mine folded and other CX9 trims didn't. It was more I have always noticed luxury brands fold, and I liked that mine similarly did... But I'll be first to admit I have a vain side to my personality.

BUT absolutely the biggest benefit for me, as mentioned couple times above, is the confirmation all is locked. That lock beep could be a bit louder. I'm not like my attention seeking father in law who hits his button eight times or more so the horn goes eight times...he's THAT guy...but I'd like just a bit louder so I can be sure i'm locked. With noise, and not the greatest hearing, I just find I'm not sure until i see mirrors in.

That makes so much sense I won't bother to elaborate.

As for the lock beep, the next time you're at the dealer you might ask if there's a setting accessible only to service techs that will make it louder. Even my 2004 Sienna had tech-only setting that were listed in the back of the manual. I'm not seeing this adjustment in the user customization in the back of the manual but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The dealer might charge something if he can hook you up.

I keep meaning to check on the turn signal click in my 2014 Sienna but keep forgetting to ask when I'm at the dealer. With highway speed wind noise and the radio on I often don't hear it and on occasion find myself driving geezer-style with the signal clicking away. I am in fact a geezer but why be stupid about it.

I may ask about the same thing for my Mazda. It's only a shade louder than the Sienna.

 

[RedBaron]

I may ask about the same thing for my Mazda. It's only a shade louder than the Sienna.

I was just reminded of this the other day. If the music is turned up at all, you cannot hear the turn signal 'clicks'

 

[181962]

I was just reminded of this the other day. If the music is turned up at all, you cannot hear the turn signal 'clicks'

It could be we both have hearing deficiency in that frequency range. Or maybe not.

I just picked up the phone and tried calling service at a couple of local Mazda dealers to ask if the turn signal click and the locking beeps can be made louder. The call lines are backed up at both places. It's 5:00 PM, so that figures. I'll try again in the next couple of days.

I'm not confident I'll hit on a guy who knows off the top of his head. Few buyers realize modern cars have tech-only settings along these lines so I doubt they get many requests. I'm going to be asking a dealer I did not buy from since I went 200 miles to fetch mine. They'd probably charge me so I'll ask about the cost if they can in fact do it. Others might get comped.

 

[Sig cx-5]

...I just picked up the phone and tried calling service at a couple of local Mazda dealers to ask if the turn signal click and the locking beeps can be made louder...

There are two settings for turn signal volume in the menu, at least on our Sig. I just ran across them while looking for something else.

 

[181962]

There are two settings for turn signal volume in the menu, at least on our Sig. I just ran across them while looking for something else.

Thanks. I just checked and found it on my Touring. It's under Settings-Vehicle on the touch screen. It has a High setting and a Low setting. Mine was already on High. It could use a Highest because High ain't very loud. I guess that's about it.

That lock beep could be a bit louder.

There is a setting for that on the same screen as the turn signal volume adjustment:
Settings-Vehicle. I didn't check it or test it since I have no problem with mine but you might find a higher setting there.

 

[Unobtanium]

Good question. Yeah, there's Asian and European tight spaces, maybe some U.S. urban situations, but I think it is a fair guess that the preponderance of folks commenting on this forum are U.S. suburban dwellers such as myself. I don't see many people talking in kilometers.

For U.S. suburban dwellers, one application I could foresee is if you have a narrow garage with a bunch of yard equipment, garbage cans, whatnot, lining the walls. That might make life a little easier getting between and around the vehicle or vehicles.

There's one other concious reason I can think of that somebody might put these mirrors on auto fold other than "because it's there". I'm loathe to say this, and I'm likely to get blowback, but it is a way to signal to those around you that you have an upper trim level.

You can drop over $40k on a Signature with options and tax, and there really isn't much to distinguish its appearance from lower trims. There's a little badging on the back and the upgraded rims and tires, but the coloring of the base charcoal rims, oddly enough, is actually more in line with the upgraded rim coloring on other makes and models these days.

To.
Flex.
On.
The.
Poors.

 

[Unobtanium]

I was just reminded of this the other day. If the music is turned up at all, you cannot hear the turn signal 'clicks'

Hence the visual indicator as well.

 

[181962]

Hence the visual indicator as well.

Let's say you're on an expressway in MRCC or conventional cruise control with music turned up over the wind noise. You pass on the left, signal, then move back to the right, while maintaining the cruise set point speed the whole time.

I don't don't know about you but I have no reason to look at the speedometer in that scenario so there's no particual reason to be looking down to see a visual indicator.

This is precisely the situation where I've found myself in geezer mode, forgetting to flip it off or not flicking it hard enough, tooling along with the signal on. That High volume setting for the turn signal could defintely be louder.

I also have a bead bag-type holder for my Garmin nav that sits on the dash in front of my face when I'm using it. I look at that for my speed, not down, kind of a heads up display. Even when not in cruise I could go quite a ways without looking down.

 

[Mazdiod2]

I use the signal's 'press to get three blinks' instead of locking the lever to flash continually.

 

[wlong01]

Let's say you're on an expressway in MRCC or conventional cruise control with music turned up over the wind noise. You pass on the left, signal then move back to the right, while maintaining the cruise set point speed the whole time.

I don't don't know about you but I have no reason to look at the speedometer in that scenario so there's no particual reason to be looking down to see a visual indicator.

This is precisely the situation where I've found myself in geezer mode, forgetting to flip it off or not flicking it hard enough, tooling along with the signal on. That High volume setting for the turn signal could defintely be louder.

I also have a bead bag-type holder for my Garmin nav that sits on the dash in front of my face when I'm using it. I look at that for my speed, not down, kind of a heads up display. Even when not in cruise I could go quite a ways without looking down.

You should of bought a Reserve or Signature and you wouldn't have these problems.

 

[181962]

I use the signal's 'press to get three blinks' instead of locking the lever to flash continually.

That has limited use. I can't tell you how many times I've been passing a car and some NASCAR wanabee comes barrelling up to my bumper. Before I could get over after passing he darts into the right lane threating my bumper and the other guy.

I'm now in the habit of putting on my blinker before I clear the car I'm passing to let the idiots know if they pull that stunt we both might die. I'm still careful to make sure he's not a transcendental idiot who cuts me off anyway. It works. I've not encounted one of those super idiots yet.

That takes a lot more than 3 clicks. I can only envision using that on an open road--you, the other guy and a lot of empty space around. Then the signal is just good practice (and maybe the law) but not really meaningful.