My 2011 RX350 has pushbutton folding side mirrors. Great feature! But can anyone tell me how to deal with car washes (reputable and careful ones, I mean)? Suppose they ignore the pushbutton and try to fold/unfold the mirrors manually. Will that damage the mirror? I'd guess that would be a very expensive repair.

 

they still work like normal mirrors where you can fold them manually. I have done it before, and it does make a bad noise when you lock it back into place (unfolding them), but I dont think it damages it.

 

Take a look at this manual "Outside rear view mirrors" on page 87.
http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/do.../sec_01-03.pdf

It mentions about manually folding and extending outside rear view mirrors.

For your reference, here is the Pictorial Index for 2011 RX350 that is available online on Lexus Drivers site.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply and links. I hadn't seen the pictorial guide. I guess this nails it down, but I'd feel a bit more confident if the words about manual folding on p. 87 referred explicitly to cars equipped with the power option. It would be a costly experiment if it failed.

 

I appreciate the advice. Also, see the reply by timlor, which confirms what you say. I hate it when my Lexus makes crunching noises as I am trying out the features. )

 

^I've been reading the manual and it's really helpful although it's a very thick one but it should answer most of your questions.

 

thats funny, it seems to be a common problem among all brands. the 2008 debuted with power folding mirrors and owners complained of squeaking sounds when folding. plenty of replacements later, and the 2009s lost the function

 

I have the auto folding mirrors and I have manually folded them several times with no problems. It would not make sense to have them fold only via power. People hit them all the time in the garage or a parking lot.

 

My post referred to power folding rather than power tilting in reverse. Thanks to all who have replied so far. I also had power tilting in my 2006 RX330 but never used it. I manually extended and folded the non-powered mirrors on the 330 every day for 5 years without noise or damage, and my wife has done the same for 10 years on her 2002
RX300. The squarish mirrors on the '02 handle and fold a good deal more easily than the elegantly-shaped but "sticky" ones on the '06 did.

Oh, yeah--given the 5-zip vote here in favor of manual folding safety, I tried it and it works very smoothly, no noise, no crunch. Big relief.

A separate issue: on all these RX's the glass mirror insert itself is geared for power adjustment and can be accidentally ratcheted out of position by pressing on it, for example when cleaning the surface. You can either press it back or readjust with the power buttons (and then save to memory again).