In car dash cam

[Jowsey]

You guys are (relatively ) trustworthy so I thought I'd wonder if you have any advice on a dash cam.

Here's a bit of background for you.

Me and my girlfriend recently picked up a car (08 plate, vw polo bluemotion 1.4 TDI) which in hindsight wasn't the best idea. It was a mates rates deal and the car is mint, having only doing 28k miles to date so we went for it. In about a year I'll be using the car for business miles and will be claiming them back which I thought would give me a nice little bit of spending money every month.

However, the problem is the car has a turbo . Me and my girlfriend are 21 and I'm learning to drive as we speak, my girlfriend has had a full licence for 3 years but hasn't had her own insurance, she was just stuck on to her dads car, this leads into the first year of insurance of £1200 for my girlfriend and her dad (in an attempt to keep the bill down). My girlfriend has a flawless licence so that is just the cost of the insurance (Fully comp including breakdown cover as well).

So, you can imagine my fear for when I get added but that's just a bitter pill I'm going to have to swallow, then cough back up, then dry swallow, whilst grimacing. At the same time I don't want the bill to go up because of anything we do (ie, crash) hence the dash cam. If we aren't responsible for the accident then I don't want to accept ANY of the blame.

So with that all said, has anybody got any experiences with dash cams? Any does or don'ts? Any recommendations? I'm all ears to good advice.

Thanks

[HalloweenJack]

I have one - cost me £15 to tell my insurer I fitted it - but so far it has been a Godsend! had 2 hire vans clip my mirrors , the video showed the van crossing over the middle line and the sound of the impact - the hire company coughed up soon after.

my dad recently got

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1280X720p-JA...front+and+back

front and rear , and ocne he got the software , its actually surprisingly good.

[HalloweenJack]

stupid double post

[Marenghi]

I have one - cost me £15 to tell my insurer I fitted it - but so far it has been a Godsend! had 2 hire vans clip my mirrors , the video showed the van crossing over the middle line and the sound of the impact - the hire company coughed up soon after.

my dad recently got

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1280X720p-JA...front+and+back

front and rear , and ocne he got the software , its actually surprisingly good.

720p @ 20fps front and 480 @ 10fps rear sounds terrible to me. i don't think the rear would hold up if your insurance company got a hold of the video but i guess you'd know more than me, just sounds awful from those specs.

i've had a quick look into a dash cam for myself, although i haven't purchased one yet as i want a decent one that isn't intrusive on the windscreen, this review is the only one i've found of any use as a guide. again my own personal preferences get in the way of a purchase, i don't want cables hanging loose or on show, so i'd have to buy an extra cable if the camera is powered through the 12v and attempt to hide the cable through the roof lining and then down into the carpet and then backup to where the 12v is.

[herulach]

720p @ 20fps front and 480 @ 10fps rear sounds terrible to me. i don't think the rear would hold up if your insurance company got a hold of the video but i guess you'd know more than me, just sounds awful from those specs.

i've had a quick look into a dash cam for myself, although i haven't purchased one yet as i want a decent one that isn't intrusive on the windscreen, this review is the only one i've found of any use as a guide. again my own personal preferences get in the way of a purchase, i don't want cables hanging loose or on show, so i'd have to buy an extra cable if the camera is powered through the 12v and attempt to hide the cable through the roof lining and then down into the carpet and then backup to where the 12v is.

Things don't happen that fast, 20fps is only 4 less than tv, and you can see cars plenty easy.

dashcamtalk.com is a good resource, I already have two of the mobius cams as cheapy gopros that will be gettng wired into my new car when it comes.

[jimborae]

Got one of these on the way to me for a super stealthy install. The quality is meant to be very good.

http://www.banggood.com/Mobius-Actio...-p-917817.html

But if you want something easier to install and cheaper then have read of this and follow the links in it.

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/

£30-35 should see you sorted with something worthwhile. If you want one for cheaper insurance then I think you need approved ones they cost alot more but gnerally dont give you anything extra.

[MrComputerSaint]

I got a satnav recently with a camera on the back. It records the films to a micro SD card. Some satnavs have this.

My friend has his Samsung phone that has a recording app and he'll set this on his dash on the longer journeys in a cheap holder from ebay. With these, if you use Satnav as well you have to look at the satnav at a funny angle as the camera needs to point forward. So you can't point the satnav at your eyes.

[Jowsey]

Thanks for the info guys! Ever reliable.

Regarding it lowering insurance premiums, I don't think it's feasible. We are just the people that get abused by insurance costs. If it moved it would be marginal, it may even go up in fact, as in the eyes of the insurance company we are a high risk and if they can't apportion the blame because we've recorded us crashing into someone then our insurer won't be very happy!

This is purely for us. If someone jumps out from behind a car or a car pulls across two lanes whilst pulling onto the motor way and something happens I want to be able to say "We should not pay anything, it was this pil***ks fault!".

Interesting idea with the dash cam app, this may be tried before investing in a stand alone camera. We have the car all wired up for bluetooth and we intended to buy a dock to charge phones, we could just amended the plan for it to be a window mounted dock. Point noted about the GPS, however we were gifted a second hand one.

I'll consider my options for the next couple days. Thanks!

[wasabi]

This is purely for us. If someone jumps out from behind a car or a car pulls across two lanes whilst pulling onto the motor way and something happens I want to be able to say "We should not pay anything, it was this pil***ks fault!".

Slight derail. From what I've read you'll probably end up paying more anyway even if proved it was the other person's fault. Unless you take protected no claims and read the small print. Not pleasant, but statistically people who are involved in accidents are more likely to be involved in other accidents, even if not their fault.

[kalniel]

You pay more for having an accident, regardless of fault, but not as much over the long term as you would if you lost your no-claims bonus, especially when a young driver.

[herulach]

Got one of these on the way to me for a super stealthy install. The quality is meant to be very good.

http://www.banggood.com/Mobius-Actio...-p-917817.html

But if you want something easier to install and cheaper then have read of this and follow the links in it.

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/

£30-35 should see you sorted with something worthwhile. If you want one for cheaper insurance then I think you need approved ones they cost alot more but gnerally dont give you anything extra.

They're the ones I have, together with a couple of 8" extensions for the lens. I don't have the car yet so don't know how feasible getting it under the headlining will be, but thats the intention.

[HalloweenJack]

as said - this is a camera not and fps game? so 20fps @ 720 is plenty as is 10 @480.

my own is 24 @ 720 - and the hire company didn't even argue as soon as I emailed them the video - the other driver said they weren't driving , yet on the video could see who it was , his hand gestures and the could hear the `thunk` from the impact.

whilst it doesn lower my own insurance , the insurance company were quite enthusiastic about me actually having the camera , and emailed guidelines of how and where to fit it so its not illegal.

[MrComputerSaint]

Of course, if you have suckers on the window it can make your car a bigger target for thieves as they think you have satnav. I'd carry around some tissue/wipes to clean your inside screen before you get out of your car.

It's an annoyance, but I do it to avoid a ruined day and a loss.

[Kumagoro]

I have a G1WH (the G1W is a tenner cheaper but has a silver ring around the lens so stands out)

It does 1080 at 30Hz or 720 at 60Hz, I haven't done a comparison to see which is better to have it on. It gets good reviews, but I dont know if anything else is the recommend cheap one now.

I modded it and screwed it to the bottom of the rear view mirror rather than use the sucker.

[jimborae]

They're the ones I have, together with a couple of 8" extensions for the lens. I don't have the car yet so don't know how feasible getting it under the headlining will be, but thats the intention.

Yeah I've got the lens extension as well, just waiting for all the bits to arrive.

[jimborae]

Of course, if you have suckers on the window it can make your car a bigger target for thieves as they think you have satnav. I'd carry around some tissue/wipes to clean your inside screen before you get out of your car.

It's an annoyance, but I do it to avoid a ruined day and a loss.

Thats why I got the camera I have as I can do a stealth install in rear view mirror housing or underneath it and it wont be seen.