Rear View? Do You Get Used to It?

The visibility is the thing I dislike most about my Prius. I find, like other posters, that after a while I ignore the lower window. (This is what I originally wrote, but I checked and I can now see that I do use the lower window, and resent the split view). I find that the spoiler makes it difficult to see the headlights of cars following me. In this car, you must be *very* careful to set the side-view mirrors correctly, and you must train yourself to always look back and to the left, or back and to the right, before changing lanes. That's because the side-view mirrors cannot possibly let you see a car that is almost next to yours. Correctly set side-view mirrors also let you see what's going on behind you.

One thing to keep in mind is that one rarely needs to see detail through the rear window. Even the small window tells you what you need to know: whether there is a car following you closely.

I can say that I've gotten used to the Prius, and I also notice that even full-size cars seem to offer less visibility than they used to. It seems to me that windows all over cars have gotten smaller, presumably to save gasoline.

My car does not have a rear camera. I would like one, because it is impossible to tell whether there is a small object (e.g., a child or pet) behind the car. Does anyone have a sense of how much it would cost to install a rear-view camera on a 2010 II? Please include labor in your estimate -- I have ten thumbs.

 

I don't remove the rear headrests, but I keep them tilted forward when nobody is riding in the back.
I think that helps considerably with the view.

I would guess it's aerodynamics that lead to the Prius's rather unique rear hatch window design. Very horizontal. The Prius v, and Prius C have more standard back hatch window designs.

I actually don't mind the "bar" in the middle. IMO it rarely if ever block the view of anything except perhaps for headlights, which is good. I think because of the design however, a back-up camera IS a good thing with a Standard Prius, although regrettably my Prius 2, does not have one.

I can accept that aerodynamic design and desire to create a low coefficient of drag would lead to the horizontal split nature of The Prius rear window. And I'll take it as it is.

What I don't understand is why Toyota doesn't integrate or use, rear head rests that actually lower evenly into the back seats. My Honda Fit had rear head rests that clicked or lowered down evenly with the entire back seat. Which made visibility very good.

The Prius rear head rests are HUGE, don't lower evenly, and serve as two big visibility blockers. I'm much more hampered I feel by the headrests than by the "middle bar". And the idea of removing them, and then re-inserting them, every time I have passengers? Doesn't appeal to me.

If you look in my back-seat, however, it looks a little weird to have both headrests pointing forward, but that clears the view, and then I can always just click them back UP when/if I'm transporting people. I have had some awkward moments in the rain, as I frantically went to snap the headrests back up, before somebody tried to get in. But if you ask me, the headrests are the bigger rear visibility issue, and IMO the one that Toyota could much address much easier.

 

I used to own a Honda CRX Si. It didn't have a spoiler there but it did have a large shallow hatch window with a small vertical one below. I got used to it.
In addition to the Prius I own a Chevrolet Volt now. Guess what the rear view looks like in that car?

There are very few cars on the market now that have really good window visibility. Off the top of my head, in a size range I would consider I can think of one--the Subaru Forester.

 

It's NOT an apples to apples comparison, but I felt my 2010 Honda Fit which is a compact, had excellent window visibility.

I think the front window was actually larger than the Prius.

It was all the glass that helped create the "illusion" and feel that The Fit was a much larger automobile than it really was. And as I stated above Honda designed the rear headrests to fit evenly with the back seats, and the more "standard" horizontal single hatch window created a great view out the back.

A lot of it is just the "feeling" it creates, but the closest I would say the feel of the visibility in a Honda Fit came to me? Was like riding in a 1970's AMC Pacer.

I really liked the open, very visible feeling of all the glass.

I'd say the Honda Fit was above average in this area.
The Prius...probably average, and maybe due to the bar in the middle coupled with the huge head rests? Probably a little below average. Not a deal breaker to me, but something I think Toyota could work on, and for me? Without a back-up camera I definitely keep the headrests folded forward, and I use blind spot mirrors.

 

My personal take on sight lines is:

Prius
Rear view not an issue at all with rear headrests tilted down
View though all quarters is really bad
Window sill line sharply rising to the rear is bad (obstructs view and makes alignment difficult when parallel parking)

Cars generally
Car sight lines have been steadily getting worse over the past 10 years and continue to do so.
Most now seem to be bad
I view it as incompetent design probably driven by a really bad fashion trend and losing sight of a major functional issue while trying to address other issues
Cameras and sensors help a bit but it would be much better to design cars for good sightlines.

Best sight lines
In line with what others have said, the best I've noticed are the Honda Fit (at least the last gen, I've not sat in the latest one) and some Subarus

 

I'd agree. Go back twenty~ thirty years and visibility get's even better. I'm not sure that it's just cosmetic design though: could be tougher crash worthiness standards?

Either way, don't much like it, I mean: with lousy visibility you need increased crash worthiness.

 

I think the design trend is driven by crash test results and a desire to surround occupants with metal rather than glass as well as a need for a place to put side airbags. IMHO, our Prius has better overall visibility than our van had, but then I use my mirrors to keep track of who's coming up on the sides and when I'm driving, I don't carry on conversations, use my cell, etc. Our mirrors are adjusted correctly and I've had significantly fewer "oops" moments when wanting to pass other vehicles. And those moments are usually caused by the sheer number of big rigs on the interstates these days that make it difficult to always see other cars that are speeding faster than usual. If anything, the smaller side mirrors are more troublesome for me than the rear window or other so-called blind spots.

And the backup camera definitely plays a role in parallel parking. The mirrors and a glance tell me if I'm backing up straight and the camera tells me when I need to stop. I may be one of a few, but I simply have no problem with the visibility in the Prius. I almost opted for a "v" for the rear window, but it's been a non-issue for me.

My wife might have a different opinion, but all she's said is the Prius takes some getting used to. Her complaint is mostly with the brakes because she tends to brake late and the brakes on the van were soft and had more pedal distance. I guess I bought the car for a multitude of reasons and accept the tradeoffs.

And even though the rear wiper looks pretty useless when compared to a vehicle with a more traditional rear window, it clears enough for me when we're driving the interstates in the rain, but I don't know about snow, don't see that around here.

 

You really do get used to it, and I don't even have the rear-view camera of the newer cars.

I turn my head and shoulders when backing up and I have no visibility issues at all.

 

Sometimes the way the spoiler blocks headlights is a good feature. Of course, depending on terrain, etc., it can also sometimes block the view of entire cars farther back.

As far as viewing low obstacles close behind the car, the Prius is better than a lot of other cars. Some Ford sedans of the 70s were as bad in that respect as the Prius would be if there were no window below the spoiler.

This is the first car I've had with a right mirror, but also the first in which cars hiding in the right rear "blind spot" can not be seen simply by turning one's head, so changing lanes to the right seems treacherous. Adjusting the right mirror to cover that blind spot requires it to be at the extreme rightward outer limit of its travel range.

I agree with several posters that field of view has generally worsened in most cars. That results from a combination of aerodynamics, tightened roof strength requirements, styling fashion, and lax legal requirements in that regard. It's not clear that a stronger roof that results in blocked view (and also raises the center of gravity) is a net safety improvement, but the rules are what they are.

 

I blame technology. The more they make cars to compensate for bad driving, the sloppier the designs get.

Same with computers. When they were limited and very expensive, the coders had to maximize efficiency. Now that parts and memory is dirt cheap, they can be sloppy and not care...creating endless problems that need fixing later on.

 

Ha, what's not being mentioned is that the only thing you do see out the rear window is how close the car behind you is, the poor rearward vision in the prii makes the only thing you can see seem larger than life, and it makes one think they are being tailgated, lots of tailgate threads.

One drive and you get used to the rear vision and the cramped cockpit, aw, ok, two drives.

 

I'd suspect it bugs older drivers more, cause we recall the rolling greenhouse days.

More or less completely off topic, but: anyone notice pretty much NO ONE wears seat belts in the movies. Cinematic license I guess.

 

I'm remembering my 1980 VW Rabbit. What a contrast!

 

To me, the black bar is not distracting at all & actually helps to block out blinding headlights. My biggest complaint is the lower rear window.
It gets dirty very easily due to the airflow and looks almost like frosted glass in the rain. I don't have rear camera so backing up in the rain is pure guesstimation.

 

All to clear to see someone is always tailing me! LOL.. Though the cross member is there, what would it block your view of? I look back, and it's clear to me if someone is back there.

Oh, I forgot, the rear camera makes up for what you can't see in tight or weird places(dead ends, posts kids, dogs, etc).

 

I got used to it no problem. Like others have mentioned, the black bar blocks the headlights of other vehicles. In fact, I now think rear visibility is over-rated, as long as you have a backup cam for reversing and to make sure there's no kids, or tricycles below the windows. All I need to know is that there is someone behind me, that's it. Combine that with shoulder checks, I have all the visibility I need.

 

Overall it didn't seem to bother me as much as I thought it would, coming from a Prius v. The backup camera is much wider than on my Prius v which is still taking some getting used to though, it also doesn't have the handy guidelines like on the v.

This does bother me though. I'm hoping some Rain x will help with this, but its just been to cold to apply around here at the moment. Anyone have any helpful suggestions on how to keep the lower window clean?

Other than that the back window hasn't been an issue with me.

 

I couldn't agree more.

I'm 68 and it hasn't bothered me one bit. Maybe 68 is the new 29?

I've actually notice more and more drivers buckling up on TV these days, even police. Movies might be a different story, I don't watch many movies anymore.

 

I'm installing a rear-view camera on my Prius 2. I have the money for the DIY project, and I'm tired of being "surprised" by things I don't see coming. To be fair, most of those "surprises" are the other idiots going too fast in the parking lot, but the rear-view visibility of the Prius (especially wide-angle to the rear), leaves something to be desired.

 

Definitely, just takes some getting used to. I find that I tend to look at the bottom glass more as I have my seat bottomed out. I just "look out" on the top glass when viewing from my rear view mirror. Furthermore to facilitate viewing I removed the middle headrest in the back since I rarely have any passengers