While replaceing my tweeters, I lost the clip behind the drivers mirror mount. So I removed the mirror and recovered it. While ratcheting one of the nuts back on, the bolt snapped long before the mirror was even fully into place. So two bolts remain holding it which is working fine so far. Toyota says they don't sell that bolt seperatly and that I have to buy the hole mirror at ~ $250. Thats just dumb, they should sell every nut and bolt available seperately. Or stop making them so cheap to start with. I bought a replacement 6mm shank, nut and washer for $3 at OSH.
Its all about logistics. They're not a big box hardware store and inventorying every nut and bolt would add considerably to overhead. There are lots of parts you can't buy separate but have to go for the whole assembly. I once broke a window handle (yes it wasn't electric!) on my Corolla and had to buy the matched left & right set. The right one is still in the glove compartment waiting. Makes it cheaper to assemble as well. That's progress.
I didn't expect them to have it in stock, but I should be able to order it. They do stock them at the manufacturing plant and if a Toyota tech had broken it, I doubt they would have spent $250 on a bolt.
But not having it locally only changes the economics only a little. I'll bet Toyota central doesn't keep loose hardware around. It comes from the mirror assembler, perhaps a Toyota division, built up and if they snap the bolt on the assembly line, they get another subassembly and the broken one goes to FMA - failure mode analysis. The mirror assembler has boxes of bolts, of course, perhaps bought from the same supplier as Home Depot. Bought any parts for a TV lately?
Perhaps a dealer tech will answer. I, too, doubt they pay $250 for a bolt. But I'll bet they'll charge you $250 for a mirror nice person'y if you broke it. And get common hardware to fix it if they did it.
My wife had the mirror part broken on her Windstar and we had to pay $450 for a replacement. I just wanted to buy a side view mirror, remove the mirror part and glue that over the broken pieces, but nooooooooooooo.
Actually, every dealer I ever worked at had a generic collection of bolts, nuts, and washers of all the common sizes. If this was just a standard metric bolt the dealer surely had one. Of course they didn't have a Toyota Genuine part" bolt, but they must have had one that would have worked.
if you do end up having to replace whole thing, might as well buy the mirrors with turn signals while your at it!
if a tech breaks a bolt and he's thought ahead, there's a 99% chance he has one just like it hanging around somewhere in his spare bolts and nuts collection. not only does it save money, it saves him time to just be able to go get another one and finish the job. that makes him more money since more dealer techs are paid flat rate and not hourly. most techs have thought of this already.
If it was just a bolt, this would not be a problem. But it is a special bolt. It is 6mm but has a fixed nut/flang in the middle. And they do sell the nut that goes onto this bolt from behind the tweeter. The nut (not the one in the picture, but a lose one) does have a part number and can be ordered. But of course that is available at any hardware store. [attachmentid=649] P.S. Is there is a name for this kind of bolt with a fixed flange nut? Maybe I can find one from McMaster-Carr.
If you know the measurements of where that nut goes on the threaded rod, you can use something like JB Weld to fix the nut in place. Or have a friendly welder give it a shot.
I have come across this fantasy pricing for simple spare parts in my Honda and Subaru also. A quick ride over to a junk yard solved the problem. Perhaps google can direct you to an internet based junker ?
I did the same thing. (Droped the clip.) I just ordered some clips for 63 cents each. I have a few extra. -Lee
