Am shopping for a replacement vehicle and the current favorite offers a 360 degree surround view camera as part of an expensive option package that contains some desirable features and others of little or no interest. Having never used one, I gather that in comes in handy mostly in close-quarter parking situations.

So, for those of you that have one already or have used one, what is/was the feature worth dollar-wise? In other words, how much extra would (or did) you pay to get it?

 

My Highlander has it. I know a lot of people really swear by them but I'm pretty impartial about it. It's a "nice to have" but not required, at least in my book. My wife likes it. I was not willing to pay the extra to have it on my Tacoma.

 

i will NEVER get a vehicle again without one. mine came with it standard so it wasn't part of an option package.

it's so great to see the curbs on both sides of the car, and how close the curb or other cars are in front or behind... love it.

 

^^^This. Before I had it I didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t think it was worth it. Now that I have it I will want it on all of my cars.

OP - What is the price of the package it is offered with and what other options are included?

 

Worth every single penny. I don’t pay attention to competitors as my experience is only with the new TNGA Avalon. Trajectory, three zone rear sensors, three zone front sensors, and the way the camera works to show you up close in concert with the birds eye view. In addition, the new Avalon will emergency stop the reverse action if you are gonna hit a wall or large object.

Here is a pic:

 

I drove a lot of RX’s with the 360 degree camera when I worked for Lexus and it was a real game changer when we had to move cars around. It also came in handy for cars like the new ES that had low hanging front bumpers. I saw so many customers tear up their front bumpers by parking on top of curbs.

With that said, I would not pay a big amount for this feature unless I had a tight parking situation at home/work. It’s a wonderful feature that I would love to have but I could live without it. As an example, we typically sold a new navigation equipped RX350 for about $51,000. We started getting a lot of RX’s sent to us with 360 degree cameras and panoramic roofs that sold for $54,000. That was pretty good upgrade in my opinion. Prior to 2019 the 360 camera was on custom builds or Luxury packaged cars retailing around $60,000. I wouldn’t pay that dramatic of a price difference for this feature.

 

It’s a great feature.

 

Surround view is one that definitely comes in handy for parking, with larger vehicles. My wife went from a C-Class (without even a backup camera) to our new X5, now she won't go without surround view again.

Not many automakers have it as some sort of a la carte, stand alone option. Usually in a trim/grade or tech package, or parking assistance package as you've found out. So what's the point in knowing that value of one item, when it's never offered as such? And it's highly subjective. I might say $100 but my wife might say $1,000.

 

Keep in mind that some are better executed than others. I don't have 360 on my CX-9 (they added it in 2019), and based on what I've seen, it's not very well executed, which makes the added cost harder to stomach. I would say that it is hardly a necessity, but it is a very nice option to have.

How much is the package and what else is included in it?

 

Thanks to all for their insights!

The package includes the 360 camera, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, a panoramic roof, rain sensing wipers, front parking assist, and 2 other inconsequential items. The cost is an extra $3600 on the MSRP (of course, it's a bit less on the invoice difference).

 

What vehicle are you looking at?

 

don't care about heated rear seats (let them eat cake! ), panoramic roof (FL is hot!)

but love the rain-sensing wipers, heated steering wheel (yes even in FL), and of course the 360 camera. are those 3 things alone worth $3600? probably not but i'd still pay for them.

 

So the actual view with the 360 drone view to me is less useful. Since you want to use the camera for looking at details, that view doesn't show me close enough detail of parking lines, etc, and sometimes they can get distorted if there is a close object. I would still 100% get that camera package so that I can individually view each angle, so for example just both sides of the car, to see if I am in the middle of a spot. Or I like to turn on a wide angle rear view, so that I can see if there is a car coming towards me when I am backing out.

 

A Toyota Highlander.

 

I love it. Certainly, anyone that parallel parks often, it's a really valuable tool. I know a lot of people argue "I know how to park without it." But you can roll down your windows without power windows too. For me, though, it didn't cost "extra" because I was shopping the top trim level of my car regardless. If I could only get it by having to buy 2-3 other "packages" to get it, would I? I guess it all depends on the total extra cost of stuff I just didn't want. But I'd think long and hard about NOT getting it on my next car.