I have a 1995 Subaru Legacy brighton. It is bottom barrel BASIC. I come to ask if anyone knows whether the side mirrors on this particular model are adjustable.  My wife was trying to get the driver side mirror to a place where she could use it and it broke the glass. Now that the mirror is open, I'm hoping there is a screw I can turn or something to make it move. Any ideas or is this mirror for such a basic model not adjustable?

HI,

The driver's side and passenger sided (if equipped) are certainly MANUALLY adjustable. The 'mirror' portion will move left-right and up-down. I don't know what/how your wife was doing to break the glass?

Also, on the '95 (and earlier) models the mirror housing - the plastic frame part that attaches to the car - is FOLDABLE - in or out only. If she was trying to adjust it up/down? maybe that was caused it to break.

I have a 95 that I will be junking soon.  I can see if the mirrors are in good shape if you are interested.

 

they are adjustable.  The ball socket probably rusted.

FWIW, the small, non-folding side mirrors is one of my pet peeves as a real downgrade when subaru introduced the 2nd gen legacy (and outbacks)

First gens, 90-94 were really excellently made cars.  Good materials, attention to detail.

The second gens they really cheaped out to cut cost.  Mecahnically good cars but the body and interior got really low quality those years (95-99)

5 hours ago, wtdash said:

HI,

The driver's side and passenger sided (if equipped) are certainly MANUALLY adjustable. The 'mirror' portion will move left-right and up-down. I don't know what/how your wife was doing to break the glass?

Also, on the '95 (and earlier) models the mirror housing - the plastic frame part that attaches to the car - is FOLDABLE - in or out only. If she was trying to adjust it up/down? maybe that was caused it to break.

She was trying to move the glass portion of the mirror manually with her hand (that up, down, left, right you spoke of) and gave it a good push to make it move. That caused the glass to break as the adjustment arm or whatever didn't budge.. Neither side mirror adjusts even a millimeter hence the question. Someone mentioned it may be rusted, and that is something I hadn't thought of.   The mirror housing is fine, it's just the glass  portion that broke.

Mewse1203,

If the plastic backing plate behind the mirror glass is okay (only the glass broke, not the plastic its glued to) simply remove (scrape out) the mirror pieces. Then make a paper template of the mirror shape (trace the mirror glass on the other side of the car), cut it out, and take it to a home glass/mirror supplier that makes replacement glass for broken windows.

Tell them what you want the mirror for, so that they can use the thinnest mirror possible, and give them the template to copy from.

Once you have the replacement, spread silicone seal on its back and press it into place on the original mirror backing plate, and use masking tape to secure it into place. Give the silicone seal 24 hours to cure, remove the tape, and you're good to go. Been there, fixed several mirrors this way, works like a charm.

 

29 minutes ago, gbhrps said:

Mewse1203,

If the plastic backing plate behind the mirror glass is okay (only the glass broke, not the plastic its glued to) simply remove (scrape out) the mirror pieces. Then make a paper template of the mirror shape (trace the mirror glass on the other side of the car), cut it out, and take it to a home glass/mirror supplier that makes replacement glass for broken windows.

Tell them what you want the mirror for, so that they can use the thinnest mirror possible, and give them the template to copy from.

Once you have the replacement, spread silicone seal on its back and press it into place on the original mirror backing plate, and use masking tape to secure it into place. Give the silicone seal 24 hours to cure, remove the tape, and you're good to go. Been there, fixed several mirrors this way, works like a charm.

 

Thank you for your response GBHRPS. I've got a backup mirror, I just didn't want to install it until I figured out how to fix the adjustment issue.

it's possible that someone has installed power adjustable mirrors.  In that case it would be harder to move them, but still not impossible.  

I still guess that the ball socket that it pivots on is seized.

Spray some penetrating oil liberally in behind the mirror mounting.