palmermd said:
Leaving the Leaf in the rear view. Same thing I did when I switched to Model 3. I agree rear visibility is not great, but front visibility is much better than most any modern car. Rear in most modern cars is not great, and Model 3 is about the same.
Any time you have a fairly flat sloped rear window, especially when combined with a long distance to the rear end and big headrests, you can expect the rear vis to be abysmal. The Hyundai Ionic I sat in was like looking down a small tunnel, and I'd reject it for that reason alone even if I loved everything else about the car. A split rear window in the tailgate like the Prius has is akin to putting a bandaid on a compound fracture.
Being able to see all around the car is critical to safety, and there are many cars with major blindspots now, whether for style, safety (Volt 1 A-pillars) or aerodynamics like the MY or Prius. I'll happily trade some aero to be able to see out of the car. Cameras are great, but eventually they fail and need expensive repair or replacement, and I don't wish to be dependent on them - same goes for various devices to detect cars in blind spots. Or they just may not work in some conditions.
Admittedly, I've been spoiled by the vis out of all my cars, even the '65 Impala SS that my dad passed on to me as my first car, and both my Subie wagons, esp. the Forester's various generations including mine, have been rated at or near the top for driver visibility.
I suspect driver vis was a major issue for my dad when buying a car, although I never heard him mention it. But he drove a truck for a living, and having huge blindspots and being dependent on mirrors and a mental image of where all the cars were around him and what they were doing was second nature to him. I imagine it was very tiring, though, and he saw no reason to put up with it when he didn't have to.
So, whenever I see a new car model I might be interested in with a shallow-sloped rear window or wide pillars, it moves way down my list of potential buys, as the MY did when we saw the first pictures of it.