Sailloco

We have to replace the passenger side mirror on our 2019 RX350 Premium Pkg. One of our insurance co. approved repair facilities is a Toyota collision repair shop right next to our Lexus dealer. I called them today to get an estimate on the mirror replacement and they quoted $1,078. Then the girl said "that doesn't include programing the car for the new mirror which would run $250-$300". Why would the car need to be reprogramed if the replacement part is the same as the old one? I've watched youtube videos of people doing this job and never once was programming mentioned. Has anyone here had one of these mirrors replaced who can answer this question? Thanks.

LeX2K

If you have lane change assist and cross traffic alert the mirror probably has to be calibrated. If you don't have that option then not sure.

mcomer

One of the four Panorama View Monitor camera are mounted under each
outside rear view mirror housing. Having one seamless view involves
"stitching" together the four into one moving picture. Quite involved with
markings on the floor and leveling the car precisely.

I recall being shocked 20 years ago when a Chevrolet Suburban came into
our shop with just a cracked outside rear view mirror, just the glass, not the
housing or motors. The mirror glass was "bleeding" green auto-chromatic
fluid and the replacement with heater grid and turn signal arrows was $400!

dannnn

Sounds like a money grab imo. The cross traffic alert is done via the sensor in the rear bumper from my experience.

https://parts.lexus.com/p/Lexus_2019...100e230b0.html

The part itself if you dont have the 360 view is ~400 dollars and replacing it shouldnt be too hard of a job as all you need to do is remove the door panel which is straight forward. $1,078 +250-300 for a side mirror? I hate working on my cars now days but for 1,300 ill spend an hour and replace it myself and save 900 dollars.. If it does need to be reprogramed, they can still do it after you put the new one on, but i highly suspect that "reprograming" is a money grab and a bad one at that.

edit do you have the 360 view, as in the camera on your side mirror if you do then its a bit more costly for the part
https://parts.lexus.com/p/Lexus_2019...100E240B1.html

roughly 800 dollars.

Sailloco

We don't have the 360 deg. Camera feature. From what I've seen there are basically 3 mirrors for these cars. They are priced at $244, $569, and $950. I'm guessing our car uses the $569 mirror and the difference between that and the $1,000 quote is labor. Seems like a lot for labor since the girl at the shop said it was basically a 1 hour job.

dannnn

This might seem cheap to me but theres no way in hell im paying the stealership prices for parts. What I do is i call the dealership and explain the situation, along with the model/year of the car and when they quote me for the service I ask for the part number and then i usually go to

https://www.mylparts.com/
they have a promo code so which usually covers shipping which is
CL5
worked last time I ordered from them

and then order the part there and let them throw it on next service interval I have. Its stupid, my most recent fix using this method is the center caps. Whoever balanced my tires hit both center caps with a blunt object on the driver side front and rear wheel cracking them. I only service the car at lexus and for those to crack its very odd, no damage to the wheel anywhere but I have cracked center caps on that side after my last service interval. Now I did find out a couple of weeks later as I was washing the car so I cant really confront them about it unless I want to be "that guy". I called and asked the dealership and they wanted +150 for two center caps plus installation when they have to remove it to rotate/balance the tires, which is stupid when there 27 dollars a piece on mylparts and they have to come off anyways, noting they're probably the ones who broke it in the first place. Just get the part number, and see if its cheaper online, these are all genuine oem parts and i can almost guarantee you will safe up to 20-40% on the dealership quoted price.

Sailloco

Using the above website the mirror for our car with Auto dim, lane assist and no camera is $670.28. so I guess the approx. $400 additional is for 2 hours labor. If you use the $825 list price of the part which is probably what the dealer uses then that means they are charging about $250 for labor. I'm guessing this car doesn't require programming and the girl made a mistake.

dannnn

Prices for labor usually differ around areas, my lexus chargers just under 200 a hour (185 i believe) so it sounds about right? I can easily do the job myself in about 30 mins and I personally dont see replacing a side mirror as a two hour job. But then again I am decently mechanically inclined as I used to tinker with cars a lot when I was younger.

Sailloco

The Lexus dealer we bought our car from charges $180 he also. In this instance I am dealing with a Toyota Collision shop next to the Lexus dealer. I would have thought Toyota would be less. I get the oil done at a Toyota dealer and they are one third of what the Alexis dealer charges. I'm still mainly concerned with my original programming question.

Cocal

I think the girl used the wrong terminology, but the mirror must be added in the computer system as the new one has a new signature and must be recognized by the computer so that a sensor may send a signal to it.
Not a big nor long job, but does require specialized equipment which cost money to buy and use and this I think could be done by a Toyota dealer who has lower rates than a Lexus one.

coolbrazz

I've called the parts department from dealerships all the time for part numbers, and buy the oem part online.
I then decide if I want to take the time to do the work myself or pay labor. You will still save money if you just pay for the programming if needed.

SoCalRX

Others here have mentioned the following, but this Toyota Tech describes the safety/technical importance, need and how they calibrate the panoramic cameras:

alexw1003

I've replaced passenger-side rearview mirror for my 2017 RX450h F sport, no need to program anything, new mirror works perfectly like original one