Bouncing coconuts

While slowly driving down a four lane street in Vero Beach, Florida a pickup truck passed me on the right. As it passed, the truck hit a coconut in the road and I heard a LOUD thunk. I pulled over to look for the dent and couldn't find one.

When I got back into the car I noticed the passenger side rear view mirror was askew and the plastic frame had some holes in it. I got back out to look again and realized the coconut had hit the back side of the mirror. The colored backing was gone with a few small pieces of it still attached and the black plaster main frame of the mirror was cracked with some holes knocked through it. The electric mirror adjustment still worked and the actual mirror glass was fine.

I called the dealer to get a feel for replacement cost. The colored back of the mirror is $38 and just snaps into place. The mirror housing and frame is about $240. The dealer didn't have them in stock and said he would have a time estimate for me around noon tomorrow.

If the Prius wasn't new I would simply buy the back cover and patch up the housing and frame. I may try just buying the back cover and see how the patch job looks before spending the $240 for the frame. Its complex enough that if I buy the frame I will probably have the dealer install everthing.

I'll make another post when I find out how long its going to take to get the parts. Picture attached.

The crazy part was I had seen the coconut and made sure I was far over in the left lane and didn't consider how fast the pickup truck was moving.

 

I picked up and installed the new mirror cover plate today. Cost of the part was $38. It snapped into snuggly into place on first try. I then stuck black electrician's tape across the cracked places on the mirror's frame and to cover the small hole in it.

Any suggestions for how to patch black plastic?