Smudge on the Digital Dash mirror!

yup, yup. all good points.

If the mirror IS plastic (no way that it is!) then harsh solvents would be the end of it. No question that it is glass He says with completely false confidence). And no question that I get myself into trouble all the time.

I just got back in from slapping on my BT brace. Now I'll have a look at that mirror since the sun is finally out.

 

That stuff is of the devil!

I very briefly tried solven on a Q-tip. The smudge just laughed. Whoever said the glass was "coated" is correct. I'm not touching what I *thought* was glass here! A razor blade certainly won't work. Now I'm starting to think that this smudge might be UNDER the weird coating. Something would have changed by no... and NOTHING has. it looks just like it did before I started. I DO now have pictures which I'll post when I have some time.

Time for a dealer appointment. I sure appreciate all the help to get me as far as I am!

 

And finally, for your viewing pleasure... here is a shot of the goo *through* the windshield.

[Broken External Image]:http://darelldd.com/ev/images/prius/gage_mirror/smudge01.jpg


And one from INSIDE the car.

[Broken External Image]:http://darelldd.com/ev/images/prius/gage_mirror/smudge02.jpg

Best I can do.

 

I thought everybody had the blue arrow!?

I shouldn't kid about these things with how confused I was about the mirror position and orientation!

 

Allan -

Not sure what was wrong with the second shot. Should be working now???

 

Dave -

We're in agreement here. I'm not one who gives up easily... but in this case, I've gone as far as I'm willing to go. I did try the solvent already, and was very careful where it went. Absolutely NOTHING changed. Uncle!

If I haven't said it enough- THANKS to everybody for the help (and not laughing TOO loud.)

 

Oh yeah... plenty. But my local tech is now a friend (he's the only one who works on my Rav4EV as well) and knows how I am. I'll have no problems beyond the possible inconvenience of having to reinstall certain items.

I'll finally make the call tomorrow.

 

Well, good news... sort of.

Called my local tech. He has replaced a mirror already for this SAME REASON. He trusts my judgement and is ordering a new one sight-unseen, so I don't have to waste a trip down there. The entire dash DOES need to come off, but he says "no biggie. Just takes all day."

And the other thing he said, is that the mirror is TOTALLY plastic. No glass in there at all. So it isn't coated with something un-glass-like. It IS un-glass-like.

He also told me that he has been surprised that there have been no other reports of damage to that mirror (save the one we read in this thread!). At least he hasn't replaced any beyond the other warranty claim like mine. Apparently those things are pretty tough, and can shrug off whatever people use to clean the windows and dash.

Car will go in when the parts arrive.

 

I don't think it is "space age." I'll be it is FAR more modern than that! The "space age" was the late 60's! Always cracks me up when I hear people advertising that way. I assume they mean "state of the art" or "cutting edge." Space Age is getting a bit long in the tooth! Want a "Space Age" computer?

 

Were those on the Mercury missions?

Anyway... I do wonder what the advantage of a plastic mirror would be over a sturdy glass one? I'm sure there was some logical reason for the choice.