2017 Prius Prime turn w/ aftermarket turn signal mirrors

I took my Prius Prime to my stereo installer yesterday for some modifications. My favorite is the turn signal mirrors from the Hybrid Pit ( Toyota Prius Sequential Turn Signal Mirror Light for ZVW50, ZVW51 ). They told me these are only the second set in the U.S. I highly recommend them.

I've posted a photo of the puddle lights on at night below and will post a brief video showing them in operation. I adjusted the brightness and contrast in the photos so that they better represent what the lights actually look like.

I had them installed by Shawn at Streetnoyz in San Diego. They are experts and do a lot of high-end work, including complete rewiring of custom cars. Shawn said it took six hours for him to install them, but he only charged me for four because that is what he would charge to install them going forward (and how long it would actually take). The extra two hours spent on mine were necessary because he wanted to go over the included wiring diagrams closely as he always wants to do the absolute minimum wiring necessary to achieve the needed result.

The signals look great on the mirrors. Even when they are off, they look better than the chrome strip built into the mirrors (that strip looks cheap to me).

What I like about these signals:

1. They only replace a relatively small part at the bottom of the mirror so you keep your mirror's original color and other features (like BSM).
2. The lights are really bright without being too bright. Even if adjusting the brightness was possible, I would not adjust their brightness because I think they are the perfect brightness.
3. You can choose a sequential pattern for the amber LEDs, or you can have them all light at once. You can change this back and forth any time with a switch included in the kit.
4. The white driving lights* look good and are noticeable without being obtrusive. They seem to be on whenever the Prius is on. I'm fine with that because I always leave my daytime running lights on (they might look a bit odd during the day if your DRLs and headlights are off). They can be turned on and off with a switch included with the kit, but that isn't very convenient if you did want to turn them on and off regularly. You can also simply not connect the mirrors' driving lights so that they can never turn on.
5. The turn signal indicators wrap around the mirror, just like the stock chrome strip they replace. This means that cars that are behind you and on your side can see your turn signal blinking, which could help avoid a wreck.
6. Even though the turn signals do wrap around the mirror as described in #5, you (the Prius driver) can't see them flashing. If the driver could see them flashing, it would be very distracting and really overwhelm the flashing of the amber BSM indicators.
7. The part of the light that is visible from behind your car is quite bright, and actually lights the road up beside you with each flash. Other drivers really can't fail to see it flashing.
8. The puddle lights on each mirror are great. They come on with your dome light is on (when it is on as a result of unlocking, approaching or exiting the Prius), so they come on when you unlock your doors with the electric key.

*You can order the mirrors with white or blue driving lights, but I would not even consider the blue. Blue lights are reserved for law enforcement in California (and many other places, I suspect). I despise this trend of adding colored lights to cars. Lights need to be standard colors to prevent confusion and distraction on the road. If you want colored lights, leave your Christmas tree up year-round.

 

I had several things done by my installer at the same time, including the mirrors. The kit for the mirrors was $300 from HybridPit.com. Shawn (my installer) rated installation at 4 hours going forward (he spent more time on mine, 6 hours, because it was the first set he installed). So it would be four hours labor, which I think is $90 per hour at their shop (they are very, very good). So that would be $660 installed.

 

Yes, it wasn't cheap. But I can't help compare it to the turn signal mirrors I bought for my Maxima. They replaced the entire mirror on each side, and the mirrors themselves cost $500, plus a costlier install because they were difficult to wire in (they were from China did not come with any wiring diagram to speak of).

I really believe in the safety benefit of turn signal mirrors, so I'd have installed these even at a higher price. When you add in the fact that they look very cool, it wasn't a hard decision for me.

Funnily enough, my installer was also working on a 1930s "woodie" station wagon that was being rewired as part of a complete restoration. As was common back then, this woodie did not have have even have side-view mirrors, much less, much less ones with turn signals or puddle lights. I'm not even sure it has flashing turn signal lights on the front anywhere. Its rear brake lights, which double as turn signal flashers (I'm guessing) are tiny. They aren't even 3" in diameter. I doubt it even came with lap belts. However, I'm sure it has a spare tire. Safety standards have certainly changed.

 

Sorry for the duplicate post. I forgot to click "Reply" so that the member who asked the question would be notified and the question quoted. They were installed by Shawn at Streetnoyz in San Diego. They are a high end shop and do a lot of complete rewire jobs on ground-up restorations of classic cars. They also have a custom fabrication shop.

 

The turn signal kit comes with wiring and a couple of switches. One switch turns the driving lights on the mirror on and off, the other turns the mirrors from sequential to flashing all at once. There are wires that are just added to what's there and inserted into harnesses (they already have terminations on them). I think that that is most of the wiring. I do think there is a wire that you connect to the circuit that the dome light is on (it is for the puddle lights on the mirrors, so that the puddle lights come on when the dome light comes on when you enter and exit the vehicle). But I think most of the wiring is just added to existing harnesses. My guess is that the Prius comes with turn signal indicators on the mirrors in other countries (I think they are required in many countries), so I think a lot of the wiring is already there. There are wiring instructions included with the mirrors.

 

No, I'm sorry, I don't. I didn't install them. Mine came with instructions, but my installer said the instructions were unnecessarily complicated and called for the running of much more wire than was necessary, and to remote points you didn't need to run to because you could pick up the necessary wires under the dash.

 

That may well just be because they don't know for certain yet whether they do work. I suspect they will, but I don't know for certain.