You all should know how much I LOVE my Prius. But one of the few downsides, is that it has absolutely terrible rear view visibility I feel like I'm trying to see through a little hole between the top of the seat, the roof, and the two headrests Yes, I'm getting my dark tint again, but that doesn't make a lot of difference with this issue. Three years ago, with my 2019, I posted about this. Went back and read that thread again just now, and I didn't really see any workable suggestions then. It seems like they now make WAY more digital rear views.... but they nearly ALL have 57 options that are completely worthless to me, most commonly, recording cameras. I already have a 3 way camera (for rideshare mostly) that records in front, behind, and in the car. I also have the factory back up camera. All I need, is a rear view that lets me see everything behind me, with no obstructions, at all times, when I'm driving, day and night. Auto dimming with bright headlights is cool. As would be night vision. But all the cameras, temp gages, garage door openers, and other controls are worthless, and just in my way. Also, I think strapping a digital mirror over the factory one, is totally goofy. I want to completely replace the worthless mirror that is in the car now, with something that actually allows good visibility behind the car. Anybody doing something about this ?
I haven't seen it in the USA (regulatory issues prevent it from being a factory option) but you can get a full time video rear vision system and a display which looks like a traditional mirror, mounted in the traditional location for a rearview mirror. It won't be plug-and-play; if you aren't comfortable hacking up your wiring you'll want to make friends with a mobile autosound dealer or the like. Amazon sells these for between $200-300. I don't have a suggestion for a specific search term- they seem to be mixed in with the ones that attach over top of an existing rearview mirror.
There are industries / companies set up around doing this. It's been a common issue with big trucks, especially big box trucks that operate in cities, long enough that I've seen quite a few different monitor systems. Some of them have three cameras, all visible all the time on the monitor they install on the dash.
Personally I don't have a problem. One thing I do love about it is that the "bar" is about the height of large SUVs, Trucks etc's headlights. I do have my back seat folded 99% of the time - which improves rear vision - but the external mirrors are good (better than a Mazda I was in a few days ago).
