2007 replacer side mirror/remove door panel

I needed to replace the passenger side mirror on my 2007 Prius. After doing a general intertoob search, including threads here, I thought I had a good idea as to what was involved...Not quite.

Here's exactly what I experienced -

Remove tweeter from door, it is just clipped in and involves carefully pulling it strait out. Grab it at the top and bottom close to the window(opening it helps) and pull out. There are cables connected, so be prepared.

Remove bezel and pocket from the door lever. The pocket just pops out, which gives you access to the screw holding the bezel. Remove this and carefully pry off the bezel. Besides the plastic clips molded in the bezel, mine was sort of glued in towards the front.

Remove the plastic pocket/door pull from the arm rest, held in with a screw.

Now for the door panel - If you feel along the bottom, there is an indentation to place your hand. Grab the panel here and pull out. There will be resistance and may require a bit of force. Work your way from the bottom to the top on each side until all the plastic tabs 'pop', and the panel is just held on the top. DO NOT yank out on the top. Grab the panel by the bottom again and lift UP, as the panel is attached by a lengthwise U channel that drops over a ridge in the door.

Just leave the panel hanging, as you can now remove the three nuts that secure the mirror and unclip the cable connection. Install the new mirror and replace panel and tweeter in revers order. Make sure you locate any of the white plastic clips that secure the panel to the door and put them back in their places. The one that holds the tweeter in place may still be stuck in the door, so pry it out and put it in the tweeter before installing.

That's about it. Took maybe 20 minutes and the only sticky wicket was where to door lever bezel seemed to be glued. doesn't quite seat all the way but still looks OK. Picked up the new mirror from Amazon for fifty bux and it is a dead ringer for the OEM, except it can be folded against the door for parking.

If it looks good, pop the painted cover off the old mirror and pop it on the new one.

I didn't bother disconnecting the battery as it's only 12v and the electrical connections are encased in the plastic connector housing.

 

PS - Dang, typo'd the title, and cannot seem to edit it. sorry.