GM Dumb and Smart

[JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is for everyone but Mark Price.  (smile Mark).

A few days ago I broke the mirror "glass" (actually a
thin glass overlay over a plastic plate) in my
passenger side mirror on my Chevy full-size 2000
pickup.  I backed into a tree which overhangs the
parkway strip in front of my house.

Soooooo, rather than go to the junkyard and try to
find a mirror in the mud we have here in CA now I went
to the Chevy dealer, hoping to be able to buy just the
glass, but preparing to be upset by the cost of a new
mirror.  I was not disappointed.  It cost $127 and I
had to buy the whole mirror assembly because the
mirror "glass on plastic plate" is not available as a
separate part.

I thought GM was dumb but maybe they were dumb like a
fox.  I bought it anyway.

I parked in front of house (careful to miss the tree
this time) and assessed how to install the mirror.  It
was so easy.  No door panel to remove.  I only had to
pop off a plastic cover which reveals three studs with
nuts and washers.  I had my trusty Ace Hardware nut
driver set in the truck in an five minutes I had the
mirror assembly replaced.  

That was smart.  A smart labor saving design on the
assembly line and a smart design for the repair shop
or home mechanic.

Of course mirror removal (manual mirrors that is) is
also easy on our old AMCs.  Just two phillips head
screws.

Joe Fulton
Salinas, CA