The electrochromic glass (aka light sensitive/self dimming), mirror on my driver's door went bad on my '02 Chevy 'burb. First it blessed us w/double vision for several months, now it's almost totally foggy on the inside, right where you need the image most. It kinda looks like an oil splash in a puddle. Without spending over $300 to buy the whole mirror, does anyone know where to get the mirror glass by itself ? The mirror glass is easily removable, and sports GM p/n "LH-83-189-00" on back. These were made by the Gentex Corp for GM, and have their part number on the face of the glass: GNTX0104026570.
I know there are many $20 aftermarket glass pieces to stick over the existing mirror, but none of them are electrochromic, which is very useful for night driving.
PPG Industries makes exactly 447 different replacement mirror faces, (including many electrochromic), but none for the '02 Suburban. If you search the web for used mirror/glass for '02 'burbs, you'll find there are HUNDREDS of people looking for them !

 

Welcome to the forum.

What about salvage yards?

 

maybe this place could point u in the right direction?

http://www.switchlite.com/home.html

 

Im in the same situation. Just curious what was the end result?

 

I bought the $125 aftermarket (made in China/Taiwan or something) mirror from our local Auto Recycler. It was a good copy of the GM mirror, until you start moving. The glass vibrates in the housing more than some handlebar mirrors I've used. Reminds you every time you use it that the orig GM mirror wasn't in your budget. But I still smile about saving $175 every time I use it. No, it is NOT the electrochromatic glass, and I miss that. It does have the "ditch" lamp though. But $300 for a mirror is analogous to statutory rape. I've heard that the fancy electrochromatic ones with the turn signals are now over $600 each ! No wonder GM is going out of business, no one can afford replacement parts.

 

I just bought one from a local salvage yard for $120....GM part, Gentex glass.

I had the same experience with aftermarket mirrors on my minivan and would have gladly paid full price to not make the same mistake with the vibrating mirrors.

However, if I couldn't find one the OEM part with the auto-dimming glass, I would have bought the non-dimming mirror from a salvage. I would rather drive with a glare, than an auto dimming mirror that never passed NVH testing.

Brings up another good question, did the chinese mirror come with Gentex glass? Could you remove the glass from the cheap a$$ housing and re-mount it in the OEM housing? The auto-dimming glass is a liquid filled piece that won't stand up to the constant shaking, eventually it will fail.

FWIW, I now have a good housing with plug and everything that I am willing to get rid of. The glass on mine was cracked, but the housing, heater, and puddle light were 100%.

DH1

 

You were EXTREMELY LUCKY to find one in a salvage yard. (What kind of inside connection do you have ?) $120 was a REAL STEAL for the complete mirror. There are literally HUNDREDs of people standing in line on the Internet looking for these. If you don't believe go ahead and try a search for GM p/n LH-83189-00. Take my advise and always park in a locked garage ! NO, I could not find the Gentex glass ANYWHERE , unless I bought a complete NEW mirror from GM for $300. Tried our local salvage yard, no supply. NO, there is NO aftermarket replacement mirror having the electrochromatic glass. This should be a $60 replacement part (mirror glass only) available (from PPG) like it is for any FORD, Chrysler or import.

 

The glass on the electrochromatic mirror is a patented product, so there is no way it would be the same as the $60 standard mirrors from other glass manufacturing companies. The mirrors are expensive to make and the company spent millions in development before they were delivered to market. Whether they are worth the price or not is debatable, but they are certainly worth more than standard glass or plastic mirrors..

If you are looking for one, try car-part.com. It's an online database that allows you to search hundreds of scrap yards by make/model/year/option codes. It's how I found mine. Nice that it turned up in a yard in my sales territory, so I didn't even have to get it shipped.

The reality is the yard that had mine probably didn't realize that the unit was self dimming. I found some others in W. Michigan that where the scrap yard was asking new dealer price for used mirrors.