Dash Cams -- recommends? -- or not?

Just thinking about the new Sienna Hybrid: comes with built in vacuum and mini-fridge. Why-oh-why not fugedabout all these comforts of home, pre-wire it for front-and-rear dash cams, have bracket bolt locations, offer a Toyota dash cam system as an accessory.

I toy with the idea ever so often, start looking at the myriad options, how to install, then give my head a shake, shelve it again.

 

it has never occurred to me that i might need one.

 

I have two of these installed; one front and one back.

Three years, ago, it recorded an accident at an intersection. A car making a left turn hit one going straight across. It was evident that the one going straight ran the red light and blamed the guy making the left turn. The guy making the left turn got a ticket, but in court, he was cleared.

In another incident a friend had another car without lights run into him. Again, he won the claim.

So, I'm sold on them.

 

I don’t have a specific model to recommend—the one I have is from Toyota, but it speaks Japanese and must be permanently installed. You should also consider whether a recording of your driving would be more likely to help or hurt you, if it were ever introduced as evidence in court.

Toyota Canada already offers one, and Toyota has offered a few models in Japan for several years.

 

I picked up this when it was on lightening deal.

I think it was recommended here by someone.

Haven't installed it as it has a sentry mode, and I didn't want the drain on the car while parked.

 

Neither me too....but then I might feel very different if I suffered a life-altering event at the hands of another driver.

I'll be interested in what Kris come up with, but I'll stick with a cell phone for now.

 

I don't know.
I think I'm just getting old. I never wanted a Dash Cam, when I first heard about them.
But with liars, close calls, road rage and insurance companies, I suppose having a dash camera can be a useful tool.
I still don't own one, but I think time is passing me by, I think more and more people do want them or just have them.
And even though there is a part of me that really doesn't want my every driving moment recorded, I can't debate against them.
Unfortunately, because I've never wanted one, I also don't have a good recommendation here.

 

I've spent a few months working in Russia in recent years. While there I observed numerous attempts at insurance fraud vs. cars that didn't have dashcams. Our corporate vehicle pool was distinctive enough to spot, and the fraudsters started targeting us. We retrofitted our fleet with cameras and the "accidents" stopped happening immediately.

It's gotten to the point there where you can't get a claim paid there without video. Eventually it'll be that way here but I think we have a little while.

I put a Blackvue 4k unit in our Prius.

Didn't I see something about the new Venza & Sienna including a dashcam function? Pretty certain they did not use that word, but it made it sound like that was exactly what they'd achieved.

 

there was an outbreak of insurance fraud in florida many years ago where criminals would slam into rental cars and claim insurance.
i forget what the outcome was, they might have changed the rental plates to be anonymous.

 

check out YouTube vids's - search dash cam - scam artist - foils fraudulent /fake accident(s) ... and quickly discover how important video can be.
We had a black few in our Tesla, but between frames per second, night vision, clarity, overheating, SD card burn outs ... you seldom get what you hope you are paying for. Our moderator emeritus Fusco had the same model as we did, and had similar problems, despite those suckers costing a mint.
.

 

I'm remembering Florida changing rental car plates for a different reason: repeated headlines of violent crimes against tourists in their cars. Carjackings, robberies, and a few high profile murders of foreign visitors.

Sometime after Florida became a "shall issue" concealed pistol license state, the criminal classes figured out that numerous Florida drivers were armed and more hazardous to choose as crime victims. Rental cars occupants were usually tourists from out of state or even out of country, thus far less likely to be armed (especially legally), thus were much less risky prey. These tourists were easily spotted by their distinctive rental plates, so a disproportionate portion of criminal violence shifted to focus on them.

This was a major problem for the vital tourism industry. The obvious response was to cease putting distinctive plates on rental cars. Don't distinguish the soft targets from the hard targets.

Now if only the authorities would pay sufficient attention to the criminals too ...

 

My requirements:

1. 4k or better camera with audio, GPS, and G-meter
2. 12V-to-USB adapter to power camera and turn it on
3. USB cable long enough to route via dog-safe to passenger seat head rest
4. mount camera on passenger seat, head rest to get a wide view and instruments

Bob Wilson

 

I bought one over a year ago when I was doing quite a bit of highway driving especially in MA among the rudest drivers of Boston. I was thinking to install it hard wired so I have no dangling cable, but never got to installing it. Glad I didn't. I traded in my 2017 PRIME just a few months ago. I may eventually get to installing it on my new 2020 PRIME, but by then the camera may be outdated.

 

If it can make out license plates at night, I don't see how it can be outdated.

 

I am not even sure of its capability. As I said, I bought it more than year ago, and never installed it. The camera is no longer available at Amazon. I am sure it's been replaced by newer and improved models.

 

Thanks for that. Bit of sticker shock, "building" a RAV4 purchase (I'd read the camera was available on that model):



One forward viewing camera only.

I wonder if the models offering this as an accesory are pre-wired??

 

The $30 Apeman that I use looks and mounts the same way. I also have one on the back window hooked up to the back 12 volt outlet.

 

That actually doesn't sound bad from the screen shot. The only thing my dash cam has in addition is a separate camera for the rear. Unless a newer camera is better at catching the actual color of Tideland Pearl, I don't see what else you need.
Unless exposed to some extreme climate, electronics aren't going to die 'new in the box'. You already got it, might as well use it instead of buying new.

I wouldn't read too much into a small electronic disappearing from Amazon. These small electronic gizmos made in China are pretty interchangeable. Some of these companies are probably just buying a large lot of units from Alibaba, and putting their name on the case. I've seen two to three different brands of my AA/AAA charger and portable jump starter battery on Amazon. I just found this,

and they didn't bother changing the name in the photos from your brand.

I too would like a hardwired install. Perhaps I'll do that after getting the camera set up, but I have extra outlets, and noone will notice the cord with the rest of the clutter in my car.

 

Yeah, I might first try it without hard wiring it to see if the image quality and apps are usable. I checked on Amazon record, and it was $46 around X'mas sale of 2018. I am sure for the same price, I can get better one now. If it works OK but I really want better unit, I may use it on the rear and buy a new one for the front. Although having a single app operating both front and rear would be easier.