Vandals Snapped my Sideview

I live in a college neighborhood and one Saturday morning after a particularly loud Friday night, I found my driver side mirror on the ground.



It doesn’t have a scratch on it except it’s no longer attached to my car.



I obviously live in the neighborhood because I can’t afford much more, and thus am not going to find the money to pay for a replacement anytime soon.



I know that there aren’t any glues that will do the job permanently, but does anyone have a good recommendation for one that will hold up for a few months while I save up the cash to take it to a shop?



I don’t drive it much, but I do occasionally need to drive it on the highway, and that’s what I’m afraid of doing.



It’s got little grooves that fit nicely and would take glue well in addition to the screws that used to hold it in place, so I wouldn’t be gluing a flat surface to another flat surface.

Rather than trying to glue it back on, see if you can find a replacement at a local auto recycling center (junk yard) and install it correctly. Junk yard parts cost a small fraction of new parts. You could probably get a mirror assembly for a few dollars.

The little triangular plastic panel at the lower front corner of the window (inside the car) comes off to reveal the screws that hold the mirror assembly to the door.

I thought about that, but I want the paint to be the same color. It’s not like I have a strange color or anything, but I really need a quick fix to give myself time to find the part, no?

I mean, it can’t be legal to drive around with it missing.

Thanks!!

The only quick fix I know of is a roll of duct tape. I’ve seen a few people do this. Doesn’t look very good and the residue is hard to get off of the paint again, but will hold the mirror on. I suppose your insurance won’t cover it. A new salvage yard mirror is somewhere around $40 plus shipping and sometimes you can find it in the same color, or else a can of spray paint. Try car-part.com to see who has them.

Yeah, I called a few places around my state and my dad around his. I have a 2005 Toyota Corolla, so no one has any parts at all, much less one in my color. Guess that’s the downside of reliable vehicles!

I’ve found a few online retailers who have what I suspected was true - there are strong plastic adhesives, only they aren’t cheap! I think I’m going to just try and manage to avoid any tickets until I can scrounge up the cash.

Thanks for all the input!

You can simply Buy a new one here http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1432916,parttype,1304

Unpainted black will not look bad, or see if there is matching spray cans of paint at the auto store and paint it yourself. You would also need a can of clear coat.

Right thanks, but I want it the same color, and I don’t think I trust my car painting skills as much as I trust my screwing pieces together skills.

Thanks!

Your local parts store will sell a variety of two part epoxies that can be tried. Tell them what you plan on doing with the adhesive, and they can hook you up with something that works. Myself, I like Permatex’s 1 minute two part epoxy adhesive.

Tester

You can expand your junkyard search at www.car-part.com if you want to do it that way.

Or, if you wanted to do the new one, you could probably have a body shop paint the mirror color-matched to your car for pretty cheap.

You might be surprised by how nice the automotive spray paints look and how easy they are to apply. I painted a whole car with it a while back and it looked a little funny on the big sheet metal parts but the intricate stuff like the mirrors looked great.

I have found shoe goo a most excellent bonding agent, give it 2 or 3 days in a secured position and it may work for you. Wal mart usually carries it in the shoe section.

Without seeing your mirror it’s hard to know exactly what is broken. If the screws are still there but the body of the mirror and base is broken off, are the plastic stubs that the screws are supposed to screw into still there on the mirror body? Are the plastic tubes the screws go into still on the screws? If they are all there you can buy adhesive for plastics made by Loctite at a good hardware store and, one at a time, remove the plastic tube from one screw and glue it back together with the corresponding stub on the mirror housing. Put them together dry first so you know exactly how they fit together. If you follow the adhesive directions it comes out pretty strong and when you install it on the car again, don’t tighten the screws really tight. I do things like this often repairing old motor scooters and it works if you are careful and take your time.

The right adhesive is very important. I’ve used two part epoxies and all sorts of other things but most fail on this kind of plastic. The Loctite for plastics has a gizmo that looks like a felt tip marker that you rub on the surfaces first to prep them, then wait a minute, then use what looks like super glue. It’s the first product I’ve found that actually works.