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Does anyone pull in/out of garage w/mirrors folded?

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Novamomof2

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
How hard is it to do this? We were going to buy a 2020 EXL but it wouldn’t fit through our garage. (We have a 2014 that barely fits.) After months of exploring what other cars would fit (and not liking what I found) I’m now wondering if I splurge on Elite w/power folding mirrors could I get it in the garage?

Husband says it would be too difficult to do routinely and I’ll inevitably hit. He could very well be right. Anyone do this? I have a 96” garage door but because of trim it’s realistically a few inches less.
 
#6 ·
I have the elite and use the button to fold with a few inches to spare coming in to the garage. leave them folded when parked. Unfold after pressing ignition then reverse till same few inches- squeeze thru and unfold again. I had 5 inches both sides with mirrors out.
 
#7 ·
I have a 8ft garage door, would be almost impossible to get in without folding the mirrors. It’s only an inch or so on each side with the rubber lining from the garage door. Absolutely no problem to get in and out with the mirrors folded, neither for my wife nor for me. Same way in as out, just don’t move the steering wheel and slow down a little when you get to the door. I would advise against unfolding the mirrors again in the garage, that’s calling for a disaster. One day you’ll forget about it when backing up.
 
#9 ·
Our leased 2017 Touring required the driver's mirror folded to pull into the garage, while watching the right mirror to prevent an scraping on the garage trim (polish works great on removing white paint on the mirror housing!).

Our new 2020 Elite is a dream with the electric folding mirrors. Fold the mirrors pulling up the driveway, slowly drive through the door, aligned with a tape 'mark' on the far wall, and close the garage door. If you pull in straight there is no worry about backing out. As our driveway slightly curves and requires a slight left turn while backing I run a "checklist" after pulling out of the garage:
  • close garage door
  • seat belt
  • turn off auto engine stop
  • turn on auto lane keeping assist
  • set radio
  • open mirrors
  • punch Reverse and back down

Slicker than anything, although I would prefer a permanent disable auto engine stop setting.

2020 Touring Elite - Dark Gray
Continental TruContact Tires
No kids or pets
permanent disable
 
#10 ·
We had a 2016 Touring that barely fit our garage opening. If the driver's side mirror was touching the garage door gasket, the passenger side mirror had about an inch to spare. I got used to it, but still ended up contacting the sides of the door opening at times. Yes, I could have rolled down my window and pulled the driver's side mirror in, but I'm lazy and didn't want to do that every time I went in and out of the garage.

We ended up getting a 2019 Elite after our 2016 was totaled by an inattentive driver. The main reason we went for the Elite was to get the power folding mirrors. As NoVAOdy said, pulling in and out of the garage is a dream now... just a routine button press after hitting the garage door remote. Haven't come close to forgetting to fold the mirrors, but I'm a creature of habit. While power mirrors were the deciding factor, I really appreciate the ventilated seats in summer and the heated steering wheel in winter (thought those were gimmicks... now I don't think I'll buy another car without them). Speakers for third row passengers are also a nice upgrade.
 
#12 ·
I have a '19 that is garaged. I manually fold the mirrors in every time I go in and out. No big deal. It s a slow process but I do not like the alternative.
 
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Discussion starter · #13 ·
Navy Vet said:
I have a '19 that is garaged. I manually fold the mirrors in every time I go in and out. No big deal. It s a slow process but I do not like the alternative.
Click to expand...
The alternatives are not great! I thought maybe this would be my impetus to get an SUV but all of the ones I looked at are just as wide as the van (Pilot, Traverse, etc). Also all of the other minivans are just as wide, even Pacifica which people think “looks” narrower but it isn’t. It all comes down to the mirrors and how far they come off the side of the car. It’s been eye-opening. It’s been incredibly frustrating.
 
#14 ·
We use the power fold button ('18 Elite) everytime that we park anywhere, and right before pulling into garage (often even as we're driving down our street if we have to drive thru a tight space between double parked cars).

We used to have a 2016 Ody that we would do a slight turn of the wheel after entering the garage, to create more room between our two cars - this required a slight maneuver to back out to prevent the mirror hitting, which wasn't a big deal but required us to pay attention.

Now that we have power folds, we can pull straight in and out without needing to turn the wheel. Mirrors are unfolded after backing out -- no issues as long as we drive straight in and out. I'd like to have this feature on every car I buy from now on...love it!

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
Buy Elite with folding mirrors, that helps a lot, or hack it and install it in your EX-L... I was at the aribnb rental and garage door was so small van barely fit with folded mirrors, had to be extra cautious, didn't want to leave it outside either
 

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#16 ·
We noticed that our 2019 EXL-NAV was wider mirror tip-to-mirror tip than our erstwhile 2006 EXL, which had no issues fitting thru the single door opening. Our solution is my wife (who doesn't have long arms) simply puts her window down and manually folds the mirror in before pulling the Ody into the garage and then folds it out manually once the entire van has emerged from the garage. Just folding the one driver side mirror provides enough margin; no need to fold both mirrors, no need to get out of the vehicle. After 20 months we still find this far preferable to spending the extra $7,000 for an Elite just to get the one feature we would have actually paid for if we could (the power folding mirrors).
 
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#17 ·
Novamomof2 said:
How hard is it to do this? We were going to buy a 2020 EXL but it wouldn’t fit through our garage. (We have a 2014 that barely fits.) After months of exploring what other cars would fit (and not liking what I found) I’m now wondering if I splurge on Elite w/power folding mirrors could I get it in the garage?

Husband says it would be too difficult to do routinely and I’ll inevitably hit. He could very well be right. Anyone do this? I have a 96” garage door but because of trim it’s realistically a few inches less.
Click to expand...
We have an EXL and fold the drivers side every time.
 
#18 ·
Novamomof2 said:
How hard is it to do this? We were going to buy a 2020 EXL but it wouldn’t fit through our garage. (We have a 2014 that barely fits.) After months of exploring what other cars would fit (and not liking what I found) I’m now wondering if I splurge on Elite w/power folding mirrors could I get it in the garage?

Husband says it would be too difficult to do routinely and I’ll inevitably hit. He could very well be right. Anyone do this? I have a 96” garage door but because of trim it’s realistically a few inches less.
Click to expand...
If you are talking about manually folding them, on most cars the amount of friction to do it tells me that the mirrors wouldn’t last too long. If you have power fold mirrors I think you would just have to remember to do it. On our M3 Tesla the car was just upgraded for many additional voice commands. Your post got me curious, and yes, I folded anD unfolded them by voice. My 2005 Ody just laughed at me, but maybe the 2020?
 
#19 ·
On my 2015, I have to manually move/fold driver side mirror when backing out of garage. I usually center garage frame between mirrors and give myself room on right side, then fold in drivers side. The shape of the mirrors are different than my 2000 Ody and that makes a big difference.
Only once in 19 years did I underestimate drivers side and windup scratching rear wheel well on the 2000 Ody...
 
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