Fitting a Dashcam

Indeed. The daft thing is that the dashcam is entirely hidden by the sun visor, yet if that is left down covering far more of the windscreen that the dashcam (but with no dashcam fitted) it isn't a fail. Is that because the visor can be lifted to remove the "obstruction"? It'd be interesting to mount the dashcam on the visor instead of the windscreen so that it can be lifted out of the way. Would that make it OK?

"Behind" my rear-view mirror and fitted to the windscreen is the sensor pod containing the camera for detecting speed limit signs, the rain sensor for the wipers, and the photocell to automatically dip the head beam when it senses lights ahead. This pod takes up around 25 x 25 cm at the top centre of the windscreen - 20 times as much as the dashcam!

are you sure you mean "25 x 25 cm" ?

I do. I tried to find a decent picture online, but this is the nearest (it's a US car), and doesn't show it all as the top of the windscreen isn't shown. See second picture at:

You're right - it IS a bit of a lump !

My Nextbase 622 can be set so the screen goes out after a short time , seems a useful feature so I expect many other models have the option.

GH

Yes, that I think was why my installation proved awkward, as it seemed to be the store division who solved the issue I’ll give them the credit . That is who I paid for the installation in the end having purchased the rear camera and hard wire kit from them.

GH

I have fitted front-facing Transcend dashcams to my car and my wife's, which involves tucking the power cable between the trim and the screen along the top and the passenger A pillar, and then around the glove box to the 12V "cigarette lighter" socket near the gear lever. I suppose I could have hard-wired them into a 12V supply somewhere in the car - eg to the same wire that feeds the 12V socket.

By trial and error, I found that the best position for the camera was just on the passenger side of the rear-view mirror, so that it is behind the mirror as seen by the driver - then it doesn't obscure any of the screen that isn't already obscured by the mirror. You want to make sure the camera can see through a part of the windscreen which is cleared by the wipers, otherwise the camera is looking through raindrops.

Beware of other sensor cameras which are part of the car. My wife's Honda has a large mounting block for the rear view mirror and I initially put the camera behind a recess in that, only to discover that the auto dipping headlights no longer worked because I'd blocked the sensor that it uses!

I suggest that you wrap the power cable round the mount between the mirror at the screen, so there is less tendency for the cable to pull out of the trim due to its weight, because the weight of the cable between the top LHS of the screen and the camera is taken by the loop around the mirror mount.

Make sure that the screen is as clean as possible where the suction mount will be, and likewise for the suction mount itself.

Ideally make sure you (or a passenger) can reach the emergency record button (if the camera has one) so that you can trigger a protected recording (ie not overwritten when the card gets full) if you see a piece of bad driving that you need to report.

Check the SD card every so often to make sure that it is still accepting recordings. Very occasionally I've had my Transcend camera stop saving to the card, which has required me to re-format the card. Usually you get a flashing warning on the camera when you first turn on the ignition if it can't write to the card. You want to make sure that if you are unfortunate to be involved in an accident, the evidence that it was not your fault is safely recorded.

My understanding is that if the camera is behind the rear view mirror, as seen by the driver, you are fine because no more windscreen is obscured than is already obscured by the mirror. Make sure the camera can see through a part of the screen which is cleared by the wipers.

Nextbase suggest that the SD card be re-formatted often, such as once per month at a minimum.

In message <10ibkvp$3er56$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 14:35:37 on Mon, 22 Dec

Same on my car, which is why the dashcam is further left.

However, one assumes that this arrangement (big pod, but largely within the swept area) has passed type-approval.

One mystery is why there's not a way to record the output of the pod's existing cameras, which would avoid the need for a separate dashcam.

In message <10icn3g$3tml7$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 00:17:52 on Tue, 23 Dec

That's a bit cheeky, especially as they try to sell you a Nextbase-branded one at about four times the price. As it happens I can get about a month's driving on one 256GB card, having taking the option of not recording the low-res version of the video.

It's not obscuring the view being the problem but some police say the driver shouldn't be able to view the screen the same as if it is a mobile phone.

I've often wondered about that too. I tried to find out by searched on "OEM dashcams", but it might just be that these are additional dashcams rather like the ones we fit ourselves, but fitted before purchase (and no doubt at a heavy cost). See, for example, "OEM Dash Cams Are Behind The Times" at

It's nothing new, either. See this old thread from 2020:

A bit like saying that rear-view mirrors shouldn't be visible to the driver as they may distract... and maybe the screen that operates most of the car's functions shouldn't be visible to the driver, either.

When new laws contradict other laws, or reality, or both, maybe it's time to begin having new laws made by competent people, and ensuring they are fully understood by police.

Many thanks for all the replies :-)

I ordered the new Picanto yesterday, managed to get the dashcam (f/r), paint, spare wheel kit and mats "free" by way of discount so I will let them do it, I doubt my ability to make a neat job nowadays.

Interesting selling technique after siting in the car, general chat and test drive. The first quote included interior and paint protection which she tried to sell me for £750 in return for £350 discount. I then told her I just wanted the car with the specified extras and that they had offered me a discount via CarWow. Transpired it was sent by her boss who was off for the day. I have to say it made me uncomfortable, she was a nice girl doing her best but money is money.

Delivery early January.

Dream on.

I didn't say I thought it would ever happen.

In message <10idu8j$5jsc$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 11:26:11 on Tue, 23 Dec

Most of the arguments there are equally true of original-equipment satnavs, but they are commonplace. And mine has an SD socket which holds the latest (fsvo) maps.