Economical way to fix to broken driver's side mirror

Hi Barbara, welcome to PriusChat.

You have come to the right place for help.

I have just had to do this for an acquaintance, although the hit he took only broke the adjustment mechanism and made a hole in the mirror surround.

The best and most economical way to fix this is to purchase the complete assembly from a pick-a-part or wreckers yard, with the front cover (or without, if your existing is undamaged). If your front cover is in good condition, then you can reuse it. If not you will need to ensure you get an assembly with a cover that color matches your existing.

Replacement is moderately easy and will take a first timer about an hour. If you (or a friend) can do it then it is a win. It involves removing the the door trim panel, which is easy to do and this will reveal the 3 nuts that secure the wing mirror assembly as well as the electrical connection plug. You may need to replace the weather seal strip, depending on condition, but my experience is that if it is the first time the mirror assembly is replaced you should be able to carefully remove the existing weather seal and transfer it to the new one. Make sure the new one is cleaned up well, so the strip sticks down as well as possible. It only has to hold in place until you have the assembly attached to the door.

If DIY is not possible, it should not cost too much to have a competent body shop or mechanic do it for you, and you still have the option of buying the assembly yourself and taking it to the 3rd party to install.

I hope that helps and if you have any questions, please ask.

If I was closer, I happily come and do it for you.

All the best, hope it works out well.

 

You can order replacement mirrors from Advance Auto Parts for about $100. If you know someone who is handy with cars there is a YouTube about how to replace the mirror on Gen 2 Prius. A colleague's significant other installed the replacement mirror for me for $20.

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My pleasure, Barbara!

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I just noticed that I forgot that the triangle piece that has the speaker in it (called the Front Door Lower Frame Bracket Garnish LH) has to come off too. That is clipped at the top and bottom and will just pop off using a panel pry tool. You then unclip the speaker connector. I found it was easier to remove the speaker first, then unclip the wire connection then reseat the speaker. YMMV.

This post has details about that part: Post #3 | Two things I need answers for | PriusChat

 

This is with actual snow tires, and not all season tires?

 

There are a few Youtube videos on this.

One or two are actually helpful.

Toyota has made so you have to replace the whole thing. Unfortunately.

I have had to replace the passenger side mirror about 18 months ago. The drivers side about 3 months ago. A doe took out the passenger side, a "hit-run" driver took off the drivers side.

The mirrors are nearly impossible to find in any of my local salvage yards in my experience. Even the little black grill that covers the tweeter is tough to find (a clip on the grill broke when I removed it, necessitating a replacement).

The best thing to do is to replace the entire part -- about $180 from Toyota. Then, they want $90 in my area to install it.

It is really pretty easy. Do not even have to remove the door panel if you have small hands.

There are aftermarket parts available on EBay for around $40. Not sure how much I would trust them, they have to fit pretty well or I would imagine you would have problems.

after looking through SEVEN cars at the local junkyard, I did finally find one that had the driver's side black grill -- it was a JBL, but I could live with it. They charged me $10 and threw in the tweeter for free.
I just bit the bullet and ordered the actual mirror assembly from Toyota. As noted, the color back panel does not come with the assembly.

First time took me maybe 35 minutes (not counting the 30 minutes or so I spent trying to pry the red backing piece off the mirror.

Second time took about 10 minutes.

Hopefully, there will be no third time.

Any questions, you have a great group here, ask away.
kris