Rear View and Backup Camera's....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis, which ever system you buy, if you have to buy a monitor, buy the largest one available. My neighbor drives a Toyota Highlander and it came with a small monitor making it difficult to use. My Honda Pilot, which is several years newer, came with one that has a larger monitor. The first time my neighbor rode in my Pilot and saw how easy it was to use the larger monitor when backing up, he stated his jealousy.

BTW...I am not selling Hondas Pilots or denigrating Toyota Highlanders. Both are good vehicles IMO.

[Art Mann]

Jim, I don't dislike the idea of a backup camera. I just bought a car with a very nice one. My objection is the government forcing people to buy these features whether they can afford them or not. Somehow, against all odds, I have managed to drive daily since 1970 without ever backing over anything. So have nearly all other drivers on the road today. On the other hand, there are people how are careless enough to run over things whether there is a backup camera there or not. You can't engineer away stupidity. The same principle applies to Sawstop table saws.

If you carry your "protect at all costs" logic to its logical extreme, we should not be permitted to travel anywhere by motor vehicle. Walking will prevent 100% of all fatal car accidents.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Like anything else Jim, more features mean more cost. A couple of hundred dollars may not seem like much, but a couple of hundred here and a couple of hundred there, and pretty soon you have a car that starts at $30,000. Some people cannot afford that, and want the ability to chose which of the extras they want.

I don’t know that much about cars, but I live in an area where new townhouses start at $700,000-$800,000. A lot of that is the cost of land, labor, etc., but a fair amount is regulatory requirements. My house is 50 years old, and would be illegal to build today. Not enough insulation, wrong windows, doors, not enough electrical outlets, etc. But it is a single family home, on a nice lot, in a good neighborhood, with good schools, a nice backyard where my kids can play, is sound, safe, keeps the rain off my family, keeps us warm in the winter and cool enough in the summer. Everything in the building code makes sense to somebody, but all of it comes at a cost, and those costs add up. If I had to buy the equivalent of what I have now built to the modern codes, I could not afford it.

Some people probably think the goverment should bulldoze old houses, like they did with the program to crush old cars a few years ago. It would be nice if everyone had the best, but I worry about what we are doing to the people who don’t have much and can’t afford what the rest of us think should be the bare minimum.

I have no objection to freedom of choice, but I honestly fail to understand why some folks don't like the idea of a backup camera. It's not driving the vehicle or taking away control. It enhances the driver's ability to see what's there when backing up and that's a positive thing. The mandate came partially because of so many horrible situations where small children were injured or killed, often in the driveway of their own homes by a family member who just didn't see them get behind the vehicle in what is a major blind spot.

[Rick Potter]

Any shop that installs car stereo's should handle these cameras as well. My Grand daughter had one put in her Civic. Loves it.

I am sure they could advise you about which is best for your needs.

[Tom M King]

I remember when people talked sarcastically about people getting power windows in their cars. How many want to do without them now?

If you have ever tried to hookup a heavy gooseneck trailer by yourself, the backup camera is worth the price of admission. A gooseneck is more critical than a bumper pull for having the ball EXACTLY under the hitch. You aren't going to shake it a half inch over. I have a little magnet based rod with two plumblines that hang down from the end after I put it in its place with the rod going horizontally straight back. One is for the equipment trailer, and the other for the horse trailer, but both hang down from the same rod. When one of the lines touches a certain spot on its designated trailer, its one and done. Otherwise, you are getting in and out of the truck five or six times, at best, before you can find the perfect spot, and not talking about on uneven ground. The only way I can see that plumbline, is with a backup camera.

It's a nice luxury for regular backing up too. My truck is a 4x dually, with the largest toolbox made in the bed. The blind spot is 8 and a half feet wide, and 5' 6" tall. That's taller, and wider than any car, and all small children.

[Brian Elfert]

I am guessing that those of you who think backup cameras should be an option would never buy one if optional. I highly doubt it costs manufacturers several hundred to add a camera. At retail prices a display and camera cost maybe $100 depending on size of display. Most manufacturers already have a dash designed for a screen for navigation systems. It realistically shouldn't add more than $100 to the MSRP since auto makers get incredible deals on components.

Cars aren't necessarily going up in price as much as some think. I bought a 2000 Grand Caravan SE at the end of model year for $20,000 new. It had rear bench seats, no rear heat/A/C, and was a very basic vehicle. I bought a 2012 Grand Caravan SE new in 2012 for $19,600 so I paid less than a new Grand Caravan SE in 2000 and got more air bags, rear captain's chairs, LED brake lights, traction/stability control, better headlights, stow and go seating, steering wheel radio controls, and a larger engine with better transmission. It also gets much better gas mileage.

[Bill Dufour]

Our friend loves the 17" screen his gps has in his Tesla. Of course it cost over $75,000 but they threw in the car and it has a big battery so no worries about draining the battery from overuse.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tesl...04gzheHmY1ciM:

Bill D

[John Sanford]

This is probably your cheapest alternative.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reese-Tow...&wl13=&veh=sem

Useful for backing up to a trailer, not really very useful in avoiding squishing errant toddlers.

[Jason Roehl]

I'm also a big fan of backing into parking spaces for a couple of reasons.

When one backs into a parking space, be it at a store or home, that person is already in "drive" mode mentally. They pull past the space and look at it for obstacles, then back in. However, if one has to back out of a space, they've usually just gotten in their vehicle, didn't look around, and mentally have not "shifted gears" into driving, which, IMHO, greatly increases the risk of backing into or over something, including garage doors. I don't think too many people would ever pull forward out of a garage through a closed door.

I just bought an '07 F150, and one of my upgrades in the not-too-distant future will be replacing the stereo with a touchscreen/bluetooth/backup camera unit. I also think manufacturers need to pull their heads out of their rumps when it comes to the amount of illumination backup lights provide. WAY underpowered across the board.

[Ted Calver]

Not only should good quality back up cams come on all vehicles, but also front and back facing dash cams. We wouldn't be without a dash cam these days. There are so many drivers playing with cell phones while driving it's an increasingly dangerous world out there.

[Tom Stenzel]

;; This buffer is for notes you don't want to save, and for Lisp evaluation.
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My family had a travel trailer when I was growing up. Dad had two backup cameras: Me and my brother. If he had to go back and forth more than twice we would catch the dickens.

Plus we would have to take out the trailer stands and platforms and stow them. Plus assemble the Reese equalizer hitch, hook up the electrical connector, test the lights and check the electric trailer brakes by listening for the clunk they made when actuated. Let's see your backup camera do that!

By the way, my problems with the Chevy Venture are now over. Not by choice mind you. It was the choice of the lady who ran a red light and pushed the passenger door into the seat. Somehow I gimped away unhurt with my clothes full of broken glass. Luckily my wheelchair was undamaged.

Or the time I stopped at a red light and a red Ford Fusion hit the back of the van. You would think when someone hits you they would be concerned that everyone was OK. The fathead got out and said, "I can't believe you stopped!". He took off and got away before I got his license number.

I take my dog for a walk everyday on my handcycle. Once when crossing at a light a Chevy pickup with a cap stopped at the red light. Nice, but it blocked my view of the left lane that had, you guessed it, a red Ford Fusion running the red light. I came close to getting hit but he missed my dog by inches. I'm still convinced it was the same fathead. Had he killed my dog I would have been obligated to hunt him down. And burn his car. With him in it. If the police came my statement would be- smells like pork. When I see red Ford Fusions driven by fatheads I run them off the road just on principle*.

If people can't manage to see red lights or just ignore them a few pixels on some video screen someplace somewhere just won't make a difference.

-Tom

*There MAY be some exaggeration here. But not much.