New to us 2007 package 1 gen II

Good Afternoon Fellow Prius chatters!

My Girlfriend and I were recently involved in a somewhat serious car accident. I attached a photo of her 2007 Toyota Matrix.

We bought a 2007 Prius with ~60k miles to replace it! The car is in great shape.


Now it's time to get to moddin!

Top of my list to do very soon:
EV mode button
Third break light flasher
Oil change (I don't trust oil in used cars ... at all)
OEM backup camera install


I've been unable to find the EV mode button with Sigma auto. I would like to find the button that goes into the factory option spaces next to the dimmer control. We plan on having this car for a long time so quality of mods is a high priority. Any help on finding the switch?

For the third light flasher I would like to find a model that flashes the high mount brake light several time and has a reactivation delay of no more than 5-10 seconds. I have found this one that is at the upper limit for the reactivation delay.
Universal Brake Light Flasher/Strober - 1800+ modes [unvbrkflsh1800] - $24.95 : 3rdBrakeFlasher, E-commerce web site
Anyone have any suggestions otherwise?

Oil change. I have yet to look up the proper oil but I've been told 0W20 full synthetic. What would be a nice top of the line filter? What mileage are you guys going on synthetic before replacing the filter/oil/both?

Finally the backup cam. I've read you can simply install one to Prii that have the updated screen from the early models. I've also heard that you can't. So which is it? Can I install the factory backup cam without a massive headache or massive hole in my wallet?

Also taking suggestions for mods!

 

Oh if anyone is wondering a 21 year old in a 2010 Camaro ran right out in front of us while we were traveling in the left hand lane of a 4 lane highway. He was coming out of a shopping center trying to turn left by crossing our path. His fault of course. He tried to tell the police that we accelerated in order to hit him on purpose

 

Thanks for the responses everyone.
Despite the negative press above I'm defiantly doing the EV mode mod. Our apartment complex is fairly large and the ICE kicks on for 2-5 seconds on two small hills on the otherwise flat drive. I would like to prevent these ultra short and unnecessary start ups as well as leave the battery in a mid level state of charge so that the warm up cycle can charge the HV pack. I can foresee when a tiny hill will only make the ICE start up for a moment whilst the computer cannot. I plan to use the EV button when appropriate. After what I've read I'm quite the believer that educated use can net a small gain in efficiency and reduce wear on the ICE.

So I've seen no word on installing the OEM backup cam. Anyone care to help out? Provide a link?

Also, has anyone done the 3rd flasher mod?

 

Anyone? also would like to swap out some/all of the interior bulbs for LEDs.

 

I'm disappointed that I haven't seen more feedback.

What I've found is as follows.

TL;DR version - Backup cam. Looks like you cant just hook up the back cam. Probably use Coastaltech lockpick and ebay cam. Not sure if factory wiring is present. EV mod - Sigma button is cool but expensive. I'll go with Coastaltech's cruise method. 3rd brake light - I'll go with the link in my first post as every other one has too long of a reactivation delay. LEDs - This is way complicated. I have no idea how I'm going to figure out what fits/performs well in each location.

Full version -

Backup Cam:
This post seems to suggest that 06+ Prii are pre-wired for the factory backup cam. I also found that Coastaltech sells a 'lockpick' for 06-09 base model Prii here (scroll down and find "CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW IF YOUR 2006-2008 PRIUS IS THE BASE MODEL WITHOUT NAV, JBL AUDIO OR FACTORY REAR VIEW CAMERA"). I've found an OEM Prius cam for $130 on EBay. Between the $230 lockpick and the $130 cam I'm now finding it a bit hard to swallow. The first link I ... linked ... shows where the 05 owner gave up and got a rear view mirror screen. On Ebay it's over $600 !!!!111oneeleven. HOLY CRAP. So the evidence seems to be that the coastal mod using this $20 Sony back up cam (also used by another 05 owner on the second page of the same first thread above) is the smartest/least expensive route. It would be nice if I could use the factory wiring so I don't have to run my own ... if it truly is already there. I really need to pull the trim off in the area to see if the wiring is there or not.

EV mode mod:
Sigma's EV button is $85 alone ... they stuck it in the interior section rather than the "12 volt" section ... stupid me for not finding it in the first place. I figure that the Coastal mod, while not what I first wanted, will be cleaner, cheaper ($45), and easier to install.

3rd Brake light:
The link I first used will likely be the way I have to go. I have not yet researched this ad nauseam but I might ... the linked one seems to do what I want but has a WHOLE lot of other settings to play with that I don't necessarily need. I don't think I'm going to truly find what I want otherwise (flashes X times then solid, reactivation delay of no more than 10 second).

LED interior lights:
I first need to add to this. I would also like to find/install LEDs for both the license plate lights and the rear tail lamps (not the brake lights lol). I haven't been able to find much on this subject. Plenty of bulbs but no real guide as to what goes where factory bulb wise much less which of the MANY offerings for each bulb type will fit/perform well for each particular location. This one is turning out to be much tougher than what I anticipated. I'm just hoping I can find a kit pre sorted for a Prius. This kit is insanely awesome but is unfortunately for Gen IIIs.

 

Awesome!
Did you use these? Any note on the license plate LEDs they also sell?

 

Any luck finding that link?