Does anyone have any good ideas for dealing with visibility issues in Prius C?

you should always adjust the mirrors to your liking. every car has blind spots but with a little adjustment, the spots can be almost lost. have a look

i dont have a problem with the Cs visibility.

 

The reply from kingnba6 on side mirrors is a good reference. If someone has been using mirrors adjusted the traditional way it can take a long time to become comfortable with a different view. But it's worth it.
At one of the first performance driving schools I attended the instructor said "You already know what color your car is. Adjust your side mirrors outward so when a car leaves your rear mirror it's already in your side mirror. When it leaves your side mirror, it should be entering your peripheral vision."
This has always worked well for me, even in my C, but I don't know if it will always work for different folks with different seat adjustments.
Fine tuning the adjustment is easiest on a lightly traveled multi-lane road.

The C's rear headrests are another matter. Mine are pulled out until they are needed.

 

Every new car we get seems to be worse for peripheral and rear visibility. The rear seat head rests don't help either. Another issue for me is finicky dash controls, that need your undivided attention for multiple seconds, the vent mode controls for example. Big, plain, tactile knobs are so old-school, I guess.

 

This is the only car that I've ever just said "screw it... there's a blind spot on the drivers side." I fixed this by getting a small bubble mirror for the drivers side. Now I have no issues. I've driven a lot of cars and I've adjusted the mirrors on all of them and debunked many of my friends' "blind spots", but I just couldn't find it on this car.

 

+1 Blind spot mirrors.

 

My response is not going to do anything to help you now but it may when you buy another car in the future. I recently bought a new Avalon Hybrid XLE Touring. I bought the Touring because it has blind spot monitors in both outside mirrors and rear cross traffic alert. Very valuable options that will definitely make driving safer. I'm sure you can get these options in other cars as well. I almost caused a wreck with the car I had before the Avalon and the next car I bought just had to have these options. Well worth whatever they cost and they work great.

 

Devable – FWIW FYI: http://www.wikihow.com/Set-Rear‐View-Mirrors-to-Eliminate-Blind-Spots

 

i took the 3 rear headrests out. i'll out them in if i ever have any human passengers back there.

 

I had already driven mine for two years when I added cheap blind spot mirrors from Target. Huge, incredible difference. Please try it before you trade in the car, assuming you love the car otherwise. Although I still look over my shoulder (as you should), the blind spots have truly all but disappeared.

 

wow, if you think the C has blind spots that can't be fixed with the turn of the head, lol

I've been in vehicles that even with blind spot mirrors you'd still have to trust your memory of how many vehicles are around you and where they were at the last time...then trust your guts...and your passenger

Then I've seen people that drive in cars that seem to have them laying back down and their heads are barely at the windows, lol

 

backing up is like trying to park a golfball. this 13 foot car has no front to back line. i adjust the power mirrors down to see the parking lines underneath,,,, yes the car really is that narrow too. then throw away both rear headrests. no one willl miss them. keep the middle one for nostalgia. for driving try to turn your head for then changing lanes. the A pillars are in the way of turns forward hahaha. gawd we LOVE this car !!! and backing up seems to have a weird angle to it because the rear goes very wide. it helps me to sit on a cushion to raise my relative seat height.

 

Do you have your mirrors properly adjusted?
with head fully erect, lean 45 deg toward the door and adjust driver sise mirror to just barely catch left side of car.
llllllean right same and adjust pass side mirror to barely catch side of car.
I cured the lack of rear view out back window by doubling rear window wiper toward the unwiped side. Eliminated not seeing vettes approaching from the rear at high speed. video on utube.

 

I fix visibility issues two ways...


1)




2) High tech: Move My Head and My Eyes around.



Works every time it's tried.

 

I do the ol' move my head and eyes around, but I'll be damned if I still don't get surprised. Poor rear visibity moves the safety "goal posts". No matter how vigilant you are, you're disadvantaged with lousy rear (or front) visibility. Having to rubber neck back for longer and longer, increases your odds of plowing into something too.

 

I certainly agree. Also, when you are backing out of a parking space and there is cross traffic behind creates a real safety issue. People drive through parking lots like they are driving on a race track. The new Avalon I now have has blind spot monitors in the outside mirrors, rear cross traffic alert and back up camera. These safety items are great as far as I am concerned.

 

Here's one of the very few useful tips I've found from The Car-Talk guys; Avoiding The Blind Spot | Car Talk

, I used to listen regularly to their programme when I first moved here from the UK back in 1983, but over the years Car-Talk has degenerated to nothing more than a "chuckle-fest" put on by The Chuckle-Brothers, however the link I posted will definitely help. - Wil

PS: I have a back-up camera which is useful once you get used to the fact that the camera is offset from the centre-line of the car, but getting back to the rear-view, I find the horizontal bar between the upper and lower rear window is in a perfect position to shade me from the lights of any tail-gater (I've been noticing more tail-gaters since I've been driving a Prius).

 

Some of us have installed cameras in the blind spots. I'm still working on the plans for a system which displays an image from the cameras on the nav/backup camera screen. I'd like the turn-signal to activate the camera for the blind spot. Still a few kinks to work out.

 

That would be nice. Honda has this system.