Does anyone have a Barcelona Red TCH with backup sensors (aka Park Pilot)? If so, were you able to find the sensors pre-painted or did you have to have them painted locally? Do you have 2 sensor or 4 sensor system?

I'd like to have backup sensors installed on my TCH, but have been unable to find any pre-painted Barcelona Red sensors. I also don't know whether I should be looking for a 2 sensor or 4 sensor system. Are backup sensors typically installed by a body shop or by a car stereo/alarm shop? (I'm looking for an installer in the Raleigh, NC area.)

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...

 

If anyone is interested....

Park Pilot sensors are available in TCH colors other than black, white, silver and aloe. It just depends on your geographic location. My dealer is a Southeast Toyota dealer and was not aware that other geographic locations have more backup sensor color options.

I talked to the company that manufactures ParkPilot (Rostra - Laurinburg, NC) and learned that Barcelona Red sensors are available from Gulf States Toyota dealers (P/N 00012-0073A-71 = qty 2 Barcelona Red backup sensors). Rostra advised that painting their sensors will void the warranty, but painting should not be necessary, as they distribute sensors in over 40 colors.

Net, if your Toyota dealer doesn't have ParkPilot sensors that match your car, check with Toyota dealers in other geographic areas.

PS - My dealer is ordering the Barcelona Red sensors from a Gulf States Toyota dealer in Dallas for me, and I'll have them installed as soon as they arrive. They should go well with my Eclipse BEC-105 backup camera.

 

MickeysPal — The Toyota-marketed "Park Assist" system, also known as "Park Pilot," uses four backup sensors, and its electronic control module requires all four. Other systems might use different numbers of sensors. It's also possible that the sensors' characteristics are specific to the individual systems. If so, don't combine sensors from manufacturer A with electronics from manufacturer B unless you know that they will work properly together. My Park Pilot was installed by the dealer before delivery. I don't know the manufacturer's name. I don't think it was on either the Owner's leaflet or the Installation Instructions. See my posts in the thread "Park Assist ATTN: Droid13."

Stan

 

Stan, thanks for your input...

I'm sorry if my previous post wasn't clear. I am having a 4 sensor system installed. All components are manufactured by Rostra. My Southeast Toyota dealer will provide the installation labor and the Rostra Park Pilot 'base kit' (Toyota P/N 00016-00034). The four appropriately colored sensors (also Rostra) will come from a Gulf States Toyota dealer (2 x Toyota P/N 00012-0073A-71). My dealer will provide the normal ParkPilot warranty support (36 mos).

I have confirmed with Rostra that 'base kit' P/N 00016-00034 and sensors (P/N 00012-0073A-71) are compatible. Each P/N 00012-0073A-71 supplies 2 sensors, so 2 of this P/N are required to complete the installation.

The intent of my previous post was to make folk aware that 'official' ParkPilot sensors are available in many colors, not just the colors available from their local Toyota dealer.

 

Thanks for the P/N's and info.

Can someone describe how they work - does it tie in with the navigation screen? Is it an audible tone or voice guide?

 

They just 'beep'. They are not tied into the nav screen. Here's an excerpt from the manufacturer's web site.

"THE SYSTEM IS ONLY OPERATIONAL WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN REVERSE. WHEN A TARGET, SUCH AS PARKED CARS, TREES, AND GARAGE DOORS ARE DETECTED IN THE COVERAGE AREA OF THE FOUR SENSORS, THE SYSTEM WILL GIVE AN AUDIBLE ALERT TO THE DRIVER VIA THE ALARM UNIT MOUNTED IN THE INTERIOR OF THE VEHICLE.
WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PUT INTO REVERSE, THE SYSTEM WILL SOUND TWO QUICK "BEEPS" TO ALERT THE DRIVER THAT THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. THE SYSTEM WILL ALERT THE DRIVER TO THE PRESENCE OF A TARGET WHEN IT IS WITHIN ONE OF THE THREE DETECTION ZONES. ZONE 1 IS THE
FIRST DETECTION ZONE AND COVERS THE DISTANCE FROM APPROXIMATELY 3 FEET TO 5 FEET AWAY FROM THE REAR BUMPER. THE ALARM UNIT WILL GIVE A SLOW BEEPING SOUND IF A TARGET ENTERS INTO THIS ZONE. ZONE 2 COVERS THE DISTANCE FROM APPROXIMATELY 1.5 FEET TO 3 FEET, AND THE ALARM UNIT WILL GIVE A FASTER BEEPING SOUND WHEN THE PASSES INTO THIS ZONE. ZONE 3 IS THE FINAL ZONE AND COVERS THE AREA FROM 0 TO 1.5 FEET AWAY FROM THE BUMPER. THE ALARM IS A CONTINUOUS TONE WHEN THE TARGET IS DETECTED IN THIS ZONE. WHEN THE TARGET MOVES OUT OF THE DETECTION AREA, THE SYSTEM WILL STOP ALARMING. THE PARKPILOT ALERTS THE DRIVER TO MOVING AND STATIONARY TARGETS. THE SYSTEM IS DEACTIVATED WHEN THE VEHICLE IS TAKEN OUT OF REVERSE GEAR."

See the following link for more information.
http://www.rostra.com/ParkPilotParkingAide.htm

 

So, in cases of tight parallel parking - would this not be the best system? Sounds like for the same price (~395-495) a back video camera would help in situations where you're needing a distance estimate of 1-3" for bumper-to-bumper parking scenes.

This sounds like like an overall object avoidance solution.

 

I already have a backup camera (Fujitsu Ten, Eclipse BEC-105), but find that sometimes it is difficult to see behind the car clearly (e.g., when the sun is behind the car).

So, with the camera and ParkPilot, I hopefully won't be backing into anything.

When I bought the car, I wanted ParkPilot. At that time, my dealer told me I'd have to get black sensors. Red car, black sensors, yuck!!! So... I had a backup camera installed instead. The camera is a nice 'gee wiz' thing, but the sun can sometimes make it difficult to use. After doing some research, I found that 'Toyota' backup sensors are available to match my car. They are just not available in my geographic area (Southeast). So, now that I've been able to tell my dealer where to find the sensors, I'm going to have ParkPilot installed, just like I originally wanted... I think ParkPilot is the most cost efficient object avoidance solution, but the camera has much more pizazz/snob appeal.

 

where are the back up sensors installed and does someone have a picture of what they look like installed? Are they in the bumper? If so do the cut into the bumper?

 

The sensors go into holes (4) that are drilled out of the rear bumper.