n-VISION nVISION Hopkins 60195VA Rearview Camera System

I have never written a review before. I have been purchasing items from Amazon since about 1990.I rented a Cadillac that had a rear view camera. And, I was hooked.I own a 1993 Chevrolet Impala.I purchase most items like this through Amazon. I looked at the reviews and although this backup system only had 2 reviews at the time the reviews were very positive.I purchased the system and was very pleased.I posted several installation pictures. Each of my posting has my name, Michael, in the title.Here are some comments on the installation. First, plan on spending several hours on the installation. But, this will be time well spent, in my opinion.The kit comes with two license plate screws, these are required the OEM screws are too short. The screws worked well.The instructions said to drill a 11/32 inch hole for the wire. If you look at the pictures I uploaded, the plug on the wire is about a ½ inch in diameter. Therefore, a 11/32 hole will accommodate the wire but the plug will not go through the hole. The grommet supplied is intended to fit a 11/32 hole and fit tightly on the wire. The wire is 11/64 inch in diameter.Throw away the grommet, as it will not work. I went to a local hardware store and purchased a grommet that fit a ½ hole. Most hardware stores have "Hillman" odds and ends boxes. I purchased a "Hillman" grommet. The ID of the grommet was about 3/8 inch diameter. The grommet easily slips over the plug. You can see the plug, grommet, and a quarter in my hand in one of the pictures.After you slide the grommet over the plug, install the grommet, then pull the plug back through the grommet. The plug is tapered. I forced the plug into my grommet and it sealed nicely. Look at the photo of this labled, MichaelThe sensors are shown in one of the pictures labeled Michael. In Texas the license plates are embossed. I imagine most license plates are embosed. I hammered the license plate flat so it would fit into the slot at the left and right senor. After I hammered the plate flat it fit nicely.The camera photo, labeled Michael, shows the wire from the back of the camera. I found it necessary to cut a notch in the license plate for the wire. I started installing the license plate without cutting the notch; however, the license plate was starting to cut the wire. If you look close you can see the notch.I measured the wire from the license plate to the monitor. The wire was about 18 feet long. I routed the wired across the back of my care, down the side of the trunk, under the back seat, along the side door molding, up the left front door molding, through the fuse box, and to the dash. I had about 1 ½ feet of wire left over. The instructions said if you need additional wire call 1 800 835 0129. I feel you will not be able to easily spice the wire with wire from a hardware store, I feel you were patient and knew what you were doing you could splice the wire.The monitor is small; however, one reason I purchased this item was because I wanted a small monitor.The picture is very clear. If the picture in my rented Cadillac was a 10 the picture with this device was about an 8. The picture is very adequate. I took my car out on a moonless night and the backup lights are adequate to give you a clear picture on the monitor.Across the top of the screen there are about 6 boxes. As you get close to an item the outer boxes turn solid and a beeper starts to sound. As you get closer the next inner set of boxes turn sold and the beeping increases, as you come close to an object the inner set of boxes turn solid and the beeping increases. I backed into a fire hydrant. The inner box on the left was solid when I was about 1 foot from the hydrant. The hydrant was closest to the left side of the car. I have attached a photo of the vinyl sheet that protects the screen monitor. You can see the boxes in this picture and get an idea of the size of the screen.As you look at the screen, the items to the right of you show up on the right side of the screen.The rear view system on the Cadillac I rented had yellow lines at various distances from the car. This system has no lines.I live in Houston. After I installed the camera we had a very severe thunderstorm. The thunderstorm occurred on or about January 9, 2012. Along with the thunderstorm, there was a tornado that hit near the Mall of the Mainland. The Mall of the Mainland is in Texas City and about 15 miles from me. This serious rainstorm did not damage the camera.My opinion is that this system is well worth the money and I am very pleased with my purchase. I would also suggest you look at my review closely before installing this system.I feel I could install the next system in about ½ the time.I plan on putting one on my wife's car.I told my wife that this rearview camera was my Impala Cadillac converter as I feel I have a rearview monitor that is close to what I saw in a new Cadillac.If changing a light bulb in a car is a difficulty 1 and overhalling and engine is a difficulty 5 then I would suggest this project is either a high 2 or low 3 difficulty.If you feel you could install a trailer hitch and hook up the wiring for the trailer, I suggest you go for it.Update, look at my wiring detail picture with my name, Michael, in the caption. I felt that it was better for me to run the ground wire for this system the body of the car. This pictue shows the product ground wire run the the body of my car. It is very important that the red wire from the product is attached to the power source on your car. In this case I connected the red wire to the backup light "hot/positive" wire. I suggest you go to the extra trouble to run the ground wire of this system to the body of your car.

I purchased this item about 3 months ago and . It looked very promising. Overall, I was able to do a clean installation by hiding the wires through the plastic moulding at the top.Camera works well.Major problem is with the proximity sensors. They do not work consistently.60% of the time, only one (left) side works.30% of the time, none of them work.10% of the time, both (left/right) sides work.I have found that, if it is sunny and warm, then there is more probability of both sides working. To me it appears there must be some loose contact / wiring inside the rear license plate mount assembly, causing a loose connection, worsened by weather condition. This condition happened right from the first day, and it continues even after 3 months. I narrowly had missed backing into something hard as I didn't hear the beeps during that time. This reduces the confidence in the system.I have taken good care of the setup/installation/connections - the proof is in the camera (image) working always. Since it is a 1 piece wire, I see no reason why one part of it doesn't work at times.I am hoping that I got a bad unit. Dont know what to do. Hope the manufacturer contacts me to give advise on what I can do to remedy the situation. If there is any remedy suggested, I shall come back and post an update of the review.

The camera is VERY clear, but the screen is small (which is perfect for the location I picked, right next to the steering wheel below the gages) so you won't be able to see exactly where you are headed 50 yds away but that isn't the way a backup camera should be used. I installed it on an extended cab Chevy with at full size bed so I used every inch of the cable, had to make sure I didn't leave any extra slack or go anywhere except a direct line back to the license plate. But it installed easy, worked first time. Only took like 1.5 hrs, most of that spent trying to figure out the best way to route the cable out of the cab. I picked to poke a small hole in the rubber boot that goes from the door jamb to the cab (this truck has electric windows) and drop it down inside the front drivers quarter panel and back to the back. If you make the hole VERY small, you can still get the connecter thru by stretching the rubber but then it really pretty much seals around the wire for what should be a pretty waterproof installation. Also note that if you are hooking up a trailer, the distance sensor will be on red constantly - I just muted the buzzer and still have the color indicators for distance.

This system does everything it claims to. Installation is not too hard, or I should say: any hardship will be presented by the vehicle it's installed on. The system itself is uncomplicated.I installed it on a '16 Elantra GT. It wasn't too painful... It's been through 3 weeks of typical canadian winter: snow/salt/slush/ and it works fine.On my car the camera is low on the rear bumper so it will get dirty very quickly The lens needs to be wiped pretty much at every stop. Need to see if the sensors will hold up in the heat of summer.Why I'm not giving it five stars is becauseit is unproportionately pricey for what it is. It's nearly CAD $200 by the time you pay for it.Take a good look at the car you want this kit put on: If you have to pay for intallation too, then it might be cheaper to trade this car in and get a new 2017 model. B/U camera now is pretty much a standard even on base trim levels and any OEM setup will make this kit look like a cheap hack.Add after 2 years:The sensor/camera unit took on water and first became intermittent (blue screen) and then died completely.

It was easy to install on my Ford F150. It makes hooking up my trailer a lot easier. Does what it is intended to do