Scion IQ signal mirrors on a Prius v wagon

Hi ... first post on this forum although I have been pretty active on Lexus forums having driven Lexus LS cars for 22+ years. About three weeks ago, my wife bought a Blizzard Pearl (white) Prius v wagon with the Advanced Technology Package. The main driver behind the purchase was the LED headlights which are vastly better than the halogen headlights on the 98 Camry my wife has been driving the past 14 years.

A "feature" of the Prius v that we did not notice and which would have altered the purchasing decision was that neither the front nor rear turn signals can be seen from the sides - not good for retirement age geezers like us and especially for visually challenged me who will occasionally drive the car.

So ... I did some research (mainly what I do for a living) and found that the U.S. market Scion IQ turn signal mirrors are essentially the same (minus the retractor motors) as those on the Japanese market "Prius a" wagon which is sold in the U.S. as the "Prius v". Not wanting to go to the expense of replacing the entire mirror units, I decided to go the lower cost route and replace only the mirror covers on the Prius v with the mirror covers and turn signals from the Scion IQ.

A downside of using the Scion mirror covers is that they are available only in "Super Chrome" and not the "Blizzard Pearl" white of our Prius v. I suppose I could import the Japanese market "Prius a" "White Pearl" mirror covers (same 070 paint code as "Blizzard Pearl") but I don't want to go to the trouble and extra expense. And if the IQ mirrors on the Prius v ever get damaged, I want to make sure that a replacement is readily available.

Earlier this evening my wife parked her Prius v next to a Blizzard Pearl Scion IQ at the nearby Toyota/Scion dealership so I could verify that the measurements are the same. All measurements match except the slight differences related to the IQ having the turn signals in the mirrors. My wife doesn't seem to mind losing the car body matching white mirror covers of her Prius v for the Super Chrome IQ mirrors.

So ... the Scion IQ mirror covers and signal lamps have been ordered from Carson Toyota at a cost of about $160 including shipping to Kansas. I suspect the most difficult part of installing them will be fabricating a connection between a fabricated wire harness and the turn signal unless I can determine the connector type and order it as a collision damage repair part or get it from a salvage car. Connecting a fabricated wire harness for the additional turn signals to the kick panel junction boxes looks straight forward although crawling around in a footwell is not my idea of fun at my age.

I plan on taking photos of the installation and posting them on this thread when I am finished with this project in a few weeks.

If anybody has done this before and/or has advice on how to proceed with this project, I would certainly appreciate the help. I've read threads on this forum that show how to replace the Prius v mirror covers and that information will be valuable in completing this project.

 

Thanks! Me too. Unfortunately I got an email today from Carson Toyota that said the Scion IQ mirror covers and signal modules are on back order. The parts for my non-Prius car projects are also on back order. Doesn't anybody keep parts in stock anymore?

 

Here are photos of the Scion IQ mirror covers and turn signals I installed on our Prius v Five today. Or at least I think I've attached photos -- this forum seems to work differently in this regard than any I have used in the past.

The total cost of the parts was $134.78 from Carson Toyota not including nominal shipping cost which was less than the orginal estimate.

Since the IQ mirror signal lights normally use a electrical connector built into the IQ wiring harness, I used small female spade connectors to attach the power and ground wires to the pins inside the signal light unit female electrical port - photo attached.

The following threads were very helpful:
Prius v: Turn Signal Mirror Install | PriusChat
DIY JDM style side mirrors combo lights (Signal+Parking+Courtesy lights) | PriusChat

Although I ran the wires into the driver and passenger footwells, I have not yet attached them to the junction boxes - I may leave that to next weekend.

The Scion IQ mirror covers and turn signals fit perfectly which is not surprising since the mirror covers are the same part number used on the Japanese market "Prius a" which is sold as the "Prius v" in North America.

Fishing the wires through the door gasket tube to the interior was easy using my standard "tool" - a 12 inch cable tie with the wires attached to the "eye" end.

My wife was previously OK with the IQ mirror covers not matching her Prius's white body color but she seems to be having second thoughts. I may obtain Japanese market "Prius a" mirror covers that match the metalic paint if she doesn't warm up to the "Super Chrome" IQ mirror covers.

I can post photos of the installation process although the photos in the above mentioned threads are more than adequate. There really were no surprises since Toyota uses the same trim designs and attachment methods throughout its brands and models.

So far I've spent about four hours on this project - was cautious and deliberate. It helped having a good selection of trim removal tools.

 

I spent another hour or so tonight connecting the positive wires from the mirror turn signals to wires on junction boxes in the left and right footwells per the instructions in one of the above referenced threads. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that the diagrams shown in that thread (the diagrams with the arrows pointing at the wires) were completely reversed as you view them in the foot wells. Mentally flip them upside down and from left to right.

Yes, the turn signal wire on the left side is a yellow wire and the one on the right side could be described as "sky blue". The two wires are very thin - maybe 22 or 24 gauge - and thinner than many of the other wires in the junction boxes. I verified that I had the correct wires by probing where they connect to the junction box with an unpowered grounded test light.

These junction boxes are covered by white plastic shields that have to be pried off after flipping back a U-shaped plastic locking mechanism. The wires are tightly bundled so it takes some effort to separate out the two wires you need. And you will probably have to unwrap the electrical tape to extract the wires you need from the wire bundle.

For now I didn't bother to search out ground wires at the junction boxes and instead attached the ground wires from the signal mirrors to nearby bolts after crimping U-shaped connectors on the ends so I could slip the connectors behind the bolt heads. Maybe I'll find a better ground next weekend - mainly wanted to get the mirror turn signals working quickly for safety reasons.

I suppose I could try to take a movie of how the signals look while flashing but I would instead suggest that you pay attention to the mirror turn signals on the next Scion IQ you see when its driver signals to turn a corner or change lanes.

 

I don't understand how a continuity test can ascertain whether or not a wire is permanent ground. Only the outside edges of the turn signal light up. Maybe they were designed that way so they could be used in more countries including those that allow only the equivalent light output of one five watt bulb in a side mounted turn signal.

I'll try to describe all the supplies and tools I used during this install as I said I would do in another thread. I think the attached photo shows everything except two small plastic cable ties and an ordinary set of pliers.

* 2 tap splices - sometimes called scotch-locks; used them to connect the "hot" mirror turn signal wires to the "hot" turn signal wires in the kick panel connectors.

* 8 x 1/2 sheet metal screws - same as used in the above referenced thread - to attach the signal modules to the existing exterior mirror assemblies. I think it took four screws for each side.

* Female and male insulated terminals - used these between the "pigtail" I fabricated and the fabricated wire harness leading to the kickpanel so that the mirrors could be easily removed without cutting wires if they ever had to be replaced.

* 18 gauge automotive wire - one color for hot, one color for ground. A smaller gauge wire would have been fine.

* "Gold plated female disconnects 16-14 gauge". A bit to big for the wire gauge I used but not much choice at the hardware store. Two of these were used on each side to attach the fabricated pigtail to the Scion IQ turn signal.

* Insulated Terminal Ring - One was used on each side to connect the ground wire of the frabricated wire harness to an existing bolt on the firewall in each footwell. The rings are a bit to big but not a problem - each attached to the firewall bolt with a washer and 10 mm nut.

* Heat shrink tubing - Used a foot or so on each side to protect the pigtail wires and just to make the install look more professional.

* Electrical tape - mainly used to hold the positive and negative wires in the fabricated wire harness together as I routed them from the mirror pigtail to the footwell.

* Hook and pick set - probably not necessary but it seems like I'm always using one in the set when routing wires in a car.

* Small plastic cable ties (not shown) - used one at each mirror to firmly attach the signal wires to the mirror housing to ensure that the connectors to the Scion turn signals would not come loose when the mirrors are manually folded in.

* Plastic trim removal tool - Mine is from Pro-Fit but these are available at autoparts store. I used it to pry off the door panel, theshold, plate and kick panel cover. One of the most used tools I have.

* Screwdrives - regular and phillips. For removing and driving screws during this project.

* Rivet removal tool - To remove plastic rivets from the door and kickpanel without damaging them so you can reuse them on the plastic kickpanel panel cover and door panel when reattaching them.

* Needlenose pliers - Maybe reduntant to other tools but I sometimes grab it instead when working in small spaces.

* Wire cutters (with the yellow handle) - another probably reduntant tool since the wire stripper tool has a built-in wire cutter.

* Metric socket wrench set with extensions. I think I used only a 10 mm socket but I might have used one other. Can't believe I bought this set over 40 years ago when rebuilding a Mercedes 190SL engine.

* Heavy duty wire connector crimping tool (big pliers looking tool with the black handle and yellow trim) - I've wasted a lot of time during my life using light duty crimping tools. Buy a heavy duty sucker like this to ensure that connectors are firmly attached to wires.

* Wire Stripping tool - (this one has yellow handles that say "Conduct Tite") - I bought this light duty P.O.S. (that's a technical term ) for use on this project since I misplaced my good one. This tool can also be used for cutting wires and for crimping connectors but it is far to wimpy to use for crimping.

* 12" plastic cable tie (at the bottom of the photo). I used this to pull the two wires for the mirror turn signals through the rubber tube between the door and the kick panel. I attached the wires to the eye of the cable tie, pushed the other end through the plastic tube and the easily pulled the wires into the footwell.

* Pliers (not illustrated) - ordinary holdhold pliers used to compress the blades of the tap splices.

Most people have their favorite tools so this is far from an exact science.

Edit: Whoops! I left out the cheap unpowered test light I used to verify that I have found the signal wire in the each footwell. Used it to probe the pins in the connectors.