Review on Black Rear View Reversing Camera for Volkswagen - BW by Jimmy Koroye

Overview: Installed on my 2006 Jetta along with an aftermarket head unit. Instead of running the power cord the full length of the car, I connected it to a Sirius tuner in the trunk (I don't use it anyway). This activates the camera every time the key is turned on, and the CAN bus in the car triggers the head unit to switch inputs. I had to run an RCA cable the full length of the car, but there's no getting around that. I added a quick connector for the power/ground wires in case I ever want to take it out. Instead of using a side tap on the tail light wire, I soldered the license plate light wires to the wires embedded in the plastic light/latch assembly. Pros: 1) Pretty good picture, I was impressed with how clearly I could see the room. right behind my trunk which was a terrible blind spot on my 2006 Jetta. I have a 3.2 inch display on my head unit and the picture is very clear. 2) Nice OEM appearance, fits into one of the factory license plate light holes and goes well with the style of the car. 3) It originally had distance markings on the display showing 3, 2 and 1 foot ranges for easier reversing. The Bad: 1) The amount of modifications I had to make to my car was depressing. It took me about three hours to disassemble the plastic light and latch assembly, strip the factory light wires built into it, and solder the wires to them so I could turn the light on. Then it took me another half hour to change the tin screen that was covering the plastic knot to allow the wires to go through. With a product that was so well designed on the outside, it definitely wasn't designed to work on the inside. 2) The LED backlight is not very bright and does not provide sufficient illumination of the license plate. That's better than nothing, but not even half as bright as a factory bulb. Okay, maybe light, but not aimed at the plate. 3) The first time I drove in the rain and then tried to park, I noticed that the picture was very blurry. No problem, the lens was covered in travel spray so I took a tissue and wiped it off to restore the clarity of the image. Unfortunately, the distance markings that should have been painted on the outside of the lens with water-based paint were also removed in the process. One of the two main purposes of installing the camera was to mark the distance for parking, which means the camera is no longer serving 50% of its intended purpose. Summary: If you don't mind making modifications to your car, don't need to wipe the lens every time you drive in the rain and don't need distance markers, then this is a great camera. If any of these points don't suit you, then look for another camera.