Rear View Camera Upgrade

[Richard__G]

Hi All,

I'm trading in a 21 Toyota Venza for a model Y. One of my favorite features of the Venza (which is a truly great car) is that the rear view mirror can use a camera mounted inside the top of the back hatch, giving a wide angle view unobstructed by anything inside the cabin.

The Tesla mirror is tiny, dark, and pretty disappointing. Using the main display gives a great rear view, but doesn't allow doing anything else with it, which kind of defeats the purpose if I want to select music, etc.

Online research brings up a kazilloin options that claim to do what the Venza mirror does. But which is best? And simplest to install? Has anyone had experience with any of these gizmos which they can recommend?

TIA,
Richard

 

[Richard__G]

I have a model Y on order (yay!).

Is it true that when the touchscreen is set to display the rear view, one cannot access any other controls such a music selection without losing the rear view?

I'm trading in a Venza which has a camera mounted at the top of the hatchback, sending the signal to the rearview mirror with a much wider angle of view. It is a terrific feature and I need to duplicate this in some fashion in my new Tesla.

TIA
- Richard

 

[KMC_307]

Hey there and congrats for the order!

It’s true, when the rear view camera is open on the main display, there’s not much you can do with it anymore without loosing the camera view and having to switch back after.

But when do you need a rear view that big other then when you’re backing up the car? If you do so, the camera switches on as soon as you shift to reverse and closes when you leave reverse. And in that 15 seconds you won’t change to a new album on Spotify anyways.

For any other purpose the little rear view mirror works fine, as long as you don’t have to read the license plate of the car behind you at the traffic lights.

Cheers!

 

[Chewy13]

I just tested this, this afternoon.
You can change music, and the temperature. You lose your ability to see the map, or change other HVAC controls - because the cameras are up.
Didn’t try voice commands.
I thought the rear mirror was tiny, along with the back window. But I’ve quickly gotten used to it. Honestly I use the repeater cameras more than the rear camera.

 

[Richard__G]

Hey there and congrats for the order!

It’s true, when the rear view camera is open on the main display, there’s not much you can do with it anymore without loosing the camera view and having to switch back after.

But when do you need a rear view that big other then when you’re backing up the car? If you do so, the camera switches on as soon as you shift to reverse and closes when you leave reverse. And in that 15 seconds you won’t change to a new album on Spotify anyways.

For any other purpose the little rear view mirror works fine, as long as you don’t have to read the license plate of the car behind you at the traffic lights.

Cheers!

Thanks!

I'm so used to my Venza mirror that during my test drives I found the rear view mirror nearly useless, and it was so dark! I guess I'll see if I can acclimate myself to it, but will really miss the Venza mirror. I did find this, but holy mackerel, lots of work to install and it mounts externally which leaves it vulnerable to raindrop blur.

I also found this wireless item designed for truckers which I believe I could mount INSIDE on the rear window, but the screen is huge and overkill.

So I guess I'll wait and "see" how the Tesla mirror works out, and then go crazy with something else if not.

Best!

- Richard

 

[Richard__G]

I just tested this, this afternoon.
You can change music, and the temperature. You lose your ability to see the map, or change other HVAC controls - because the cameras are up.
Didn’t try voice commands.
I thought the rear mirror was tiny, along with the back window. But I’ve quickly gotten used to it. Honestly I use the repeater cameras more than the rear camera.

Chewy13 - Thanks for checking that out! Voice commands is a great idea I hadn't even thought of.

I'm not familiar (yet, since I've not picked up the car) with using the repeater cameras instead. How does that work, and does it allow access to all the other min screen functions?

Many thanks,
- Richard

 

[Richard__G]

Hey there and congrats for the order!

It’s true, when the rear view camera is open on the main display, there’s not much you can do with it anymore without loosing the camera view and having to switch back after.

But when do you need a rear view that big other then when you’re backing up the car? If you do so, the camera switches on as soon as you shift to reverse and closes when you leave reverse. And in that 15 seconds you won’t change to a new album on Spotify anyways.

For any other purpose the little rear view mirror works fine, as long as you don’t have to read the license plate of the car behind you at the traffic lights.

Cheers!

Thanks! But I have this thing about license plates...

 

[Chewy13]

Chewy13 - Thanks for checking that out! Voice commands is a great idea I hadn't even thought of.

I'm not familiar (yet, since I've not picked up the car) with using the repeater cameras instead. How does that work, and does it allow access to all the other min screen functions?

Many thanks,
- Richard

When you signal left or right, on the screen, the repeater camera will show up on the screen, as a blind spot camera.

 

[Richard__G]

When you signal left or right, on the screen, the repeater camera will show up on the screen, as a blind spot camera.

View attachment 983253

Sweet. Thanks!

 

[MikeRTX]

Wow, in the short time it takes to back out of garage or parking space, do you really need to be switching songs or monkeying with other controls?

Most of the (many) cars I've had in the last few years have, in fact, purposely disabled most other functions while in Reverse for safety reasons. They figure if you're backing up you need to focus on backing up and not the radio or music apps.

I'd recommend you just cool your jets for a few seconds and do that other stuff after you're safely out of your garage or parking spot.

 

[SidetrackedSue]

Wow, in the short time it takes to back out of garage or parking space, do you really need to be switching songs or monkeying with other controls?

Most of the (many) cars I've had in the last few years have, in fact, purposely disabled most other functions while in Reverse for safety reasons. They figure if you're backing up you need to focus on backing up and not the radio or music apps.

I'd recommend you just cool your jets for a few seconds and do that other stuff after you're safely out of your garage or parking spot.

This wasn't OP's concern. They want to be able to see behind them while driving and are used to seeing the rear camera view while driving on their current car. Their MY test drive demonstrated how useless the rear-view mirror was for seeing what was happening behind the car while they are driving.

 

[karkrazy]

I said this in many other accessories related posts and I’ll say it again - don’t buy stuff until the car is in hand you’ll find many of the so called “accessories” unneeded and just a waste of time/money.

Yes some may actually be useful, and some are much cheaper when you get them from AliExpress (with the long lead times), but how much of it do you actually need and how many of these items will sit in the packing unused?

 

[Richard__G]

Wow, in the short time it takes to back out of garage or parking space, do you really need to be switching songs or monkeying with other controls?

Most of the (many) cars I've had in the last few years have, in fact, purposely disabled most other functions while in Reverse for safety reasons. They figure if you're backing up you need to focus on backing up and not the radio or music apps.

I'd recommend you just cool your jets for a few seconds and do that other stuff after you're safely out of your garage or parking spot.

MikeRTX,

I guess I didn't explain this fully. It's not about what happens when backing up. It's about fully and clearly seeing behind me while I'm driving.

The Venza I'm replacing uses a rear view camera mounted INSIDE and at the top of the rear hatch to display a wider angle of view in the actual rear view mirror. So no matter how full the "trunk" is, I can always clearly see directly behind me while I'm driving. This is separate from the backup camera., and a GREAT feature and safety aid I've come to depend on.

The only way (as far as I know, not having picked up my Tesla yet) to duplicate this in ANY fashion, is to keep the Tesla's rear camera display ON, which fills the display, not allowing one to mess with all the features normally available while driving.

SO, that's why my jets are firing on afterburner , very disappointed that the Tesla can't do this, having discovered on my test drives that the rear view mirror was so tiny and dark in comparison.

- Richard

 

[Richard__G]

I said this in many other accessories related posts and I’ll say it again - don’t buy stuff until the car is in hand you’ll find many of the so called “accessories” unneeded and just a waste of time/money.

Yes some may actually be useful, and some are much cheaper when you get them from AliExpress (with the long lead times), but how much of it do you actually need and how many of these items will sit in the packing unused?

I hear ya, but please see my reply to MikeRTX in this thread.

Best - Richard