so somehow my passenger side view mirror puddle lamp clear lens cover has fallen off.

i've been able to locate the entire assembly of the puddle lamp for $47 without CL discount from Sewell.

I have called a few national so called salvage parts hotlines and they won't sell the puddle lamp lens separate.

anyone know how to go about getting just the damn lens from the puddle lamp? The part number is 81880C and i'm seriously considering getting a clear piece of plastic and molding it myself and then gluing it in there instead of paying $47+...

anyone have a junkyard near them that may have an LS430 with a passenger side view mirror still on it??

 

even with CL discount its $45 shipped with Sewell... great prices but i just need the damn clear plastic window lens... maybe i'll get my arts and crafts on and bust out with the pipe cleaners, construction paper, and elmers

 

now thats how you treat a lexus!!!!

 

seriously go look under your side view mirror and tell me how important that small clear plastic window is that it be a certified lexus part is??? now think you have to pay $50 to replace it... this is my line of thinking. i feel like i've surpassed the point of diminishing returns on this auto as well...


and i believe all of our cars were born at toyotas it wasn't till they went to finishing school that they graduated to the lex status

 

Agree - if its totally hidden plastic lens part thats cost $50, I'd try fabricating something for free out of clear or frosted plastic to glue on substitute. Maybe clear plastic top of some food product or old tupperware style container. Maybe use clear silicone caulk to glue in so its easy to remove later if necessary to get in there.

Another tact is maybe call dealer and ask if they have any broken mirrors off of LS430s - these are so commonly replaced by the dealer. Maybe ask the service adviser to call you next time they replace one and give it to you instead of tossing it out.

 

thanks a bunch, seriously... old plastic top from chinese food & hot glue here I come...

i will also give the stealership a call but i can imagine the lex of annapolis telling me that they instantly demolish any bit of usable part immediately after it has been taken off a car and replaced with a new part, no matter if its still 90% usable or not

 

so you are thinking about buying a ls600 to replace a ls430 and at the sametime you don't wanna spend a $50 on a part?

spend the $50, and move on....you don't wanna spend 3 hours on it to realize it looks sux and still go back and spend the $50

or just trade it in i am sure they won't notice. even if they do they won't bother since you are buying their ls600

 

Different stroked for different folks my uncle Gene used to say. He was pretty handy/frugal too but died a multi millionaire.

 

hahha ^ ^ ^ yup... i've met a few people with money thus far in life and i have yet to meet someone who made it themselves who wasn't a little on the cheap side... not saying they don't exist, just that i haven't met them yet.

@REV i just don't think i will ever see that $50 again (ROI) (my car won't run any better or last any longer or look any more vip if i spend that $50) and would rather put this $50 towards replacing some factory bulbs in the LS600.you know... when on a salary you gotta make ever dollar count. also with the long weekend coming up if i finish my school work early maybe i will have 2 hours to kill on a little ingenuity project

i am cheap, yes i think we all know this by now.... but when i was living in the military dorms in Okinawa Japan (awesome place BTW, okinawa that is, not the dorms ) i somehow had a pretty decent VIP car with a lot of expensive $$ mods while most were trying to figure out how to get something better than a beater honda (which is what i started from too). the point of this story is we were all making the same amount of $$ at that time but some of us seemed to just have nicer things this is not to say i didn't have nice clothes, decent furnishings, and of course eating nice meals.

it always seemed strange to me how some people when given a $1500 paycheck will spend half the first weekend on candy bars and hookers is all...

i feel that in life everyone (well most middle class people at least) can choose to be rich in one area or another, but you have to pick where to put your money... some may pick a wicked baseball card collection, some may pick a new fancy home, some may be bettering their child's chances by paying for them to attend a good college, some may be supporting other less fortunate family members. just think of all the other things most of us could be doing if we were driving a 20 year old honda that got 40 mpg's and cost nothing to insure or maintain instead of feeding our lexus habits. that's a lot of nice steaks and expensive handbags.

 

Nice post - very well put. Its all about return on investment.

I love cars and want to drive the best of the best - I drive a used 06 LS430 because I am careful with my $, I want to live well but not by spending hard earned cash foolishly.

 

hookers gotta eat too.

 

i wasn't insinuating that the candy bars were for the hookers... but yes I imagine they need to eat as well

 

My time is worth more then $50. Would rather spend the $50 and have 2 more hours to spend with the family this weekend but to each his own.

 

sojah,

if you are going this route, you may want to look at the replacement lenses/covers from like autozone or Oriellys they keep in the aisles for $3 or $4 and find one with similar thickness, clarity and use a razor blade or dremel tool to cut to fit using a template made from paper or cardboard. that way it will have a little better protection.

just my 2 cents is all - and keep us posted, im curious what you will come up with.

 

most of my family lives a few states and a few thousand miles away. i will not be going back there this weekend unfortunately. my wife is in nursing school and is very preoccupied with that.

fortunately i too make over $50 a hour so if your using that calculation and i spend 2 hours making something then yes i could have bought it twice over... i guess i will just watch 2 hours less of mindless television... hmmmm i guess candy bars and hookers in this case = tv

thanks for the tip there mark,, i will prolly go check out what they have. then i will prolly buy a dremel and be sure to spend more than $50 on it when i do (shout out to mr hilodb ) it and then i will take even more time to get it just right...