No rear windshield wipers on the Eco?!?

My suggestion: ditch the rear wiper from all trim levels (and models). It's very small, nominally effective, adds weight, cost, and complexity to the car. Plus the motor creates a bulge in the bar bewtween the two rear windows, yuck!

 

Rear wiper on my Prius is junk.
Using RainX on the rear windshield is also ineffective. Tested it.

What is good is, that due to aerodynamics of the car, rear windshield actually does not need rear wiper much.

So being without a rear wiper on this latest iteration of the Prius is actually survivable.

 

You can't beat a rear wiper though for clearing surface water off the rear screen when you need better visibility when reversing even if it is a small one.

 

my rear wiper cleans very well.

 

aerodynamics and rains are great at high speed. around town, i find there are a number of conditions that require the window to be wiped off.
unless i'm tired of looking at someone's grille.

 

The idea of not putting a rear wiper on the car is to improve the slipstream, and therefore improve gas mileage.

 

I doubt it. The Eco just fits into a lighter EPA class to get the better mileage designation the weight is to marginal they removed the cargo cover when safety features were added in mid-2017.

 

I gotta say I find the rear wiper (on our 3rd gen) about as useful as the fog lights.

 

Yep - though I'd say better than the absolutely useless fog lights.

At least the wiper will wash maybe 40% of the back window, which is handy on a wet road. I haven't seen particularly good rear wipers since the '70s CROWN or 90s Camry - though I vaguely remember seeing 3 rear wipers somewhere?

 

Yeah you're right: nothing's as useless as the fog lights.

 

The lithium battery would be a big loss going from an Eco to a trim 2. Our daughter has an Eco and we have a 4. I never use the rear wiper. A good coat of Rainex will the hatch window clear if you're rolling.

 

It depends on your viewpoint. The NiMH battery has proven itself and been improved with each generation Prius.
The Li-Ion battery is much newer and not as widely used.

 

Li-ION is only available in Japan and in only some models in USA. The world has NiMH. Plus, the NiMH is tried and proven over 20+ years, Li-ION, less so. Japanese owners only keep their cars for 3-5 years, so longevity is irrelevant to them, but we all know our new Lithium based Smartphones and Laptop batteries only last a short time.

TOYOTA has only provided NiMH for the new AWD PRIUS as it's more suitable for colder climates.

 

On our Gen3 I've found that I use the rear wiper a few times during the year.

However, the rear defroster on our Prius is so powerful that I could certainly see living without the rear wiper even up here in the frosty north.

 

Like a couple of responders above, I'd be ok with either.

Now I'd use the expression "big loss": no spare tire is a deal breaker for me.

 

I noticed the lack of rear wiper after I got my Two-Eco -- duh. I was buying under pressure since my old 04 was dead and I was stranded. That's another story.

At first, I was irritated, but I've always used Rain-X, and it works here so I'm fine with it. Also, the one on my Gen-2 was never that impressive to begin with, so it's not much of a loss anyway.

I've decided to further console myself with the thought that: a) the car probably has better aerodynamics (how much -- who knows) withOUT the wiper back there, and b) the car looks cleaner without the wiper.

AND there's another deletion with the Two-Eco, at least in the 2018 MY: there's no cargo cover for the under-hatch area. That one really does bother me, but nowhere near enough to spoil the car overall. BTW, for grins, I asked Toyota parts, and they want $600 (SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS US) for the cover. No thanks! Oh well......

 

The rear wiper isn't really great anyway - because of the angle it's on, it only clears a small part of the back screen. Yes, I occasionally use it - it's better than none, but don't feel too bad.

The cargo cover - check out a wrecking yard to see if they can source one for you? To be honest, I used it for maybe a week, I removed it and put it under the cargo floor. Then I took it inside where I sealed it in a plastic bag for when I sell the car. It's not very good. It's a roller cover, which needs a hand to roll back when you've got 2 hands full of stuff, and you need to lean over to guide it back. Very inconvenient.

I'm used to hatchbacks with hard covers which lift when the tailgate opens by the means of greatly complex ... shoelaces.



It's not as though TOYOTA doesn't know how to make them - here's the Corolla:

 

Thanks for the added info, particularly re the quality of the unit. I may still at some point check the yards for one. Of course, a cheap small tarp from Harbor Freight would probably serve the purpose. As for the quality, I was assuming I'd find the same level of quality as the one in my old 2004 car. It was really robust and confidence inspiring, likely deemed too heavy now... The slots into which it fit were much more substantial and deep than the little indents -- that are empty on my car. All the more disturbing that they want $600 US for one through parts.