My 2017 Prius has active cruise radar, but no blind spot protection. Can I add this feature?

My suspicion - NO.

Only way to get it is to trade it on a car which has it.

 

I’m not sure there’s a way to add it. The blind spot monitoring is a feature I miss from my previous vehicle. Mine is a 2017 and if I had waited for the 2017.5 it would’ve been standard.

The passenger-side blind spot is bad on this car, especially around the “C” pillar. Make sure you adjust the mirror far out to cover that side. It has helped me.

 

Mine too.
But I find the feature pretty much useless without a tiny audible beep to go along with it.
But THAT would be a real pain on the freeway in heavy traffic too.
So I am not sorry that mine doesn't have it.
My Ford does and does not help me at all.

 

Anything is possible with enough $$$ thrown at the problem but it would probably be very expensive unless you DIY with used parts; it might even be cheaper to find another one that has all the features you want.

I specifically looked for a used 2018 level II because it had this (BSM) and all other other current (at the time) safety features included as standard. Living in the land of HUGE trucks and suvs, I also particularly like the rear cross traffic feature when attempting to back out of a parking spot.

Old school: Look into the add-on convex mirror solutions. My C-Max has similar built in and they work VERY well.

Also, I've found these electronic rear view mirrors work very well in showing the blind spots if the camera has a very wide angle of view (170 degrees). You can see in the electronic mirror vehicles on each of the car all the way up to almost the B pillar (that's the one between the front/rear doors). No kidding. These also include front/rear "dash cams" adding more features to the vehicle.

 

The actual BSM sensors are in the rear quarter panels (one each side) the mirrors only have the indicators.

I had to replace a sensor on mine as it was damaged in a parking lot accident - it cost about $1,000. Also it can only be accessed by removing the rear bumper and quarter panel a very extensive job.

It is extremely unlikely that your car has them already installed.

As others have commented the blind spot monitor monitors do not have an audible alert and I don't find them anywhere as useful as the ones, for example, on my Mazda 3 that did have the audible alert.

kevin

 

Didn't that get a bit annoying if there was a constant stream of traffic slowly overtaking you in an adjacent lane ??

 

Jerry,

There are third party systems that cost from $100 to $300 such as:

Jeffd

 

No, the audible alert is only given if the direction indicators are active such that the car in the blind spot is a real hazard. There were very few false alarms.

My Tesla also only gives an audible alert if the indicators are on.

I thought of adding an alert to the Prius but haven't got round to it yet. The various signals that are needed are available in the wiring harness.

kevin

 

Well DUH !
Good engineering.

But that would be useless to about half of the drivers out there who don't use the signals.

 

...and the other half that don't use their mirrors!!!!

 

Nope. You have an early 2017 like mine. The BSM was added mid year. I really wanted that too but it is still a great car.

 

The outer part of the mirror is even more convex than the rest of the mirror - maybe adjust the position of the mirror so this helps more?

 

OR....maybe STAY in your fricking lane unless there is an actual NEED to change.
Seeing a gap in a lane next to you does NOT constitute a NEED to fill that hole.