I drove too fast in reverse, out of my driveway and clipped the garbage can with my side mirrow. It did not fall all the way off, but kind of dangles. I immediatley taped it w/the emergency packing tape I keep in the car, I mean who knows, right? So, it has been like that since May. Now it is starting to dangle again. Please note: The inside doo-hickie that allows one to adjust both side mirros, still works!!! Since It did not come completely off, can I repair it myself? I mean properly. Of course I will add that I applied new tape this morning and feel that I can drive quite a while…but fear that at sone point it will tire of hanging on a nd drop to its demise and my dismay.
No, you need to replace the mirror. It shouldn’t pass inspection if taped on, and is a potential hazard on the highway.
you may have only stripped the bolts holding in place…look for inside bolts and see if you can rear or replace with junk part.
The mirror is not broken. The housing for the mirror is what has come loose. I asked how to repair it properly. It can be repaired, and I do not mean with tape. That was an emergency fix only. I asked how to repair it myself. I.e. 1) Can I re-bolt it to the car? 2) Can a mechanic re-afix it? Logically, if the mechanism to adjust the mirrow is still working, the whole thing does not have be ripped out, wiring and all. That is all still connected.
Thanks for your response.
How can we answer that question if you don’t take the mirror off and look to see what got damaged? 
You probably sheared off a mounting bolt or two. . or all of them. It may have been held on by the control cables. The trouble is that in general, those mirrors are sold as assembled units. You can’t usually get parts for them, and on some of them the bolts are welded onto the mirror assembly. What you need to do is to get at the mirror (from the inside, there’ll be a little plastic piece over the mirror that you remove, and then, depending on what you broke, some bolts to loosen) and see exactly what is broken.
You will probably find it easier both in sourcing parts and in labor to go to a junkyard and get a mirror off of a wrecked car that’s the same model/year as yours.
It can be fixed. Buy a new mirror assembly at attach it to the car. My experience is these situations are a result of the mounting bracket being broken. The bracket is part of a single assembly and can not be replaced on it’s own. Your logic is faulty. In your world you could have a broken bone in your arm, but as long as blood is flowing through the artery the arm isn’t broken.
Ah, and OH. I did not even consider that the whole unit may be sold as one. Ick.
I will have it looked at, and as you suggested, maybe I can find one used for the same make/model.
Thanks again.