Is it possible anywhere to get a clear glass for the rear hatch? Over here in the UK in winter, or when cloudy, the tinted rear glass significantly impedes visibility for reversing. I appreciate it is necessary in hot climates, but the UK does not get hot . The tint does not bother me, but my wife is pressing me to change the car because she finds it difficult to see out; but I loooove my Prius (apart from the harsh ride) Andrew
It depends on how much you want to spend... It would have to be custom made and experienced custom car builders would quickly be able to order that... The rest of us, we'd have to spend a long time finding someone who would be willing to do a one time order and it'd be expensive. Alternatively You could do DIY-style plexiglass with a bandsaw...
If you don't have a problem, but she does, the problem is not the glass. Do you not have the backup camera? You could install one... cheaper than a new car.
Do you know, I never thought of an aftermarket camera option! I'll look into it. If anyone knows of one or has any advice, let me know. Re the tint, it's like the blasted tinted rear passenger windows. The Prius came with them, and when our young grandchildren were in the the back seat, we could not see them from outside, though they could see us. Lower spec Priuses in the UK came with clear windows, so I found two on eBay and swopped them over. I was hoping that lower spec Priuses somewhere (cold climates?) would have clear hatch glass. Cheers all Andrew
I would go with the backup cam like others have suggested. However, if you just want to replace the glass, there is a bunch on Ebay. Both the upper and lower piece, non tinted.
I didn't know the rear glass was tinted. Is that true for all Gen3 even in the US? How about Gen4 and PRIME?
I think the lower glass in hatch (3rd gen at least) is a heavier tint than the rest. I vaguely recall some years back a guy was getting tinting, and the shop was saying to not bother tinting that lower hatch glass.
I think its on the Prius III that they start to tint the lower glass to help with headlight glare. Mine is a II and had no tint what so ever. My cousins is a III and it came with the lower window tinted.
