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Rain Sensing Wipers?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by PriUsr, May 2, 2012.

  1. PriUsr

    PriUsr Junior Member

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    Does the Prius have rain sensing wipers?
    I believe I read somewhere that it does, but I’ve never seen them turn on automatically.
     
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  2. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    Is it listed in your owner's manual?
     
  3. Big Steve

    Big Steve ramblin wreck

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    I don't believe we do. On a similar vein, why don't auto headlights turn on when using the wipers? I don't know about all states, but every one I've been licensed in require lights with wipers.
     
  4. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    No it doesn't have rain sensing wipers. Where did you read that it does? You can add rain sensing wipers.
     
  5. PRPrius

    PRPrius Active Member

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    Rain sensing wipers are available in other global markets. The UK has available rain sensing wipers on the Gen III Prius.
     
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  6. PRPrius

    PRPrius Active Member

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    After recently driving a rental Camaro and Ford Taurus, I came to appreciate the auto headlights when the windshields were active. This would be a nice addition to the Prius auto headlights.
     
  7. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    I prefer to call them Random wipers, they are all but useless IMO.
    The sensitivity control on them does nothing at all, they sometimes wipe like crazy when you have little rain on the screen, then other times decide to wait until visibility is almost nil before doing a wipe.
    I would have much preferred to have the intermittent wipers rather than these.
    Believe me you don't want them !
     
  8. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    Hydreon Rain Tracker is pretty good. It adds auto headlights and turns on the headlights when wipers are auto activated. It won't turn on head lights if you manually turn on the wipers. You can add a switch to turn off the sensor and it reverts back to OEM wipers with intermittent settings.
     
  9. citiboi

    citiboi Junior Member

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    Actually, the Prius 2010 in Asia does have rain sensing wipers as an option. This can be disabled according to the driver's preference.

    The wipers respond according to the amount of water/rain water hitting the windscreen. It is pretty effective actually.
     
  10. Sergio-PL

    Sergio-PL Member

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    Same in EU market but not in every grade. Basic version doesn't have them.

    Sensivity is working but they tend to miss snow and very light rain that not reach top of the windshield. In mid to heavy rain they tend to work quite good.
     
  11. PaJa

    PaJa Senior member

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    Auto wipers are available for upper 2 grades on EU/UK markets. they work well, I didn't notice the same feeling as Sergio-PL. You can setup the sensitivity of the sensor on wiper's paddle.
     
  12. citiboi

    citiboi Junior Member

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    You can set the sensitivity of the sensor on the Prius as well.
     
  13. citiboi

    citiboi Junior Member

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    The wipers are activated when a certain amount of water hits the sensor located at the top of the windscreen just behind the rear view mirror. That is why it may not work in snow.
     
  14. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    MY 2010 Prius purchased her in Australia has rain sensors. You can see the sensor glued to the windscreen behind the mirror. Australian prius also has mirror mounted indicators. We also pay $10 to $20k more.:)
     
  15. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    That's one thing I miss, mirror mounted indicators. RainSense you can keep. I had it on my Cadillacs and I thought it was a PITA.
     
  16. yeldogt

    yeldogt Active Member

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    I like the rain sensor wipers -- some do work better then others. It is a nice feature -- we get a lot of rain in the mid atlantic states -- so it would be a nice addition .... Oh .. I would like a heated steering wheel also :)
     
  17. Sergio-PL

    Sergio-PL Member

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    I said that in certain conditions (when water/snow can't reach sensor behind the mirror - which happened to me in light snow, salt on road or light rain) they're not working as expected - or I expect a bit cleaner windshield that Toyota wants to give me. Most of the time they're working fine.
     
  18. Anas Almustafa

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    Yo
    You Are right , just bought a 2010 prius and it has rain sensing wipers , hud display projector , reverse sensors, seat lumber jack, ...... Etc
     
  19. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    I guess you should have purchased a Lexus ... they have had rain sensing wipers all the way back at least since 2005 ...
    ;)
    .
     
  20. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    ...Wipers? we Rain-X users don't need no steenkin' wipers!

    DROID4 ?