Dash Cam Installation Advice

[Lexatlast]

Just joined up having had our first Lexus (coming from years of Mercs & interesting Customer service!) for 4 months.

I want to get a Dash Cam fitted and have been told by our local dealer (Tunbridge Wells) that they only fit it to the cigarette socket.

My question is this, should it be wired via the fuse board so that it is powered constantly?  We have had the car scratched several times & would like to be able to pick up movement near the car when parked up.

The car is great (NX300h Luxury) but there seem to be very jealous people out there.

Thanks

[Farqui]

Welcome to the forum Ian, sorry to hear that your car has been scratched 

I'd wire a dashcam into the fuse board, then you can choose your fuse to be either permanent live or ignition switched.  

I guess the dealer wants to have 3rd party devices easily removable.  

Here's a recent guide from Matt that explains everything you need; 

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

How are you finding the NX?

 

[Lexatlast]

Thanks @Farqui I wanted some advise from people who are better informed than me.  Much appreciated.

The car itself is superb:  the seats are very comfortable, it is finished to a very high standard ( our previous car was a 2 year old Merc E class - with Vinyl / Artico seats - so the difference in build quality is immense)

I will post our experience with the car etc separately, but so far it's all good - except for people scratching it !!!

 

[Farqui]

Glad to hear that you are liking the NX.  

A dash cam is one option to deter/catch naughty folks but coverage isn't great e.g. vision is typically front/rear and not side/side.

If the damage occurs at home then have you considered CCTV?

Wiring into the fuse board can be easy these days with the likes a piggy back fuses, here's mine (drivers foot well).

The camera can be easily unplugged without the need for tools.

Note the dashcam earth wire 'c' clipped to the fuse board bolt at the bottom on the pic.

[Heanorboy]

I fitted one and posted my solution which I paste and copy hope it is of some help

Had the car for just over a month and been looking at ways of fitting a Dash Cam but lack of 12v socket (except the one inside the centre console) was always the problem.

Looked at all topics on site but all seemed to involve some cutting and I was told by Lexus that the only way to get to the back of the Socket was to take off the whole of the centre console, well they were not being truthful. So been having another go/think again today and when it got  darkish using a torch inside the box I noticed a line down each side of the front of the box. So using a thin but stiff  plastic  spatula about the width of the box I push this under the rim of the top of the box and the whole section popped off allowing access to the back of the socket. I have piggy backed off the back of the socket with fused connection and fitted a multi socket inside the glove box with all the wires out of sight behind the centre console. So weeks of trying to find a solution it turns out to be simple.

Hope this is of help to others

David

 

[rayaans]

dashcam are no good for scratches as they don't have side vision as mentioned. 

They're mainly used for car park scrapes and bumps. 

The only way you'll catch a car keyer is if you have vision from outside the car, no inside 

[skyenet007]

On 8/1/2017 at 0:29 PM, Farqui said:

Glad to hear that you are liking the NX.  

A dash cam is one option to deter/catch naughty folks but coverage isn't great e.g. vision is typically front/rear and not side/side.

If the damage occurs at home then have you considered CCTV?

Wiring into the fuse board can be easy these days with the likes a piggy back fuses, here's mine (drivers foot well).

The camera can be easily unplugged without the need for tools.

Note the dashcam earth wire 'c' clipped to the fuse board bolt at the bottom on the pic.

 

 

How do i get access to this fuse box from the driver side?

[Farqui]

21 hours ago, skyenet007 said:

How do i get access to this fuse box from the driver side?

Hi Purav, Do you already have some wiring in the 'other' footwell and want to know how to get the cables across the center tunnel or around the center console?

As the dashcam's are usually mounted centrally at the top of the windscreen can't you just route your cable along the roof and down the relevant door pillar? 

Will leave any specific NX queries to someone else...

[skyenet007]

Hello

No wiring done by me yet. Just wanting to know where the actual location of those fuses are.

 

Is it under the passengers or driver side?

Is it covered by the black plastic cover for which I need to pull off to see This?

[Farqui]

It's on my driver's side (GS) and yes it has a cover that simply pops off.

[Sybaris]

ok, I have always bought Blackvue dash cams as my preferred choice.  Good day and night vision and new ones have cloud storage and replay.  Very good IMHO.

What I have done is run the cable inside the roof headliner and down under the rubber door seal on the inside and under the glove box, then along under the centre console trim to the 12 cigarette lighter socket.  Here and there I used small self adhesive clips to keep the cable out of site.  I did buy some plastic panel tools to lift and to poke the cable in to the gaps for about £2 on a well known shopping site that sounds like a rain forest.  

This means I can take it out when I change the car and leave no damage and I don't need an electrician to install and remove it.

[sorcerer]

15 minutes ago, Sybaris said:

 I did buy some plastic panel tools to lift and to poke the cable in to the gaps for about £2 on a well known shopping site that sounds like a rain forest. 

3

You are allowed to say amazon - or eBay or wherever 

[Rosella]

I have wired mine to the cigarette lighter in the same way as Dan’s but no worried if the wire is visible

[pobrown]

Just had one installed by Lexus Sheffield - very pleased with it, both in terms of quality and price.

It comes as a kit that Lexus/Toyota have put together which includes the following items:

• Nextbase 380GW (1080p Recording with GPS and WiFi) Link
• 16GB MicroSD Card
• NBDVRHK - Hard Wire Kit
• NBDVR380BAT - Battery Pack (to allow use of Intelligent Parking Mode - camera automatically starts recording if movement detected)

All in, including fitting it was £275 inc VAT.

The kit has the product code GBNGA-LEXDC-AM

Considering the camera on its own without the sd card, hardwire kit or Battery is £179 I thought the price was excellent.  The quality of installation is great with no sign of wires at all.

It fits flush with the windscreen so the image quality is really good - the camera doesn't get shaken about.

 

 

[jbi507]

On 9/8/2018 at 4:10 PM, pobrown said:

Just had one installed by Lexus Sheffield - very pleased with it, both in terms of quality and price.

It comes as a kit that Lexus/Toyota have put together which includes the following items:

• Nextbase 380GW (1080p Recording with GPS and WiFi) Link
• 16GB MicroSD Card
• NBDVRHK - Hard Wire Kit
• NBDVR380BAT - Battery Pack (to allow use of Intelligent Parking Mode - camera automatically starts recording if movement detected)

All in, including fitting it was £275 inc VAT.

The kit has the product code GBNGA-LEXDC-AM

Considering the camera on its own without the sd card, hardwire kit or battery is £179 I thought the price was excellent.  The quality of installation is great with no sign of wires at all.

It fits flush with the windscreen so the image quality is really good - the camera doesn't get shaken about.

 

 

How is the quality at night? is there a lot of glare? number plates easy to see from a fast moving car?

Also did you have an option to add a rear camera too?

[pobrown]

I haven’t actually driven at night yet. Will be doing at the weekend so I’ll upload some footage. 

No option of a rear camera. This particular model doesn’t support it. 

[Guest]

For people worried about wiring just buy an OBD port connector and power from there. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[Farqui]

Do these OBD cables interfere with your feet?  My port is very close to my feet especially when getting in/out of the vehicle and I wouldn't want to get tangled up or damage the OBD outlet. Maybe other vehicles have the port positioned in a more practical place?

How are the OBD powered devices fused? - I wouldn't want any third part device that goes pop to spike any sensitive on-board electronics.

Whereas a piggyback fuse provides the add-on device with a dedicated fuse and is tucked neatly out of the way of any big feet.

[jbi507]

30 minutes ago, pobrown said:

I haven’t actually driven at night yet. Will be doing at the weekend so I’ll upload some footage. 

No option of a rear camera. This particular model doesn’t support it. 

cool thanks, I need to decide what to get in the next couple of weeks.

The one i have fitted in my old IS200, has very good footage during the day, but at night, anything not infront of the car, is unreadable.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Farqui said:

Do these OBD cables interfere with your feet?  My port is very close to my feet especially when getting in/out of the vehicle and I wouldn't want to get tangled up or damage the OBD outlet. Maybe other vehicles have the port positioned in a more practical place?

How are the OBD powered devices fused? - I wouldn't want any third part device that goes pop to spike any sensitive on-board electronics.

Whereas a piggyback fuse provides the add-on device with a dedicated fuse and is tucked neatly out of the way of any big feet.

Regards clown feet, not on my car as it tucked under the dash, can't say for sure on another model and it is a potential downside. Note - I am not saying it's the best solution, the fuse box way is probably the neatest, I did say for those worried about wiring...... It also adds the feature of a parking mode to any cheap camera.

It doesn't connect to anything other than the aux power used to power the cables normally for diagnostics. My understanding is that power feed is a simple circuit and you couldn't for example spike the ecu etc. 

I can only find problems of fitment with wires getting in the way (as you suggest) and also not running some cameras. Both problems are addressed in the seller's literature, usually advising to check requirements as these are known potential issues. 

[jbi507]

regarding the installation of dash cams, do the "pros" remove the head liner, a-pillar panel cover, etc?

or do they just try to tuck it way between the panel and the car (hope that makes sense).

i'm thinking to do it myself and remove things.

[Farqui]

Also OBD will be a 12v supply which may not be compatible with some camera's using less v's.

[pobrown]

Here is some daytime footage from my camera.  I'll add night time footage over the weekend:

https://youtu.be/0MybHnN5IsU

 

[Guest]

Also OBD will be a 12v supply which may not be compatible with some camera's using less v's.

From advert:
1. Please note that the OBD power cable is only working for dash cams which range from 8V-36V,other voltage range is not supported. With the step-down function, the voltage will be converted to 5V output. 

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[Odysseus]

Just had one installed by Lexus Sheffield - very pleased with it, both in terms of quality and price.
It comes as a kit that Lexus/Toyota have put together which includes the following items:

• Nextbase 380GW (1080p Recording with GPS and WiFi) Link
• 16GB MicroSD Card
• NBDVRHK - Hard Wire Kit
• NBDVR380BAT - Battery Pack (to allow use of Intelligent Parking Mode - camera automatically starts recording if movement detected)

All in, including fitting it was £275 inc VAT.
The kit has the product code GBNGA-LEXDC-AM
Considering the camera on its own without the sd card, hardwire kit or battery is £179 I thought the price was excellent.  The quality of installation is great with no sign of wires at all.
It fits flush with the windscreen so the image quality is really good - the camera doesn't get shaken about.
 
 

Great that your local Lexus dealer does this. I asked Lexus Cambridge if they could fit a dash cam and they said a polite no.

I might start phoning round my next closest dealers. It’s worth a few hours out on a day off/working from home. [emoji846]


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