Do you have a dash cam ?

O

Old-Duckman

Active member
 SW Pennsylvania USA
If so, has it been a good purchase, would you buy one again?

I am considering buying one but don't know if it is worth having or not.
 
It's most definitely worth having one.

But probably not worth having one if you're only using it for b-road blasts when no one's around.
 
I can see the why some people would have them but it is not for me. Just an additional expense.
 
I have one, and its constantly running, but I've never viewed the footage etc as never needed to.

Only really useful if you are in an accident, or if you are a wanna be youtube star and enjoy shouting at other drivers.
 
It’s just an additional bit of insurance. We have them in both cars. The E89 has a rear one fitted too. To the back of the driver seat hoop. You have to be a bit careful with fitting the rear ones. We had one on our 330d Touring and it interfered with the DAB radio. They don’t cost a fortune and are a worthwhile precaution in my view.
 
I can see how they might be useful in the event of an incident, but don't fancy trying to instal one - so I don't have one!
 
Mr Tidy said:
I can see how they might be useful in the event of an incident, but don't fancy trying to instal one - so I don't have one!
Click to expand...
As you know Iain I am the the Michael Crawford of car maintenance so I had a local auto electrician install them. It didn’t cost much.
 
IRD said:
As you know Iain I am the the Michael Crawford of car maintenance so I had a local auto electrician install them. It didn’t cost much.
Click to expand...
:lol: :thumbsup:

I think I would end up doing the same!
 
Yeah, I have one. For the small outlay, they can provided some peace of mind, especially if it does something like time-lapse parking recording.
 
I was in two minds like you, and decided to get one (a Nextbase 222X front and rear facing, all in one unit). Some insurers offer you a discount (though sadly not mine). I got it as I had too many narrow misses where I live (London), and decided it would be good for peace of mind.

I hardwired mine in myself, which wasn't too difficult at all. This means it charges when the engine is on, but has a battery for when you are parked. It doesn't record all the time when parked, but will immediately start if the g sensor is triggered.

Overall I would recommend it.
 
All my cars have one, I’m a self employed auto electrician, and I supply and fit Thinkware cameras, I have had two incidents in my work van that the camera has apportioned the blame 100% to the other party, my wife had an accident where it was the same outcome, all because they’re were not paying attention to the road.
 
My mate Road Warrior gave me this, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Co-Pilot-CPDVR3-Rear-View-Mirror-Recorder/dp/B06Y18P57W/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I hardwired it in to the fuse box using a piggy back. I fed the cable under the visor trim and behind the passenger A-pillar trim. So a neat job.
 
I have one because at the time, my car was a daily, I was living in SW London and the car been ‘made contact with’ 3 times in 1 year (2 on the road where the other person ‘didn’t see me’ and 1 whilst parked) - my first car where I had so much issues. Bought and installed easily enough by splicing into the cables in the overhead light compartment.

Needless to say I haven’t had any cause to use the footage since (I moved back to Scotland and have a second car now) but I sometimes pull the footage if I’ve had a decent drive through the hills on a nice day.
 
I have one in my work van. I work all over and rack up about 1000 - 1300 miles each week so it feels like it’s worth having as like all of us I’m sure, I see some pretty horrific driving :cry:. It must be a slight deterrent to tool thieves as well since it would at least get a time stamp if the van was broken into / knocked - although they’d probably also take the camera.

I must admit I feel like I should get one for the cars but I do wonder if the powers that be would agree with my spirited driving 100% of the time should anyone ever retrieve the footage. As much as they are helpful, there has to be an argument for them being self incriminating in some circumstances.
 
Silverzedtom said:
I have one in my work van. I work all over and rack up about 1000 - 1300 miles each week so it feels like it’s worth having as like all of us I’m sure, I see some pretty horrific driving :cry:. It must be a slight deterrent to tool thieves as well since it would at least get a time stamp if the van was broken into / knocked - although they’d probably also take the camera.

I must admit I feel like I should get one for the cars but I do wonder if the powers that be would agree with my spirited driving 100% of the time should anyone ever retrieve the footage. As much as they are helpful, there has to be an argument for them being self incriminating in some circumstances.
Click to expand...

This was my thinking behind this..... Post by Stevo1987 » Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:55 pm

Can the ol' bill grab it if there has been an incident?
 
I have one on all 3 cars

Wife was rear ended by an ambulance end of November this year on way to work - the video footage & sound made our insurance class the incident as the fault of the other driver - without it I believe being an emergency vehicle I don’t think we’d had a chance, especially as no witnesses stopped.

We didn’t even have to pay an excess... so just in that it has paid for all 3 dashcams :thumbsup:
 
Stevo1987 said:
. As much as they are helpful, there has to be an argument for them being self incriminating in some circumstances.
This was my thinking behind this..... Post by Stevo1987 » Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:55 pm
Click to expand...

Yes, they will... consider also anyone you hit or other witnesses is now more likely to have one... let alone the traffic cameras so just because you don’t have it doesn’t mean you’ll escape
 
Stevo1987 said:
Can the ol' bill grab it if there has been an incident?
Click to expand...

Yes they can. Sort of depends if the sd card was in the camera at the time though doesn't it officer.
 
Definitely worth it. You sometimes capture some interesting incidents on camera. Can also get you insurance discounts. Now when I drive without my dashcam I feel a strange feeling, like I'm driving without protection or something. Definitely good for peace of mind with all the bad drivers about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom