If you have a dashboard cam read this thread

[FLDVCFamily]

Making a separate thread as I want to make sure that people see this. I know several people on here posted that they also have dashboard cams in the insurance thread below. Well, I was fussing at my DH to please get one for his car yesterday...he decided to look up reviews, and in doing so saw people complaining that the one he'd bought for my car randomly stopped working on them. He checked mine, and it hadn't been recording since June 5! He was able to reset it and it's working now, but we'll be checking the card daily to make sure it's actively recording. If you have a dashboard cam, check to make sure it's recording!! You don't want to need it and find out it wasn't working.

 

[Phydeaux]

Might be helpful to include the brand & model of yours.

 

[DaveNV]

I agree - check your camera to make sure it's working right.

Something to be aware of: Some dash cams use a rechargeable battery to power the camera, and in Summer heat, the battery freaks out, and the camera can stall, or even fail. Improved versions of those same cameras now use a capacitor, which is not subject to the temperature fluctuations. I know this from personal experience. My upgraded camera has not failed once in over a year of daily use.

Dave

 

[ssreward]

Well, I was fussing at my DH to please get one for his car yesterday...he decided to look up reviews, and in doing so saw people complaining that the one he'd bought for my car randomly stopped working on them.

None of my business but I've got to ask - why fuss at him? Sounds like he was nice enough to buy & maintain one you asked for but isn't interested for himself. Let the poor guy drive his car as he'd prefer! Different strokes & all

 

[1st Class]

Making a separate thread as I want to make sure that people see this. I know several people on here posted that they also have dashboard cams in the insurance thread below. Well, I was fussing at my DH to please get one for his car yesterday...he decided to look up reviews, and in doing so saw people complaining that the one he'd bought for my car randomly stopped working on them. He checked mine, and it hadn't been recording since June 5! He was able to reset it and it's working now, but we'll be checking the card daily to make sure it's actively recording. If you have a dashboard cam, check to make sure it's recording!! You don't want to need it and find out it wasn't working.

Thank you for posting this. I don't have a dash cam yet, but b/c of your post it's now on my TO DO list!

 

[Sea Six]

I was looking into getting one, but the options are overwhelming. I need to do more homework on what bells and whistles they can have, then research price and quality review before I buy one. As someone else mentioned, if you're going to review one, good or bad, at least let us know which model you're talking about.

 

[DaveNV]

This website has a lot of good information, if you're interested in researching the ins and outs of it all. https://dashcamtalk.com

I own an A118C. (The C in the name means Capacitor, as an upgraded replacement for the A118, battery version. See my previous post about the differences.) I'm very happy with it - for the money, (less than $100 all-in), it was a decent investment.

Dave

 

[FLDVCFamily]

I agree - check your camera to make sure it's working right.

Something to be aware of: Some dash cams use a rechargeable battery to power the camera, and in Summer heat, the battery freaks out, and the camera can stall, or even fail. Improved versions of those same cameras now use a capacitor, which is not subject to the temperature fluctuations. I know this from personal experience. My upgraded camera has not failed once in over a year of daily use.

Dave

Ooooh interesting! That must be what happened. We live in FL and my garage is really hot right now. June is right when it started getting very hot in there. I'll bet that's it. DH was able to fix mine and now it chimes when I turn the car on so I know it's working.

None of my business but I've got to ask - why fuss at him? Sounds like he was nice enough to buy & maintain one you asked for but isn't interested for himself. Let the poor guy drive his car as he'd prefer! Different strokes & all

Lol! I was fussing at him because he's been saying he was going to get one since he bought mine. Inertia was strong I guess. The good news is that his arrived yesterday from Amazon and he installed it last night so now he has one too

I'll ask my husband about which model I have and post it here. It must be in his Amazon history because that's where he bought it from.

 

[FLDVCFamily]

My husband says my cam is an A119 and his is an A119S

 

[saabman]

Good info on all things dash cam at the youtube site. He seems to cover all the major points.

 

[Born2Travel]

Do those who own one have them hard wired? Would like one that uses cigarette lighter but am wondering if they work as well.

 

[DaveNV]

Do those who own one have them hard wired? Would like one that uses cigarette lighter but am wondering if they work as well.

The cameras are pretty functional devices, regardless of how well it connects. The cigarette lighter connection will provide ample power when the ignition is on (unless your lighter is "hot" when the ignition is off - a fact that may drain your battery if left connected for a long time.

The one I have was installed to use an available fuse slot in a fusebox in the passenger footwell. It stays hooked up, but uses a USB plug-and-play connection. If I ever need to change the camera all I have to do is unplug it and plug in the new one using the existing wiring. I chose that method of installation specifically so it wouldn't use the cigarette lighter, which is right in the center of the console in my car. Using the USB connection allowed hiding all the wires - which also deters theft, since it's a pretty stealthy install. If the cords are visible, a thief can see that through the window, and may be more likely to "smash and grab" your dashcam.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

I don't see the appeal. I haven't had an accident in decades, not even a close call. I guess that if I were still driving commercially, I'd probably get one, just to edit and make a video of the stupid stuff people do around trucks, but for my personal vehicles, no thanks.

Jim

 

[Passepartout]

Maybe if it had a 'wake up' sensor, like Alexa: "Here, hold my beer, I can totally DO this".

 

[dioxide45]

Making a separate thread as I want to make sure that people see this. I know several people on here posted that they also have dashboard cams in the insurance thread below. Well, I was fussing at my DH to please get one for his car yesterday...he decided to look up reviews, and in doing so saw people complaining that the one he'd bought for my car randomly stopped working on them. He checked mine, and it hadn't been recording since June 5! He was able to reset it and it's working now, but we'll be checking the card daily to make sure it's actively recording. If you have a dashboard cam, check to make sure it's recording!! You don't want to need it and find out it wasn't working.

I have had similar issues with a real cheap dash cam that someone gave me. It does have a light on it that I can see that indicates it is recording. If I see that the light is not blinking, I just have to unplug the cord from the cam and plug it back in. For some reason just disconnecting it from the cigarette lighter (why do we still call it that?) connection doesn't seem to work. I have to pull the mini USB out of the side of the cam. But after that reset, it starts recording right away.

The cameras are pretty functional devices, regardless of how well it connects. The cigarette lighter connection will provide ample power when the ignition is on (unless your lighter is "hot" when the ignition is off - a fact that may drain your battery if left connected for a long time.

The lighter in my car is 'hot" and I have left the camera plugged in at all times, though one Monday after a three day weekend when I only made a short trip in the car the car wouldn't start. AAA came out and tested the battery, which was fine, and just found that it didn't have enough voltage to turn the starter. After a boost, I was on my way. I now unplug the cam for the weekend, but plug it back in when I drive anywhere.

 

[FLDVCFamily]

I don't see the appeal. I haven't had an accident in decades, not even a close call. I guess that if I were still driving commercially, I'd probably get one, just to edit and make a video of the stupid stuff people do around trucks, but for my personal vehicles, no thanks.

Jim

Until just before we bought mine I agreed with this, but with all of the swerving I see from texting and driving I feel better having one. It's not you or me that is the concern, it's the people who get behind the wheel while surfing Facebook! If someone hits you because they were texting, it could come down to he said she said. The camera could help in that instance. I had DH put the camera in my car after I was driving 528 to Orlando and a car was all over the road due to texting. I was scared to even pass them, and if they had hit me I would have had no way to prove what they had been doing.

 

[dougp26364]

I don't see the appeal. I haven't had an accident in decades, not even a close call. I guess that if I were still driving commercially, I'd probably get one, just to edit and make a video of the stupid stuff people do around trucks, but for my personal vehicles, no thanks.

Jim

I was on the fence, not really seeing the appeal, until I witnessed a woman in a parking lot put her car in reverse and purposely back into the car behind her. She then attempted to blame the guy she hit. She was making all sorts of pain claims. If I hadn't witnessed the accident and gave the guy my name and phone number, he might have been on the hook. Both insurance companies called and I had to give statements. His companies rep told me, after the recorder was off, that they're seeing a rash of these types of accidents as people are looking for reasons to go to the ER and get pain meds. I assuming to feed their opioid addictions.

That's when we decided to invest in dash cams. We hope we never need them to validate we didn't rear end someone or we had the green light at an intersection but it's reassuring to know it's there.

 

[Sea Six]

Interesting videos on YouTube. I did a search for dash cams on Amazon and got 4,608 results from 51 brand names. I narrowed it down to those rated 4* or higher, and still got 550 results. Some of the brand names just seem like junk from China, but it was nice to see some I trust, like Garmin. Still thinking about it. Just seems like a lot of trouble for such a slight possibility, but I do get that it may be worth its weight in gold.

 

[Tia]

OMG unbelievably low behavior! What state ?

I was on the fence, not really seeing the appeal, until I witnessed a woman in a parking lot put her car in reverse and purposely back into the car behind her. She then attempted to blame the guy she hit. She was making all sorts of pain claims. If I hadn't witnessed the accident and gave the guy my name and phone number, he might have been on the hook. Both insurance companies called and I had to give statements. His companies rep told me, after the recorder was off, that they're seeing a rash of these types of accidents as people are looking for reasons to go to the ER and get pain meds. I assuming to feed their opioid addictions.

That's when we decided to invest in dash cams. We hope we never need them to validate we didn't rear end someone or we had the green light at an intersection but it's reassuring to know it's there.

 

[dougp26364]

OMG unbelievably low behavior! What state ?

Kansas

 

[dougp26364]

Interesting videos on YouTube. I did a search for dash cams on Amazon and got 4,608 results from 51 brand names. I narrowed it down to those rated 4* or higher, and still got 550 results. Some of the brand names just seem like junk from China, but it was nice to see some I trust, like Garmin. Still thinking about it. Just seems like a lot of trouble for such a slight possibility, but I do get that it may be worth its weight in gold.

Keep in mind it offered evidence of who had the green light and who ran the red light. Just in case the police officer is debating who gets the citation

 

[FLDVCFamily]

Keep in mind it offered evidence of who had the green light and who ran the red light. Just in case the police officer is debating who gets the citation

A camera (although not a dash cam) is what just really helped Venus Williams in the wreck that the other driver claimed that she caused. If that camera footage hadn't come out it was going to be a whole other story for Venus (who did have the right of way when entering the intersection as the camera showed). That alone makes me feel good about having a dash cam. We may never need it, but if we do it could make an enormous difference.

 

[FLDVCFamily]

I was on the fence, not really seeing the appeal, until I witnessed a woman in a parking lot put her car in reverse and purposely back into the car behind her. She then attempted to blame the guy she hit. She was making all sorts of pain claims. If I hadn't witnessed the accident and gave the guy my name and phone number, he might have been on the hook. Both insurance companies called and I had to give statements. His companies rep told me, after the recorder was off, that they're seeing a rash of these types of accidents as people are looking for reasons to go to the ER and get pain meds. I assuming to feed their opioid addictions.

That's when we decided to invest in dash cams. We hope we never need them to validate we didn't rear end someone or we had the green light at an intersection but it's reassuring to know it's there.

OMG that's so bad but so believable. Thank goodness you were a witness and she didn't get away with it.

 

[Sea Six]

Keep in mind it offered evidence of who had the green light and who ran the red light. Just in case the police officer is debating who gets the citation

I'm pretty sure I want one, I just have to feel better about WHICH one.

 

[Sea Six]

I just wanted to add how much it bothers me that I see so many crimes captured on surveillance cameras, and the video is so poor you can't even make out who is committing the crime. It's on the 11:00 news every night. What good are these things if you can't even see what's going on? I would expect to at least read a license plate.