2013 Prius Two Rear Camera Upgrade - DIY

Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet and install a rear-view camera on the Prius Two.

I don't know if we can promote products, but I went with the Toyota Rear Backup Camera Kit for Camry, Corolla, Prius, Rav4 (2012, 2013, 2014) on Amazon and sold by PYvideo. This unit looks exactly like OEM, and it's only $120 (more or less), as compared to the one sold on JuicedHybrid which is more expensive and looks like an aftermarket product. I also paid $7 and some change for the Car Radio Stereo, Dash Removal Install Tools (Set of 12) that was listed as often purchased with this item. Yeah, it's a bundle of plastic tools made in China, but I think it's money well-spent if you don't have specialty tools for taking apart body panels.

You should buy 2-3 packs of zip-ties (they don't give you nearly enough) and some red wire terminals (pictured later) and a terminal-crimping tool if you don't already have one. You'll need some duct tape and electrical tape as well. Oh, and you'll also need something to run wire with. I used a scrap piece of heavy-gauge household wiring (thick but still flexible).

PYvideo has a YouTube video showing you how the install goes. If you don't have broadband where you will be doing the install, I have a downloaded copy on Box you can download and play offline here.

Now for the install....

I took some pics of removed panels so you can see how many attachments you are trying to undo. These panels came off easier than I feared, and I was glad I bought the specialty tools. I would not have felt comfortable trying to rip them off with my bare hands or pry them loose with a common flat-head screwdriver.









Next, you have to remove the plastic cap they insert where the camera normally would mount. Ignore the video's suggestions. I live by the "measure twice, cut once, STILL MESS IT UP" philosophy.

I got a respectable, but small, drill bit that was way smaller than the size needed to run the camera's post through. I used this to make a big enough hole in the cap to run a piece of old coat hanger and pull it free. In spite of this, I needed to work with the other tools quite a bit to finally get it loose. Once you get one side's clip to clear the rest is easy.



The video (and instructions) are pretty lax here. You think it is best to put the hole right in the center, and that does work fine, but I'd suggest a tad more towards the "back" of the piece (the flat side...as illustrated by the pink X).





To get to the correct size hole, I simply re-drilled with larger and larger bits until the desired size was achieved. DO NOT trust the video's example. The post on your model may not be the same. This one came with a narrow post. Had I just drilled the hole with the suggested bit without looking first, it would have been a disaster.



You can see here why I say make the hole a touch more towards the back of the piece. Thankfully, the end result looks a lot better than you would think from the next photo.



There was no real way to get a good photo of this, but running the wire back through the hole for the left side license plate light took some effort. There's no real room to work with, so getting the lamp assembly back in place takes some work (and prying with one of the plastic tools) so that the locking tabs fully engage. You then run the wires along the harness to the rubber hose connecting the rear hatch to the cabin side.



The top side just pulls out. The bottom side has this 4-way locking connection that is a WITCH (with a capital "B") to remove. Unless you have a special tool or really tiny hands, all you can do is work at it. A fingernail/fingertip can depress a tab and make it unlock, but doing all 4 at the same time is impossible. I probably spent 10 minutes slowly working with one of the plastic tools to keep pressure on ejecting it from the hole as I tried to reach the different tabs. If you can get either one on the short side (left/right) to come free, then doing one on the long side makes it pop free.



Here is the biggest place to be careful. The video says to use some silicone lube on your wire guide to bring it through the boot. You use some electrical tape to keep the video wire attached as you guide it through. I was wondering why I couldn't make it clear that last inch of the boot. I peeled the boot back and saw the video wire was caught on another wire. I had to back it up a bit and gently push the wire out of the way to get it to go through. DO NOT TRY AND FORCE ANYTHING DURING THIS INSTALL.

From there, you are supposed to run the wire as shown to the front of the Prius. This is simpler that you'd think, and I'm glad that the "door seals" just press in and pull off. I was afraid I was going to do some permanent damage (many older cars have them glued on). I did spend some time finessing the routing from the boot to the left side of the car. There's an airbag there, and I had to route the wire behind/under it.



In spite of the instructions and video, I only had to crimp-connect two red wires and attach the RCA yellow connector. Indeed, this kit came with most wiring already pre-connected, and at this point, you're just connecting the wire-run to the T-connection that goes into your head unit.



Don't forget to secure the connections with electrical tape. You don't want these coming loose.

There's existing wire harness behind the head unit you can use to secure the excess wiring to with zip-ties.



As you can see, the end result looks very clean and OEM.





And VOILA (a French word that means "voila"), your Prius Two now has a fully-functional OEM-style reverse camera.