Alero side mirror versions

[wws944]

We had a little 'incident' with the passenger side mirror and a pole in a parking garage yesterday necessitating its replacement. I went to one of the local Pick-N-Pulls today and looked at Alero mirrors. (Not interested in Grand Am two posters.)

I saw the difference between the 1999-2001 two-piece mirrors and the later one-piece 2002-2004 mirrors. I also noted that some cars have painted mirrors and others are black. I ended up buying one off a black 2001. It was the nicest condition of several, and it seems like it is painted a deeper black than the later years. (My Alero is black, so either works.) Being the two piece part, it will also fold back in the event of a future incident.

My questions really boil down to:

1.) Can I consider the 1999-2001 mirror the better of the two? I know there was at least one other cost reduction in the newer cars - the removal of the vanity mirrors from the visors. (Both mirror related. Hmmm...)

2.) Which years and options packages have painted mirrors? I am wondering if my new-to-me 2001 mirror really does have a different finish on it, or if the car had just spent a lot of its life covered compared to the others?

[sleepyalero]

I can tell you my 01 gls gold series had painted stock mirrors.

[tw0123]

My 02 gls was equipped with paint matched mirrors

[03glgold]

while it doesn't have to do with exterior mirrors, my 03' was a fairly late 03' (production date in may 03') and it has vanity mirrors on both visors from the factory

[a.graham52]

My 99 glx and my 99 gl both hady paint matched mirrors. I wounder if the none paint mChed mirrors might have been replaced by PO and done so for cheap.

Edit. Just did a google image search. Shows a few with black mirrors. Appear mostly on white cars or cheap cars ( steel wheels, no sunroof etc)

[Papa Rad17]

no gx's had painted mirrors. a gl1, and 2 just depends, and all gls were painted. ( so i believe.) they all mount the same 1 or 2 piece. the 2 piece I believe wasnt available until later years. The only difference is they spring there a the break to give them some flexibility.

[wws944]

Thanks guys. I installed the 2001 mirror last night and it works great. I am going be on the lookout for a black 1999-2001 two-piece drivers side mirror to match. (The drivers side mirror on the PNP car I got the passenger side mirror off of was trashed.)

It is a good thing I went to the PNP. I learned on one of their cars about the screw behind the reflector when taking the door panel off. The Haynes manual documents it as well.

[wws944]

Originally Posted by 03glgold

while it doesn't have to do with exterior mirrors, my 03' was a fairly late 03' (production date in may 03') and it has vanity mirrors on both visors from the factory

That is interesting. My GLS has the vanity mirror on the drivers side only. Maybe eliminating the passenger side vanity mirror was a cost reduction in just the 2004s?

[Papa Rad17]

I couldn't tell you about those. I had them on all 3 alero's I've owned. An 02 gx, 03 gl1, and 02gl2. It really just depends, in 02 they did some changes (2.4 to 2.2, something with the 3400 so on. On 03 they did again (drls moved, a few PCM changes, um... And stuff) option packages thus changed with it. For example, an 02 2.2 gx with the 5sp might have some gl1 or 2 options, but for 03 and 04 the options list seems to have been very consistent with what they got or didn't get. There are some od balls out there in different years I know as well. Sometime 99-01 they made a gl4 (pretty rare) that was a gls package but the 2.4 instead of the 3400. So it's a hit or miss on what you get sometimes. Just depends.

[Redog]

in 03 they stopped painting mirrors for all models.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by wws944

That is interesting. My GLS has the vanity mirror on the drivers side only. Maybe eliminating the passenger side vanity mirror was a cost reduction in just the 2004s?

That might be a junkyard visor. What might have happened is that the mirror broke and the previous owner didn't know or didn't care and just got a visor then put it in. Most GM's either get both or get none. I've never seen it done where only the driver gets a mirror in a GM car.

[Silver SLP]

Originally Posted by wws944

That is interesting. My GLS has the vanity mirror on the drivers side only.

Mine is the same way.

[wws944]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

That might be a junkyard visor. What might have happened is that the mirror broke and the previous owner didn't know or didn't care and just got a visor then put it in. Most GM's either get both or get none. I've never seen it done where only the driver gets a mirror in a GM car.

The original owner of my car was an elderly uncle of mine. So I know that all the mirrors are original. He would have had zero interest in replacing the visors.

[Nas Escobar]

Originally Posted by wws944

The original owner of my car was an elderly uncle of mine. So I know that all the mirrors are original. He would have had zero interest in replacing the visors.

In that case, you got me. I would have thought GM wouldnt cheap out anymore on a last run, but I was wrong.

[wws944]

Originally Posted by Nas Escobar

... I would have thought GM wouldnt cheap out anymore on a last run, but I was wrong.

Nothing GM does surprises me anymore...

So mirror-wise, is the following accurate?

* 1999-2001 - two piece side mirrors. Some black, some painted body color depending on trim level.
* 2002 - one piece side mirrors. Some black, some painted body color depending on trim level.
* 2003 - one piece side mirrors - all black.
* 2004 - one piece side mirrors - all black. (And visor vanity mirror on driver side only.)

So my remaining question, now clarified a bit, is:

Assuming one has a black 1999-2001 (or even 2002) Alero: Is there a difference in paint finish between the side mirrors on a base GX vs a high trim GLS?

[03glgold]

Make sure it is a painted mirror if your mirror is painted black because at least the one piece mirrors are just the color of the plastic...beyond that the only thing you would have to worry about is with silver or gold because they switched color tone at some point