Parking Sensors For £200, Are They Worth It?

April 14, 2009

Hi all, first ever message, I feel very grown up now!

I bought a 2007 Corolla Verso end-Jan, and love it.

Took it to the Toyota dealership for service (which I was a bit dreading in case I had one of the rare problems discussed on these boards!) and it was fine.

Whilst there they offered my girlfriend that they could install rear parking sensors, colour-coded, for £200 (I think that includes VAT). That is obviously (well, I think it is) cheaper than the list price (which I think from memory is c.£350?) - so it sounds a good deal. My girlfriend, I think, would really like them, not least as we have 2 nippers and she spends more time in it than me

Is it actually good value? I guess we would benefit from the peace of mind it might bring but do parking sensors make you more reckless (?!), are they a waste of time and/or unreliable? Is it the sort of thing that is a good investment as it makes the car more attractive when selling on (in about 4-5 years if all goes to plan)

Lot of questions about a relatively minor issue, but any thoughts/experiences welcomed

Thanks!

Mark

April 14, 2009

Hi all, first ever message, I feel very grown up now!
I bought a 2007 Corolla Verso end-Jan, and love it.
Took it to the Toyota dealership for service (which I was a bit dreading in case I had one of the rare problems discussed on these boards!) and it was fine.
Whilst there they offered my girlfriend that they could install rear parking sensors, colour-coded, for £200 (I think that includes VAT). That is obviously (well, I think it is) cheaper than the list price (which I think from memory is c.£350?) - so it sounds a good deal. My girlfriend, I think, would really like them, not least as we have 2 nippers and she spends more time in it than me
Is it actually good value? I guess we would benefit from the peace of mind it might bring but do parking sensors make you more reckless (?!), are they a waste of time and/or unreliable? Is it the sort of thing that is a good investment as it makes the car more attractive when selling on (in about 4-5 years if all goes to plan)
Lot of questions about a relatively minor issue, but any thoughts/experiences welcomed
Thanks!
Mark

Mark

They are a good deal, but why not go one better.I had rear and front sensors installed from new and I find the front ones just as handy as the rear.

Dont worry about becoming more reckless - You are either reckless or sensible and parking sensors wont make any difference.

John

July 2, 2009

Mark.

They're a great idea and work brilliantly, but they are an absolute ripoff at 200 quid. You can pick them up off muppetbay for 30, and it's only three wires to fix (and drill the holes of course, but you can download templates which you tape to the bumper to show exactly where to drill).

I paid over £200 to get them fitted to my verso when I bought it 5 years ago and expected a top notch job at that price.

What I got I could've done myself in an hour. They'd even used scotchlocks to connect them up when Toyota's install manual stipulates proper crimp connectors! My started working erratically after abouut a year and I found one of the cruddy scotchlocks had popped and the wire was barely connected.

Unless you've any warranty issues do them yourself if you have the ability, or nip down your local garage.

Johns right by the way, get front ones too, (especialy if you've an MMT box). :yes:

Good Luck mate...

July 3, 2009

Rear parking sensors were standard in my Verso and it was one of the reasons I went for the SR spec. Have to say they are very useful especially in car parks with shorter parking bays. The only thing to learn is that they let you get closer to a wall than the minimum distance for opening the tailgate.