If anyone still "consider" or doubt a dashcam

[VRFlyer]

The Wolfbox G900 and the plug in Donger power tape for a mirror stalk USB port did the trick for me.

You could buy/get a black 90-deg. x-tra longer cable, and hide the slack under the bottom of the plastic trim cover on the windshield, there's a couple of rectangular slots on each side.

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[nysteve]

Any A129 cam owners have this problem? Saw this review on Amazon.


1.0 out of 5 stars Very Dissatisfied!!!
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
I like the design and features of the unit, and it’s pretty easy to use. It’s an awesome product WHEN it works! What I dislike about the product is its craftsmanship. The original front camera unit stopped working less than six months after purchase and installation. The manufacturer suggested several actions for me to perform in order to revive the product to no avail. The manufacturer requested I ship the faulty product to them at my expense, and upon receipt, the manufacturer replaced my front camera unit. About a year later, I faced the very same issue. The manufacturer again suggested several actions for me to remedy the problem, but to no avail as before. Upon further communication with the manufacturer, I was made aware that the product does not have a long operation expectancy…. Not even a medium expectancy!! The manufacturer informed me some customers get a year operation while others may get two to two and a half years depending on usage, environment, and other factors. My vehicle is garage kept (out of the sun/heat elements), and I take great care of the product. Who wants to buy this type of product, whereas you’re permanently securing a camera onto your vehicle’s front and rear windshields, only to learn after a short time, the product no longer works, requiring service, or in most cases replacement!?!? Purchasing the warranty proves to be of little benefit, as the warranty company requires return of the entire ensemble (both camera units) when a problem occurs. This is extremely inconvenient as many customers (like me) have secured the camera units onto tinted glass, and it’s impossible to remove the adhesive without damaging the tint film. Why must a customer have to go through the hassle of removing both (front and rear) camera units when the problem is with the front camera, as it is responsible for supplying power to the rear camera unit. That’s not the only hassle though! Think about the time and money involved in having to removed damaged tint and replace it!!! Do NOT purchase this product unless you only want it to function for a short time, you’re ok with the hassle of removing and replacing the units, or you’re fine with having useless front and rear window decorations!!!

I currently have 5 dash cams , 3 are Viofo A119. Had them probably 6 years , no issues whatsoever. I purchased a new Viofo , I think the A129 which is coming with me when I pick up the new f150 from Granger. No way I'm driving the 1200 miles home without. Past experiance gives me confidence in the Viofo brand.

 

[themcmercslr]

I have a blackvue dr900x hardwired in. Make sure your battery is in good shape. With all the things drawing power I only get 1-2 days of parking mode before I hit my 12.1v cutoff.

Never actually needed to use the footage, hope I never need to.

 

[Bobcatou]

I love it! It's the 2 channel cam. Quality of the original clip is amazing. This video is lower quality, I could not load the high quality file to the forum.

Can you read license plates well enough?

 

[Highway 11]

Everybody in my family has a dashcam. No exceptions. My wife refuses to take a car without a working camera as she went through the pain of being sued by a driver looking for a payout and was exonerated in her second collision by the dashcam that she had me install after her first collision.

In Ontario, most collisions don't get police presence. Drivers are expected to exchange information and go to a reporting centre. Just comes down to a matter of resources. Lowering the bar for new drivers during the pandemic didn't help either - the driving on Ontario roads now is significantly worse than before the pandemic and collisions are more frequent.

As a result, lawsuits have spiked and along with vehicle theft are responsible for the massive increase in our premiums. Almost every collision results in a lawsuit now. The dashcam is quick and cheap insurance.

The 2024s have made it near impossible to wire in a dashcam without going into the engine bay. Your quick and easy options are a Dongar adapter or a Fitcam X.

 

[sbi]

Can you read license plates well enough?

TBH - it really depends on the situation. When the vehicle was close to me, my projection LEDs are super strong and higher than him, you could not see it:

It is much clearer in day light and in the past I used VLC to zoom the video.
You can see much more details of the plate where the headlights do not project directly on it, like the parked vehicle on the side:

It is not very clear at night when the vehicle is in motion.

 

[SeanV313]

TBH - it really depends on the situation. When the vehicle was close to me, my projection LEDs are super strong and higher than him, you could not see it:

It is much clearer in day light and in the past I used VLC to zoom the video.
You can see much more details of the plate where the headlights do not project directly on it, like the parked vehicle on the side:

It is not very clear at night when the vehicle is in motion.

I am definitely looking at what you have for my MY24 when it gets delivered.

 

[HammaMan]

It seems too, if you watch enough youtube videos dash cams turn some into self entitled jerks. Example: instead of cooperating or doing the safe thing in traffic they instead hold their line, speed, and horn, sometimes even to the point of contact while proclaiming "I Got you on Cam."

I see this trend a bit. I follow a decent dash cam aggregator and have noticed a trend of people intentionally allowing a collision to occur simply because they have the cam. Some of it's so overt I"m surprised they don't receive charges. CDLs / big trucks for instance are required to take all necessary actions to preserve life. Thankfully most people are normal and want to avoid collisions if at all possible because they have better things to do with their day.

Dash cam vids are great training / education for knowing what to expect. One of the most important lessons I've found is to not put yourself into an accident to avoid the at-fault vehicle that then flees unscathed. Then you find yourself in a single vehicle collision at the fault of another. One nice thing about a dash cam is that you can let it be the witness vs wasting your time in court because no at-fault driver is ever to blame. "I didn't see it but my dash cam did, here's the footage". I've had my time wasted in court for such a driver even though the intersection had multiple cameras. The municipality couldn't be bothered to pull the footage. A red light runner hit a retired veteran in his F150 so I had to come forward on that one, only for the driver to realize she wasn't lying her way out of it after wasting 5 hours in court. No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Nasto]

I currently have 5 dash cams , 3 are Viofo A119. Had them probably 6 years , no issues whatsoever. I purchased a new Viofo , I think the A129 which is coming with me when I pick up the new f150 from Granger. No way I'm driving the 1200 miles home without. Past experiance gives me confidence in the Viofo brand.

I love my Viofo A229 which was installed in Feb 2023. Since that time, I have also installed the Comma 3x driver assist system, which also doubles as a dash cam. Redundancy never hurts.

 

[24STX5.0]

I have film on the glass and installed a builtright mount for all my dash things. Just OCD about anything on the glass.

Just beware that if you bring the camera back from the windshield glass, you will get washout reflections from sunlight, and possibly other light sources at night.

 

[n1chu]

I have a dash cam in all my vehicles - including my motorbike. The footage has saved my butt a few times with insurance from other drivers denying they were at fault for damages.

The other driver may be at fault but those insurance companies don’t care who was at fault… they look at how many accidents you were involved in, NOT responsible for, and after a few your rates go up anyways. I have a safe driver clause where I save a few hundred off the cost for insurance… that goes away if involved in an accident, regardless of fault and I start all over again, getting a $50 discount each year of safe driving until I reach the max discount!

 

[nysteve]

Just beware that if you bring the camera back from the windshield glass, you will get washout reflections from sunlight, and possibly other light sources at night.

Viofo offers a polarizing snap on for the lens . Its cheap and works. No glare or reflections.

 

[Zedbra]

The other driver may be at fault but those insurance companies don’t care who was at fault… they look at how many accidents you were involved in, NOT responsible for, and after a few your rates go up anyways. I have a safe driver clause where I save a few hundred off the cost for insurance… that goes away if involved in an accident, regardless of fault and I start all over again, getting a $50 discount each year of safe driving until I reach the max discount!

That is not how our insurance works in our Province; we have At-Fault insurance that heavily penalizes those that are not good drivers.

 

[Groovicles]

I love it! It's the 2 channel cam. Quality of the original clip is amazing. This video is lower quality, I could not load the high quality file to the forum.

I have the same dashcam. Saved me a few times as well thanks to the clarity of the raw video.

 

[sbi]

The other driver may be at fault but those insurance companies don’t care who was at fault… they look at how many accidents you were involved in, NOT responsible for, and after a few your rates go up anyways.

I don't think that's correct, or at least not with my insurance company. I got rear-ended last year right before renewal. Renewal came about a month later with a premium increase for my truck because of the accident. A few weeks later, when all was settled and the other insurance company took responsibility and paid, the premium went back down.

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