bbarbash

Hi All,

I just got myself an '04 RX 330 (love it!) and included the heated side mirrors. I was wondering whether folks have put those little stick-on moon mirrors to improve visibility. I wanted to do that myself but was concerned that they might cause problems with the defroster or that the defroster itself would cause the adhesive to fail and the mirrors to drop off. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

-Brian

jayskinner

I adjust my mirrors so that those blind-spot mirrors are not needed. Take a look at the suggestions here for proper adjustment of the mirrors. Between the special glass on the auto-dimming mirrors, and the mirror heaters, I made the conscious decision to avoid sticking any type of blind-spot mirror to them.

HarrierAWD

I have blind-spot mirrors on my RX300. Works great and they are only $2 a piece at Target. I put them on as soon as I bought the RX300 two and a half years ago. They never fall off even with defroster on.

The blind-spot mirrors really help in busy traffic and highway merge. I don't have to turn my head as much.

RJP

Thanks for the site. I now consider myself educated. I've been driving 20 years and it's odd how no one ever really taught me how to adjust my mirrors. I've done it the way most do; that is adjust the sides so that you just can see the side of the car. This obviously led to blind spots. I tried the method advocated in your link and lo and behold...no more blind spots (and the rx330 normally has a huge one). Agmittedly it did take some getting used to and I found myself turning over my shoulders more in the beginning since I just couldn't trust what I was seeing but after a while that feeling of distrust went away It truly is superior. I can't believe I've been setting up my mirrors incorrectly for 20 years. I highly recommend to anyone to give this setup a try.

HarrierAWD

I tried that once a few years ago. It did not work in the urban environment for me so I switched back to the old way.

The "new" mirror position cannot track the tailgater that suddenly move to your left or right, since you cannot see behind you from the side mirror. Very dangerous if you are about to change lane and there's little time to check the rear mirror on busy city streets. I almost hit other cars several times. I believe that the person who came up with the idea never lived in a city.

If you don't want to stick blind-spot mirrors on your Lexus, do what NYC taxi drivers do.... move your head forward to check the blind spot.

RJP

Actually that's incorrect. A person tailgating and suddenly switching lanes would move right into my side view mirrors with this setup where previously they would be in my blind spot and had I not seen the switch I wouldn't be able to see them at all.

Ultimately it's a matter of what you're comfortable with. I tried it and after a day it's very easy to get used to. BTW I drive in NYC (about as urban an environment as you can get) every day to and from work so I'm familiar with heavy and unpredictable traffic. I also would never recommend anyone EVER emulate a NYC tax driver

HarrierAWD

I was a New Yorker for 19 years.

I read that side mirror tip in the AAA NY magazine a few years ago. Tried it, and it almost scared me to death. It just didn't work for me. Wrote a nastygram to the AAA NY magazine, never got published.

Though I hate them, NYC taxi drivers are the best drivers in the world.