Hey, priuschat! I've been using a taxi/uber style dual dashcam (front and interior cameras, mounted on windshield) for a year or so now and was wondering: Has anyone ever installed a rear facing dash camera in the place where the backup camera would go? I've got a 2010 with no backup camera, but I assume the space is still there, and there's probably ignition power and a ground lead nearby too. Any resources on that? Maybe a video of someone accessing that space? I tried to search the forums, but couldn't find anything about this particular kind of mod (where there's no camera to begin with).
I purchased off ebay a rear view mirror that has a camera mounted on it and also has a rear camera, both record. But it also functions as a backup camera. I never use the back up camera, it's easier for me to use my mirror and look. I believe it was about $40? There are several that sell them for various prices.
Whoah... I thought those cameras were standard in Gen3... I don't know Gen3 too well... I've seen wiring you can buy to give you more control of when you use the backup camera, but not of installing the whole system. If I was trying to deal with this I'd get as much gear as possible for that circuit from a wrecked Prius and then use Toyota Techstream software to get the car to accept it/configure it and if that was successful I'd install it. But in your case I'd probably keep a close eye on all the high end after market multiple camera systems and use that because whoever makes that product has probably done all the configuring/setup for you already.
Oh, totally! One of the reasons I bought the specific used Prius that I did (and avoided the g2) was I hate giant dashboard LCDs. I'm actually pretty happy with not having a backup camera. The giant screens necessary are super ugly to me (like, honestly, the tesla 3's dashboard is probably the most disgustingly designed piece of garbage in automotive history, and the 4th gen prius isn't much better) and when they're used as "infotainment", downright dangerous. I'm mostly looking for something that'll passively record whenever the car is on, looping, so that if there's an accident, I can pull the footage. I was originally planning to buy a simple single camera system to install in that same space(where the backup camera would go) if it'd work that way. Figured that if someone had done that previously, I could cheat off their homework to get a head start.
Thanks for clarifying... In that case I'd find out whichever dash cam processes data the best, as well as is most passively doing the recording work on it's own and then buy lots of them and perhaps take some of them apart so as to more easily install them inside the side panels of the cars. The main challenge is getting all that data integrated under the same time stamp, or at least close. I know Russia was a leader in Dash cam technology when it first started to get popular. Maybe if you did some Googling for the craziest / most clever dash cam configurations? I suspect there are others out there just like you trying to do the same thing. Also companies who manage large fleets of vehicles probably have some good solutions too...
Here are two similar to what I have: HD 1080P Dual Lens 7'' Vehicle Rearview Mirror Camera Recorder Car DVR Dash Cam 654936585409 | eBay and: 4.3" HD 1080P Dual Lens Car DVR Mirror Dash Cam Recorder+RearView Camera Kit lot | eBay
