Mirrors take a beating around Buffalo and there’s a variety of reasons.
- snow plows
- street parking (ever had your car clipped??)
- and….sometimes we hit stuff (take a look at all the pretty colors on the wall at the next drive-up ATM you go to….those colors came off of mirrors & bumpers)
So, your mirror gets cracked, broken…or ripped right off! Whenever I’m called out to do a mirror replacement, people are often fascinated by the process. They want to watch.
Recently, I was called about a 2009 Lexus RX350 with a broken mirror and a rapidly expiring NYS Inspection (yes…you need your mirrors for that). Beautiful truck – busted mirror. I thought it would be a good opportunity to show everyone the work that goes into replacing a mirror! Granted, cars are assembled differently but this gives you a sense of what happens.
* Oh yeah, if you’re using this as a DIY, be VERY careful you don’t scratch-up your interior or break any trim pieces…The parts for this truck were marked “Toyota” but were definitely priced “Lexus”.
Here's the poor truck with it's "bagged" mirror.(FYI, there's a shiny new mirror in that box!)
After popping-off the corner trim piece (sorry...no pic of that), this fastener needs to come out by pushing-in the middle of the pin, then prying-out the outer ring.
Next, this trim piece comes-off by prying-out between the trim and door lock rocker button.
Once out, you reveal a fastener screw...remove that.
Next, remove the power window/door lock panel. Start prying-up from the back where the arrow is and move along the side closest to the passenger seat.
*Next remove the piece of felt inside the door handle to reveal this screw....and remove it. *Now you can start prying along the edges of the door panel, starting at the corner by the mirror, work your way along the bottom & up the other side. *Then, lift the panel out at almost 90 degrees to unhook (2) alignment pins from the door. This is a pain. Then lift straight up to release the panel from the door by the window trim.
Once the door panel is removed, unhook these two cables. They are for your door lock and door handle.
Now disconnect your power mirror cable
Finally, remove these (3) mounting bolts for your broken mirror!
Now, simply take your new mirror out of the box and reverse the entire process!
Like I said before, not every car is assembled (or disassembled) the same way. Some are easier, some are more complex. I hope this sheds some light on what’s involved.
Got a broken mirror? Drop me a line using the handy Order Form – I’m happy to help!
The dealership was gonna charge me almost 800 bones to do this and I started at 330 pm and I’m done. I owe you a beer Bart-the directions were right on. Those alignment pins were a pain!
Glad it saved you some $$ Charlie! If you were closer, I’d take you up on that beer! lol