Dash Cams

[Hamish2015]

Hi folks, my dealership is offering to fit front and rear dash cams for ~ 350 quid, they look good quality and i want all the wiring hidden and the power taken from a fused connection rather than the 12v aux socket (cig lighter). Have any of you had the dealership dash cams fitted or fitted them yourselves? 

 

[AlanCC]

Hi James

Had them fitted to my UX FSport. (Nextbase). They are great, and you (sorry your passenger) can watch live on a phone if you want to and also download the videos from the microSD card. All cable is hidden and auto starts recording when the engine is started.

[Herbie]

Have a search of the forums - this has been covered many times.

For my own tuppenceworth - I find the Lexus offering way overpriced, both in camera and fitting charges.

There is nothing 'Lexus-specific' about the 'Lexus' camera except the name. Any dashcam will fit and work in any make/model of car so you don't need to pay over the odds at/for Lexus.

Personally, I fitted a Viofo A129 Dual front/rear set in my RX and it works superbly. The front cam was a doddle to fit, the rear one less so, but certainly not difficult. If you don't want to DIY then any good auto-electrician or car audio place will happily fit them for you and at a more reasonable price.

Most manufacturers will advise to use their own microSD card "for best results" but Samsung Pro Endurance cards are amongst the best, if not the best.

[Charli Alder]

See my post on ES forum.

[LenT]

8 hours ago, AlanCC said:

… auto starts recording when the engine is started.

So what happens when you leave your car and someone hits it and drives off?

What happens, Alan, is….nothing!  You return and discover the damage and no evidence of how it happened.

What you want, I suggest, is a dashcam system that is powered even with the ignition off and will respond to an impact - or a motion sensor - by recording not only the event itself, but a few seconds before it.

Now there are at least two ways of doing this and cameras may offer either or both.

One method is to provide the camera with an independent power supply that kicks in once the ignition is off, and is charged by the car’s Battery when driving.  Another is a Power Monitor that is connected to a permanently live feed and regulates the current drain to avoid the Battery charge falling below a preset level.  The current drain of a dashcam in standby mode is minimal anyway.

9 hours ago, Hamish2015 said:

Hi folks, my dealership is offering to fit front and rear dash cams for ~ 350 quid, they look good quality and i want all the wiring hidden and the power taken from a fused connection rather than the 12v aux socket (cig lighter). Have any of you had the dealership dash cams fitted or fitted them yourselves? 

 

Herbs has pointed out that there’s nothing special about the Lexus cameras. They’re Nextbase and perfectly acceptable in terms of performance.  Personally I’ve had BlackVues for many years.  But I had them all fitted by the same local auto electrician, who will have more experience than the average Lexus mechanic.

I would be inclined to get comparative fitting estimates and also assess which cameras suit you best.  It may be that you could reduce the Lexus cost by combining it with, say, a regular service.  Or may be the fact that an auto electrician will come to you will be more convenient.

I would also suggest that you buy the largest capacity microSD card the camera will accept and keep the small capacity card it comes with as a spare.  So if you are involved in an incident, you can swap the cards around and thus preserve the evidence.

 

[LenT]

 

Just come across this dashcam review site, Vortex Radar.  In this video he’s comparing two BlacKVue cameras and a Viofo - but he appears to have done many others.  But most usefully it demonstrates what can be done by utilising smart phone and ‘Cloud ‘ technology; the use of polarising filters, parking mode and such like.

It even features a Lexus at one point, just to keep it relevant!

The comments section might also prove useful.

 

 

[Charli Alder]

The NextBase cameras as fitted by Lexus can be set for parking mode using an auxiliary Battery that can be purchased from Nextbase. 

[Hamish2015]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I will take a look at alternatives and quotes, what I’m worried about is someone taking panels off to conceal wiring and botching it up! I had assumed that the Lexus dealership would know how best to do this assuming they do it quite regularly.

[Mincey]

7 hours ago, Hamish2015 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone, I will take a look at alternatives and quotes, what I’m worried about is someone taking panels off to conceal wiring and botching it up! I had assumed that the Lexus dealership would know how best to do this assuming they do it quite regularly.

Precisely my reasoning behind my choice to use Lexus to fit mine. The camera they fitted to my IS300h didn't fall off or stop working, there were no rattles from wiring, so it was an easy decision to make to let them take care of my ES. 

[Roger Bill]

10 hours ago, Hamish2015 said:

what I’m worried about is someone taking panels off to conceal wiring and botching it up! I had assumed that the Lexus dealership would know how best to do this assuming they do it quite regularly.

@Hamish2015 I share those same concerns and feel it worth paying a little extra for that peace of mind. Also the Nexbase 380GW and it's rear camera fitted by Lexus is one aimed at the fleet market. Therefore I guess it's likely to be, or should be, more of a quality product than some aimed at the more cost conscious consumer. 

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, Roger Bill said:

@Hamish2015 I share those same concerns and feel it worth paying a little extra for that peace of mind. Also the Nexbase 380GW and it's rear camera fitted by Lexus is one aimed at the fleet market. Therefore I guess it's likely to be, or should be, more of a quality product than some aimed at the more cost conscious consumer. 

The one and only difference is that it has a cover and security screws so that no one can take out the microSD card and tamper with it. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever in the workings of the camera.

[Roger Bill]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

The one and only difference is that it has a cover and security screws so that no one can take out the microSD card and tamper with it. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever in the workings of the camera.

Hi @Herbie Thanks, that's interesting, which model dashcam are you comparing the 380GW with?

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Roger Bill said:

Hi @Herbie Thanks, that's interesting, which model dashcam are you comparing the 380GW with?

Any of the Nextbase range (possibly any other range of cameras as well).

As you quite rightly state, the 380GW is aimed at the fleet market, but only in the context of security. It doesn't have better lenses, better sensors, better electronics or anything else, except for physical security of the microSD card and the recorded footage on it (presumably to stop fleet drivers doing something silly and then destroying the evidence).

[Roger Bill]

5 hours ago, Herbie said:

Any of the Nextbase range (possibly any other range of cameras as well).

As you quite rightly state, the 380GW is aimed at the fleet market, but only in the context of security. It doesn't have better lenses, better sensors, better electronics or anything else, except for physical security of the microSD card and the recorded footage on it (presumably to stop fleet drivers doing something silly and then destroying the evidence).

Hi @Herbie I've never had a dash cam so this is all new to me and there are many products on the market. So please excuse my ignorance.

But having read some reviews by the likes of Which and AutoExpress it seems Nexbase generally rate very highly whereas some others, including a few well known brands, pick up poor ratings. I guess then it's down to personal requirements. For me I think front and rear cameras are essential. It seems only three of the Nexbase range offer this facility. Next I know I couldn't be bothered with mounting and removing a dash cam every time I used the car. Unless I'm mistaken the 380GW would be more difficult for a thief to pinch than all the others which seem to have a magnetic mount. A shame because the 622GW has a better resolution although in the package with a rear camera it is more expensive than the 380GW.

Why don't auto manufacturers include dash cams as an integral part of their cars in the same way as we now have come to expect built in sat nav, hands free phones, parking cameras and sensors?

[Herbie]

38 minutes ago, Roger Bill said:

Why don't auto manufacturers include dash cams as an integral part of their cars in the same way as we now have come to expect built in sat nav, hands free phones, parking cameras and sensors?

I'm glad they don't.

Inbuilt things tend to go out of date or maybe aren't very good in the first place. If it went faulty, probably the whole roof lining would need to be dismantled to get at it and so on - and it would no doubt cost a fortune.

No, I'm happy to have my own choice on dashcams  

38 minutes ago, Roger Bill said:

Next I know I couldn't be bothered with mounting and removing a dash cam every time I used the car. Unless I'm mistaken the 380GW would be more difficult for a thief to pinch than all the others which seem to have a magnetic mount.

It's more about being small and unobtrusive, which a lot of the Nextbase range definitely are not. Something like the Viofo cams that I've got (see above), and indeed the Nextbase 380GW, can be mounted so that only the lens is visible from outside, so there's no temptation for a passing thief or yob to break in and nick it. I leave mine insitu 24/7.

[Roger Bill]

11 hours ago, Herbie said:

11 hours ago, Roger Bill said:

Why don't auto manufacturers include dash cams as an integral part of their cars in the same way as we now have come to expect built in sat nav, hands free phones, parking cameras and sensors?

I'm glad they don't.

Inbuilt things tend to go out of date or maybe aren't very good in the first place. If it went faulty, probably the whole roof lining would need to be dismantled to get at it and so on - and it would no doubt cost a fortune.

No, I'm happy to have my own choice on dashcams  

I was thinking that an integrated dash cam function could share the same cameras as the rear parking camera and either the front parking camera and/or the camera used for traffic sign recognition. Also as side impacts account for 30% or so of crashes, side cameras could usefully be included with an integrated system possibly sharing the panoramic parking cameras. The sat nav gps system could provide position and time data and the infotainment system could be used for the dash cam's screen, memory, power supply and a few extra menu options would complete the system. With the potential of many shared components, the additional cost could be much less than a stand alone system plus fitting.

I guess dash cams are not that different to parking cameras. I've not had any problems with the parking cameras on the couple of the cars I've had with them fitted. Also my current car is a seven year old design and the 360 degree parking cameras on the new model are not dramatically better than mine. The story with the sat nav system is rather different and in that case I would agree with your point about inbuilt systems going out of date.

[LenT]

7 minutes ago, Roger Bill said:

I was thinking that an integrated dash cam function could share the same cameras as the rear parking camera and either the front parking camera and/or the camera used for traffic sign recognition. Also as side impacts account for 30% or so of crashes, side cameras could usefully be included with an integrated system possibly sharing the panoramic parking cameras. The sat nav gps system could provide position and time data and the infotainment system could be used for the dash cam's screen, memory, power supply and a few extra menu options would complete the system. With the potential of many shared components, the additional cost could be much less than a stand alone system plus fitting.

I guess dash cams are not that different to parking cameras. I've not had any problems with the parking cameras on the couple of the cars I've had with them fitted. Also my current car is a seven year old design and the 360 degree parking cameras on the new model are not dramatically better than mine. The story with the sat nav system is rather different and in that case I would agree with your point about inbuilt systems going out of date.

Roger that, Roger.

I have often wondered why dashcams are not standard fittings on new cars.  As you say, much of the basic technology is already being fitted to new cars.

Herbs’ point about updating the system is a valid one, but one we accept in other areas.  Take the Lexus satnav system.  Either you pay for software updates where available or - like myself - you use a far superior system, like my Garmin, instead.

On the other hand, most of us would accept that the ML audio system that Lexus built in to my car is not likely to need upgrading. In my case it’s probably superior to anything I would have chosen myself.  And retrofitting all those speakers would have eliminated it anyway!