I've been watching some of the bad driver, instant karma type videos on YouTube lately, and the more I watch these the more convinced I am that I should probably get myself a dash cam. I don't know too much about these, and was wondering what brand or type you guys are using? Are there any that I could connect directly to my Kenwood through the video cable and have it record to my SD card, or are they all Bluetooth that saves the video to your phone? I'd really appreciate some suggestions on the best way to go with this. I'm thinking a low profile dash cam would be more desirable as well so I don't have an eyesore hanging from my windshield, but I might be wrong. TIA

 

I've installed 2 of these on our cars, one on my daily driver VW Jetta TDI and the other on my wife's Chevy Cruze. I sourced one unit from Amazon and the other from eBay and they both came from China. Since I didn't want my installs to look like they were done by a Hillbilly I wanted them to look OEM so I ordered the rear view mirror mount type that were available with the correct adaptors to fit the OEM windshield mount. Both units incorporated a touchscreen display, backup camera, dash cam and blue tooth connectivity to your cell phone. Prices of the units I bought ranged from $250 to $350. The installations each took an afternoon and finished looked like they were factory installed. The first unit that I installed was on the Cruze and it worked perfectly for just under 3 years when it finally failed by failing to turn off with the ignition and it started to drain and kill the battery when parked. I removed it and reinstalled the factory mirror.

The second unit on the Jetta TDI, now 5 years old, failed last week when it quit recording video. I replaced the micro SD Card thinking that was the problem but it didn't fix it so the electronics of it has failed too. Would I do this again? No I'd be more inclined to get a vehicle that came with a factory installed system. The installation instructions that came with these units left a lot to be desired and their overall quality and dependability also left a lot to be desired.

 

The vast majority of them record to an SD card inside the camera itself. I have used VIOFO and BlackVue. Most of them are small enough that you can have them tucked up under the rearview mirror, where they are extremely hard to see.

 

My brother has one on his car that is impossible to see. It has very clear video feed too. He's caught the plate of a person who backed into the car at work before. I'll try to get the brand / model. I know it's one of the pricier ones on the market.

 

Does anyone have any experience with Aukey cams? I've been told they sell some with a supercapacitor battery instead of a lithium battery, which will hold up much better in extreme heat. I'm thinking this would be a good thing considering where I live.

 

I use the Rexing dash cam. Link HERE.

Works well...front and rear cameras...1080P...wifi...G sensor...parking sensor.

 

I see this one has the supercapacitor battery, which is perfect, but I noticed that transfer of the video is done by Wi-Fi. How well does that work, and how much of a PITA is it?

 

I went with this one from Amazon for a while and it's a pretty good unit, though it looks like it's not available any longer.
I switch out the Corvette and my F-150 with the Escort M1 - since I run radar detectors in both vehicles it made for a super simple install and it's pretty much hidden. The two largest cons are; it's not made to be stand alone (w/o radar) and obviously the price.

 

I've used a Street Guardian dashcam in my DD Explorer for the last 5 years and it's still working fine. Like you Ed, I live in the PHX area and I had to laugh when I jumped in the car one day this summer and the temp readout on the center console read 127F, a smokin' hot year.
Most SG dashcams don't use internal batteries but rather a "Fail-safe Super Capacitor" so there is no battery to overheat. It is wired to my power outlet (Cig lighter), the SD card is easy to view on the cam or in your computer. I have my dashcam sitting on the left dashboard of my Explorer, right under the window glass and the Garmin GPS (with a battery) overheats and will shut off on hot days so it's covered unless I use it.
I don't know where I'd mount a dashcam in my C6 but from my experience the Street Guardian's are well made units.

Edit: more about dashcams:
https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2020/
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/

 

It works OK. The files are easily viewed by connecting your phone to the camera via WiFi using the app. Getting the connection is sometimes a PITA. I don't need to retrieve the videos very often...so when I do I just pop out the memory card and plug it into my laptop for download and editing.

 

Unless it's just to post videos to YouTube, it's not gonna get you anything. Having video of an accident won't help in most states, insurance is still gonna do their thing like normal.

I can see the benefit for commercial drivers, but if you're just a person, you're better off spending the money on a bottle of tequila to loosen up and not worry so much. I'd only do it if my insurance company was gonna discount my rate by enough to pay for it and then some.
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Not true my friend. I've had insurance companies contest my claim when I said the other driver was at fault. After seeing video of the incident they promptly cut me a check and paid for a rental.

 

This is exactly why I'm looking at a dash cam. Both of the cameras I'm looking at right now have motion and movement sensors, which means that if I'd had one either or both of the two times someone hit me while I was parked in a parking lot, and managed to get a plate number the camera would have paid for itself 5-10 times over.

 

Believe what you will. If I'd had a camera either of the two times I was hit in a parking lot it would most likely have gotten the plate number, which I could have given to my insurance company and saved myself the $500 deductible. I could also have turned in the several jackasses with road rage that I've had to deal with by showing the footage to the police.

 

It wouldn't have saved you in either situation. Insurance would still charge you the deductible, they MAYBE would reimburse you if the ******** insurance paid up, but typically parking lots are considered no fault spaces and so unless someone takes responsibility for it, you're out the deductible.

If you tried to use dash cam. Footage to have cops go after with road rage, they would a) have more important things to worry about, b) not be able to use that as evidence, and c) likely no actual crime was committed.

You're better off taking the money you'd spend on the dash cam and get yourself some 0 deductible insurance for the year.

 

Wow....you clearly have no clue how video evidence works. With that I have nothing else to say to you on the matter because you clearly don't get it, and I don't want to waste any more of my time.

FYI...I work for an insurance company, and know how they work in regards to dash cam video footage.

Edited to add the following:

I called my personal insurance company. I laid out several scenarios, such as, someone hitting me in a parking lot, someone brake checking me to cause an accident for insurance fraud, and someone causing damage to my car in a road rage incident, and I was told in all situations that the video from a dash cam would be accepted as proof that the other person would be at fault, and I would not have to pay any deductible for repairs as they would go after the other person's insurance company. In road rage incidents the police would be notified, and charges pressed against the person who committed the crime.

 

Does anyone have any experience with the Aukey DRO2? It comes with both front and rear cameras, has the supercapacitor battery, and has the motion/movement sensors. I'm strongly leaning toward this one.

 

I actually used my dash camera footage for a road rage incident. I was having trouble bringing up the footage, and the most they could do before was just talk to him without the video footage. I finally got it pulled up and showed them the incident of the aggressive tailgating, followed by him intentionally hitting me. They then issued him a citation based on the video evidence. Furthermore, I had the video footage that I could use against both him and the insurance company in court if they tried to deny the claim.

So, now the question: do you have evidence of your own to support your statements or is this all conjecture?

 

I was in San Diego when a truck passed me going pretty fast in traffic on I5. When I saw him I knew he was going to be in trouble since the lanes in front where not clear. Anyone from CA knows what traffic is like out there. The guy couldn't stop nor could he make a clean lane change and ended up clipping a cement trucks rear and kept going. The cement truck driver stopped and I did also. I ended up sending the company the video with a clear shot of the license plate, and I won't go through the whole story but it ended up being a kid in his bosses truck who told his boss he hit some construction cones. Not 100% sure what happened to the kid but the cement company got their check - and I got a huge thank you from the company.

 

I'm sure risk of a bump-n-run in a parking lot would be good reason for having one. But, I've watched the video quality on all brands for several years to try and decide when it has improved enough to go ahead and buy one. But still, 95% of the time, on the highway, license plate numbers are unreadable. Until a new design comes along that seriously improves video quality I won't buy.