There are alternate reversing aids available
and I managed to pick up a unit from Ebay.co.uk for £22 plus £3 for post and
packing. The unit comes in a blister pack and is called a PDC-200.
It provide two sensors that are fitted to the
rear bumper and which connect to a display unit that has a number of LEDs
indicating distance and a beeper. The unit when fitted indicates with a
continuous beep at around 12 inches from an obstruction although the 'beam'
angle is not particularly wide I have noticed. However for the money I can't
complain.
I drilled two small holes in the rear bumper
and removed the small plugs from the end of the sensor wires with a pin,
reattached them after I had threaded the wires through the inside of the rear
bumper and up into the boot via the electrical cable grommet mounted on the boot
floor in front of the right hand lamp cluster. The sensors are first fixed with
self adhesive pads and the screwed into the bumper.
Power is taken from the reversing lamp and I
routed the cable through the existing cable pathway from the rear lamps. All
three cables then met up and were fed inside the car in the plastic trim up to
the drivers footwell. I have then screwed the plastic case to the footwell side
panel where I can see it from the drivers seat and it does not get knocked when
entering or leaving the vehicle. Total time to install was about 45 minutes and
it improves my reversing ability no end.