I’m rubbish at reversing my van. I haven’t hit anything yet but I don’t like parking spaces that are smaller than what an aircraft carrier would need.

All I need is a beep beep type thing but there seems to be a very wide range of prices. From £12 up to hundreds.

It’s a Vivaro van and I’ll be fitting it myself. Anybody have any good or bad experiences?

Before you buy, check to see how much it would cost to replace one sensor.

Weather and other drivers hitting it means new sensor.

My sensor is £150 painted from BMW?!

Also be aware they are not foolproof – they can miss things, and do not park the wagon for you…

Yes I’ve got a similar sensor on my estate so I know what its limitations are.

I fitted one to my vivaro, cheapest possible on eBay uk. Fitted the controller in the rear pillar behind a light cluster and ran the beeper to the headlining above drivers seat.
Might sound obvious, but have a feel behind the bumper before you drill – I fitted two of mine based on looks from the rear and found I’d drilled into the two outriggers – these took some drilling through!

They will miss small posts and such, but in a van with good mirrors what you need is just a gauge of how much space you have behind the rear bumper. Good observations when approaching the manoeuvre will spot most things.

I broke the sensor speaker in the van about 6 months ago, it was a bit of a nightmare for a few weeks but to be honest I never think about replacing it now. You just get better at parking and use you mirrors.

Just like we used to in the good old days

They suck, especially if you have bikes on the back . Camera isn’t a bad thing though

they can miss things, and do not park the wagon for you…

Father-in-law proudly demonstrated the auto-park feature on his new Disco last weekend.

It does park for you (all you control is the throttle). It did a pretty decent job of getting him into a reasonably tight space, but it left him with two wheels on the kerb. 😆 We reckon the sensors couldn’t see it properly because of leaves in the road.

‘m rubbish at reversing my van.

Spend a bit of time with your mirror set up – don’t set them the same way as a car. Position the mirrors so that you can see your rear wheel (in the main mirrors rather than the wide angle ones) it helps give a reference point to where the back of the van is relative to your surroundings. In a vivaro the wheel is very close to the rear corner so it’s a helpful guide for position

You might struggle with reliability of sensors. The square-backed-ness of vans means a lot of spray and muck blows back at the van when you’re driving meaning sensors get clogged or waterlogged.

Go on a reversing skills course 🙂

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to have a posh Mondeo (it was seriously posh – seats were not only heated, but would also blow cold air up your arse on a hot day). Loved that car.

Anyhow, it also had a myriad of sensors that would tell you not only if a bumble bee flew past your vicinity, but what age it was, religious beliefs etc.

The day I realised it had stopped working was when I reversed into an Astra and crumpled the front wing.

Camera kits are pretty straightforward and only require one hole…

I do like having reverse sensors, although you do still need to actually look at stuff.
F-I-L has a Jag XE, it will both park & un park itself. The best thing on it though & something I’d actually like is the side facing cameras right at the front so if you nose out of a blind junction by a few inches you can see if anything is coming rather than having to edge out until you can see through the screen leaving the whole front of the car hanging out of the junction.

They suck, especially if you have bikes on the back . Camera isn’t a bad thing though

Driving a wide variety of cars, I’ve come to appreciate the usefulness of reversing sensors for letting you know where the back-end is in relation to large solid objects, but they are limited.
Cameras, on the other hand, are bloody brilliant! The ones fitted to the bigger Hyundai cars, like the i35 and Tucson are just so good when manoeuvring in tight spaces. All cars/vans should be fitted with reversing cameras.

Yeah, likewise find the camera a lifesaver in Hyundai i40 tourer. Damn thing is so big you have to get within an inch or two of the back of most parking spaces and the front still hangs out of the space :/

Really good, especially with the predicted path overlay.

Sensors on the other hand are nice, but prone to failure and given the choice i’d take the camera every time.

I just fitted a wireless camera with a monitor that fits over the rear view mirror (unsure why mine has a rear view mirror as no windows!). Was £30 off ebay. No reliance on beeps. Switches on when you go into reverse.

Not terribly difficult to wire in. Just need to identify an igntion switched (headlight) positive and reverse wires

Reverse camera in our 3008 is the greatest invention ever, has lines on the screen to help you judge how straight you are and when to stop. Never thought I’d rely on something so much!

Definitely go for a camera, ideally one mounted high up that looks down.

I’ve driven various vans with aftermarket parking sensors, they all seem to be faulty and either bleep randomly, meaning your colleague reverses your van straight into a fence, don’t work at all, or have blind spots. Lots of our work vans have big pole shaped dents in the rear steps between the sensors! Also, parking sensors don’t see things higher up, like overhanging tree limbs and telephone poles/signs close to the kerb when parking on a camber, not an issue in a car, but in a van they will try and catch you out!

My last van I fitted a ebay reversing camera, decent metal (and white) bodied camera up high and a screen where the mirror normally goes, my nice new shiny van has a built in one which is much clearer, however the posh touchscreen stereo has packed up and deemed ‘uneconomical to repair’ so currently creeping about paranoid that I’m going to reverse into something!

Do you already do the bright tape on the rear wheel arch trick already to help judge distance? I don’t know why every van doesn’t have them to judge distance – some of our minibuses at work had three different colours for three heights of driver…

My Vivaro has a camera kit fitted. The camera is about the size of a 10p and fitted in the centre of the rear bumper.
It is good but didn’t stop a van to telegraph pole interface though 😳 Twice.
Must remember to look, where as a bleeper might have got ones attention.

I’ve done the tape trick (but by picking a reference point such as mudguard or marker light) on all three of my trailer and HGV tests (as you have to stop within 30cm or so of a barrier) but never bothered in real life as you are allowed to hang out of the window 😉

Struggling to figure out how the tape trick works. I’d love to know.
If someone could point me to a reliable £30 camera set up (or near offer) that would be good.

I haven’t got a van, but the visibility out of my Citroën DS5 isn’t great. Must have the smallest windscreen wiper in the back, fitted to any car ever!

The only car I’ve had where I like the rear setup – it’s got sensors across the back and on the corners – plus a reversing camera as well. Also has front and front corner sensors which it shows on the screen in the car. Means you can get into car park space which you have no right to manoeuvre into. Think the rear camera is much more useful than just rear sensors.

OK then, who can recommend a camera setup that works OK and doesn’t cost a fortune?

Struggling to figure out how the tape trick works. I’d love to know.

With pal to spot you, back vehicle up until the rear bumper/towbar is directly above a line on the floor.
Climb back into cab, look in one mirror. You should be able to see part of side of van, rear wheel arch and the line you are parked with rear directly above.
Get a pal to apply a few cm tape to the wheel arch, parallel with ground, on the line that in your vision, the mudguard intersects the line on the floor. If nervous, add a few mm to the tape height from floor.
Repeat for other side of vehicle.
Next time you reverse, you can judge *exactly* where the back of the vehicle is by the line that is on your mudguard, and where in your vision it ‘appears’ to cross the floor.
Magic.