Exterior mirror replacement

[Agnostic]

I needed to replace the drivers side mirror on my 2010 sportsback. I couldn't justify a new part, but found a donor vehicle at a nearby wrecker here in Western Sydney. This wrecker has cheap prices because you remove parts yourself. The donor vehicle was the same colour as mine, black. I didn't really want to paint a second hand housing to match, so this was lucky. Unfortunately, a previous picker had removed the glass from the housing, but I took the housing (and motor assembly complete) anyway. It only cost me $22 and was in good condition. I planned to buy the glass on eBay, but discovered that I also needed the backing plate. This is a plastic plate, the same size as the mirror, glued to the glass and provides the mounting clips that attach to another plastic plate that adjusts the mirror.

Almost all eBay suppliers only sell mirror glass with an adhesive backing. Apparently these are suitable for gluing over the top of cracked glass and of course it is cheap. I thought I might have to buy a complete mirror, so I rang some other wreckers, but they wanted $100. A further eBay search revealed a Sydney supplier of glass with backing plate for $40 delivered. So I saved $38. Not a fortune, but I'm repairing this car on a budget. I thought this info might be useful to members, at least those who don't buy brand new replacement parts. The supplier is "cmgs_australia", eBay supplier 2430.

[lancerdarryl]

Good info,thanks.