Is it worth getting an aftermarket rear view camera? If so, what do people think about the ones where the monitor is in your rearview mirror? I just bought a used Mazda CX nine and it’s way bigger than any car I’ve ever had so I like the idea of having a camera back there. But I’m a little nervous because some of the reviews say that it means the mirror doesn’t work as well when it’s just being a mirror. But I also don’t really want to just plop a monitor on the dashboard. What do folks think?
I just got my first car with a rear view camera (Subaru forester) and promptly put a dent in the rear bumper. Was trying to watch the camera and the mirror at the same time and looked at the wrong one at the wrong time.
Of course with today’s cars, the bumpers are pretty useless…
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Don’t know anything about the mirror ones but I just can’t get used to just looking at the monitor myself. I go back and forth looking at the mirror, monitor, and turning around. Maybe someday but its been a couple years and still not used to it. I was thinking about it for my other car since I can’t see where the trailer is to back it up. But I don’t like the idea of a monitor sitting there either. On my other car, the monitor is incorporated into the navigation system.
I test drove a pickup that had an aftermarket backup camera mounted on the far left of the dash. It was not a large screen but it worked quite well and was not really noticeable while driving. My new truck has backup camera and sensors and I really like them.
I had one in a long term rental car and found it quite useful. I would be happy to have one in my next car. Here is. Review of rear view camera/monitor systems:
You might talk to a Mazda dealership and see if they’d be able to install a factory unit in your CX9. I have a Cx7 and the backup camera comes in through the info screen(MPG readout) when I put it into reverse.
Depending on the trim level, it might already be wired for a camera, just not installed.
I just finished installing a full system in my Mazda Cx-9 the other weekend, so have done some research on this.
There are the cheaper ones with a strap on rear view mirror and a camera, some have bluetooth too. Also, some camera’s are wireless which is easy to install but get some interference. My friend installed one in his truck and it works fine. Con is the mirror gets plugged in the charger to get charged periodically. You could hard wire it but still straps on the OEM mirror. Also, the mirror itself is a but dim, so this was an issue with me. I wasn’t a big fan of a camera on top of my license, because in my car the license plate is right in the middle of the hatch and the wiring looks ugly.
I went with an in dash nav system and bought a rear view camera that replaces the license plate light (it also has an LED lamp for replacing the light, so nothing illegal). I hard wired it. I had to take a lot of trim parts off to make it work. Had to route the mic to the headliner, route the GPS antenna and also the rearview camera.
On most new cars, including my Mazda, part of the car “brain” is in the radio. So I had to buy an adapter (PAC-RP MZ 11) to keep the functions (be able to set my clock, gas mileage etc). To me this is a must and all the stores I talked to were not into this type of work, just a quick install. I bought my stuff from crutchfield just to have the moral/technical support, but if you do your own research and read the manuals and know a bit about electronics, you won’t need the tech support. (I called them twice and as much as they were trying to be helpful, I think the advice they gave was not accurate at times and I had to ignore it).
The whole job took me 5-6 hours but I really took my time and tested the system at every step. Also wanted to be sure not to damage anything in the car esp the trim.
I have radars in the rear bumper cover and that’s more than I ever had and as much as I need. A convex mirror mounted on the outside at the top of the rear hatch might be an improvement. Back up camera is overrated imo.
Anyone else notice advertising keyed to this discussion appearing at the bottom of the page?
Not on the bottom but ads on the side. Everything from back up cameras to dishwashers. I’ve given up. I’m just not computer literate enough to do anything about it and just ignore it.
Ads are targeted based on the tracking cookies. So when I was searching navigation units, all I go around my screen was nav units. You can clear the cookies, but then you won’t be logged in automatically and also, you will still use the net for whatever you want. Right now I have been tinkering about quick struts for my car and that is the ads I see.
I stopped most all of the problems on this site and others by uninstalling the following programs:
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As regards the original question, I think once better displays are developed, rear view cameras will be a real asset. I always back into parking spaces and into my garage unless I have some specific reason not to… usually involving loading something. Been doing so for many years. To me, it’s much safer and solves the backing up visibility problems.
TSM
Anyone else notice advertising keyed to this discussion appearing at the bottom of the page?
Nope. AdBlock Plus usually takes care of that
I was thinking about a camera for the G6 so I can back the trailer but there is no good place to install the camera. The license plate is inset and no room plus it would block the plate light.