Featured Next-Gen Toyotas Will Now Last for Almost a Decade

or nanocad? or any one of several other freebies?

 

I think they're just trying to keep up with other automakers and please their investors.

People buying new cars expect to see tablets screens and apps. Cars are literally becoming iPhones. That's what the customer wants, that's what Toyota will deliver.

 

Customers may not want the screen.

Mandated reverse cameras require a screen.
Moving controls to it reduces production costs.
Something that increases the manufacturer profit is sold as stylish.

 

Not all customers. But I would suspect the majority do.

One thing I wished were an option would be to put the reverse camera on part of the rearview mirror. It can be made wide enough to have both. I was in a car once that had this feature. I think it was a Cadillac. With the reverse camera screen down low often the sun hits it and it becomes difficult to see. Plus it adds another place to look at while backing up.

 

This move from Toyota guarantees that the new software defined vehicles will, at the very least, get 10 years of software support. This is more than the current generation of toyota's with software in them get now. So long as the software isn't so deeply integrated that in 10 years time you can't bleed brakes because the software is outdated, I don't see the issue.

It reminds me of how cell phones had next to no guarantees on software update lifecycles for a very long time. But now they have long guaranteed security updates and updates for supported hardware features. Makes the usable life of the software side much longer, and guarantees security for a while at least. Better than a software glitch or security issue *never* getting fixed even just 2 years after buying the car, for example, because they don't want to do it.

 

Seems like production costs trump safety in some instances. They have some great aftermarket front & rear camera capability built right into rear view mirrors nowadays.

 

I would find such a screen too small. It is a wide angle camera that views more than the mirror. Smaller screen is the same as zooming the image, making it harder to spot details.

When the mandating talk started, I was hoping for just sensors would meet the requirement. That way a screen won't be a must have.

 

But does it?

I mean, if you buy the very first model year, then yeah you'll get 9.something years of guaranteed support.

...but what if you buy the last one in the series, 10 years later?

Still a brand new car. I would surely hope for 10 years of support.

 

toyota has something similar on some vehicles. The camera shows up IN the mirror. I think my son's 2023 RAV4 Prime XSE has that.

 

You'll get 10 years support for that particular model; that's why cell phones change models annually. There NO question on when support ends.
Expensive software driven machinery models usually has a 3-5 year life (sales) cycle, but a 10 year support cycle. One of our department managers got fired for that. He bought outdated model equipment at fire sale prices and we received the end of support letter before the ink was dry on the sales contract. There was only 3 years of software support left on that model; parts support was whenever they ran out - that was the end of hardware support. Needless to say the department manager was peeved that she had to go back to the budgeting committee to ask for more money and explain the short life cycle of the equipment they just bought.
You needed a software key to integrate and recalibrate replacement parts/modules. OEM won't install used parts; because of 'liability concerns' and wouldn't let us have a software key because of 'proprietary information' and 'liability' concerns; so they say.
Well at least the workers were happy; because they didn't have to learn a new system. they bought the last model year of the old system they already had. The entire point of the 10 year equipment replacement plan.

You know what they say; fail to plan - your planning to fail.

 

The opposite can happen as well, where people that order are relieved of such responsibility & consequences.
All service contracts, software, tooling, PC's, hardware, machinery Etc at Disney would have to be run through purchasing. They had the authority & capability to find better prices & they often did. Decision makers, completely ignorant of actual needs. Results were often catastrophic. Inexplicably none of them EVER got fired.
Imagine ordering a CNC lathe. A few months later, machine operators come to work & find installed a rebuilt - pre WW II conventional lathe. Not even equipped with a digital readout. (sigh)
.

 

It's an option on the gen5. It has its own camera separate from the reverse one that is designed to give the same view as the mirror. Using it for backing up would be the same as using just the mirror. Which is a narrower view than turning your head. The reverse camera gives that head turned field of view; it is even more.

That camera view can be projected on the mirror screen, but will have the issue I brought up earlier. You'll be looking at the scene of out car rear and rear sides on a screen smaller than the dash screen. Making cars, people, objects, etc. smaller to spot. Making the mirror screen bigger can run into blocking the view out the windshield.

 

If there's going to be a mirror-sized thing showing me the view out the back, I'd rather have it be a mirror than a screen. Then my eyes can focus at the distance to the stuff behind the car instead of having to focus at the distance to the screen. I have eyes of a certain age.

 

"digital readout"??? What are you - a Zoomer??? A good to great machinist should already possess a digital eye-ball - that's why we're paying them the exorbitant salary.

That guy was suppose to be the technical sign-off of the 5 person panel; but also the sacrificial lamb. If he bothered to ask any of us lowly plebes, we would've steered him in the right direction.
I got dis-invited to those dog-n-pony shows because I asked the sales guy too many technical questions - you know, my job. I did miss the snacks and long high-end lunches they served. I believe the straw that broke the camels back was when a salesman mistook me for the head of IT. I've got one of those faces. I was asking interface questions when the salesman stated "As head of IT; we would work with you to integrate our system to your". My response was; that wasn't what I asked - and he's the head of IT; but both of you would string me up by the toe-nails, if I can't get these two systems to even "hand-shake" - ergo the question I asked.The IT manager turned beet red - mainly because he knew my statement was true.
It was really a waste of my time; but I do miss the snacks....

 

It was not even an option on the 2025 Camry

 

The camera view out the back is useful on the mirror when you have a trailer or a stack of stuff in the trunk. I often have 4-5 55 gallon bags of trash or lawn debris in my trunk and my '19 Limited has this feature. Flip the mirror and it is on and has a wide angle. Flip again and it is off. Easy peasy.