Missing rear wiper: a safety issue?

Problem for me is I back into my garage. I can't pull in forward due to door clearance issues. After a 90+ minute drive home in rain or snow, the camera is less than useless, and the lower split window is filthy. I Rain-x'd both hatch windows Day 1 and often since on my Gen 2 and 3s, but it's not enough. a wiper on the upper rear window is a must have and one big reason I decided to wait on my Prime decision.

 

I've been backing in for years. The side mirror is what I use.

 

Agreed...I need the rear window for keeping track of who's around me when I'm driving, not for backing up.

 

I confess I haven't tested the car at bigly speed and pouring rain yet, so I haven't experienced Prime rear visibility in adverse conditions. That's happening in 10 days on a 2000 mile extended shake-down cruise.

 

When you are backing up using the center mirror, it's very difficult to judge where the sides of your vehicle are. Combine that with the fact that you're often backing into a much tighter space than a lane-to-lane clearance distance, and you really should use the side mirrors to assure you car's sides are where you want them to be in relation to obstacles and/or parking space line markers. The center mirror is used to keep track of where people are who are behind you and in your lane while the side mirrors are used to keep track of people in neighboring lanes. So, use all three when driving forward and only the side mirrors when backing up.

 

I haven't missed the wiper in the back yet, and I very rarely used it in my Gen3. I don't live where it snows though..

I use my side mirrors and backup camera for reversing and the middle mirror is only for seeing where other cars are behind me.

 

…for those who really need it:

…enjoy!

 

Absolutely, it's a safety issue, but not from rain (a rear wiper isn't needed in the rain - you can still see through the window and still use the side mirrors). The problem is snow. I have been in snow, many times, that accumulates on the mirrors and rear window, now matter how fast or slow you are driving, despite the defroster. The mirror defrosters are better but then snow can accumulate on your side window and block your view of the mirror. That means you can be in a situation where you can't see out the back of the car AT ALL! I reported this to Toyota as a safety issue and asked for a software update so I could have the rear camera on when moving forward. At least that's one more item that has a chance that it might be able to see (from three up to four items). Better than nothing.

 

Well, here is one solution - Toyota Prius Turn Signal / Hazard Rear Camera Activation Kit w/ Navigation Override - All Models - PriusChat Shop - I'm thinking of ordering a kit, I'm just waiting on a reply to a question I e-mailed to @Danny (BossFellah of Ye Olde PriusChatte Shoppe) - might be just the solution you're looking for! Good luck!

 

I went through a lot of rain in Colorado, and I didn't see any problem with a lack of wiper. No snow though, and as I live in Sandy Eggo I am not expecting any here! Blow dry seems to work as well with the back window as it does with some folks hair! Mud (or snow) could be a problem though.

 

Thing is, the big curvy rear window gets fogged up and all... but for whatever reason, the flat, wide window below it doesn't. That just stays clear, and so I can see a small window out the back, unlike most cars locally that don't have a rear window wiper, that they can't see ANYTHING behind them because they don't have a second (clear) window. Yeah it would be nice to have a clear view for the whole back, but for me, meh, not that big of a deal. My concern is how I'll manage with snow/ice. My guess is that I'll just wipe it off by hand as the defroster is running, and again the lower wide rear window (and the backup camera) will be fine. So, I don't think that it's such a big deal.

 

It does have a defroster/defogger wire. That should clear it up... or just have you and all your passengers stop breathing! LoL

 

Bruh, wth was your sarcasm for?

I said that for whatever reason, the flat wide window just doesn't seem to fog up as much. I did not say anywhere that it was missing defogger wires.

 

Just happened. Couldn't see out of the back window at all. Too cold and too humid. Mini water droplets completely all over the entire curvy hatch window. I had Rain-X'd it twice, and this seems to have made absolutely no difference. Walked out and tried to wipe all the droplets off by hand - nothing! That's because the window was severely fogged - on the inside! Arghh. Didn't want to press the rear defog for that. Wouldn't have made a difference in the 1.5 mile trip home.

Small roll of paper towels is now stored on the back deck for the next time. Why didn't Toyota have the wisdom to put a magic wiper blade on the inside of that back window?

 

Why? You want the trunk wet and let water drip down to near the battery?

 

The rear windows of today's sedans are sloped and almost as large as the Prius's, and they get by without a rear wiper.

Lower window will help in snow. On the gen2, it just needed to have the road salt and grime washed off regularly.

 

I've already had my rear view entirely blocked by snow on two occasions - one in May, one in October. This includes both side mirrors too.

Yes, not having a rear wiper is a safety issue.

I'd LOVE to be able to put the rear-camera view on the MID or the top half of the center main display any time I want to. Having neither of those options and having no rear wiper is, to me, an actionable screw up from Toyota if someone gets hurt because of it.

 

Look at the newest sedans. No wiper either. Same slope too, but lack the channeling from dual-wave.

 

I have the black tonneau cover (Type A) installed, so I can't even see the lower window on my rear view mirror. The rear defogger is very slow in getting rid of condensation on the back glass. Will see how difficult it is to drive in snow.