Quick question: As someone who never washes the outside of his car, I know it's important to at least keep where the sensors are located for the DRCC, clean. Does anyone know exactly where they're all located, so I can occasionally check to make sure they're clean?
I've never had a problem with the DRCC no matter how dirty my car got. I'm on my second Prius that had DRCC. The other sensors, if you have them, are the blind spot monitoring, cross traffic alert, and parking.
I thought the new system also uses a camera behind the rear view mirror. It uses pattern recognition to avoid pedestrians and it confirms that the radar isn't just seeing a bridge expansion joint, which can trip the earlier system (such as on Pearl S). You can see it through the windshield. So keeping the top of the windshield clean might help.
I had the DRCC drop out on a trip in nasty weather last winter due to the dirt on the Toyota emblem. My wife had her's drop out in a Subaru due to a dirty windshield (Subaru had a 3D vision video camera and no radar). So keeping the sensors path forward clean is required. JeffD
I think the camera is mainly for pedestrian avoidance but it can't hurt to keep that part of the windshield clean too.
