WTF The Dashcam

[qberg]

I've made my purchase, but I had to pass on a dashcam optioned vehicle that was otherwise what I wanted at a good price. Had a long meeting with the mechanic who was not willing to move or remove the unit. It is beyond my comprehension how Toyota could make such a mistake.

The camera is added by the distributor as a port installed option (PIO). The dealership paid the distributor for the car and thus paid for the camera as installed. The dealership isn't going to remove it for you AND not charge you for an accessory that they've already paid for. Even if they added it to another car, it would cost them the labor to uninstall and reinstall. At that point, they may as well just take the L and let you negotiate down by some amount to just accept the car as is if they are desperate enough to move the car. More likely, they'll just sell it to someone else.

The purpose of the camera is to boost the sticker and add profit at the distributor and the dealership. They know that most people will get "close enough" on a spec (trim and color) and just deal with it. Only way to fight back is to tell the dealer that is why you didn't buy the car and hopefully the dealer factors that into how they spec their allocations in the future or push that back to the distributors. You'll also notice that accessories vary by region. Gulf States and South East are the absolute worst about loading up every vehicle with accessories. They even have psuedo trim packages that boost that sticker price with high cost, low value items.

 

[glibglob]

Here are the after photos. What an improvement for the driver. We will see if my wife is OK with this otherwise it's getting sold

 

[Canuckian]

My Dealer is telling me they wont install it on the passenger side because they don't know if it will impact the "pre-collision system". Has anyone else been told this? And what part of the "pre-collision system" are they talking about on the right side on that part of the Windshield?

 

[ultane]

Has anyone brought up the new Garmin Dashcam systems?

 

[glibglob]

My Dealer is telling me they wont install it on the passenger side because they don't know if it will impact the "pre-collision system". Has anyone else been told this? And what part of the "pre-collision system" are they talking about on the right side on that part of the Windshield?

I’m no expert but I can’t see why that would matter. That appears to be based on stuff in the grill and the camera that is centered on the window… I just drove 200 miles with mine on the passenger side and no issues cruising or in traffic jams with all systems active.

 

[ricochet]

I've made my purchase, but I had to pass on a dashcam optioned vehicle that was otherwise what I wanted at a good price. Had a long meeting with the mechanic who was not willing to move or remove the unit. It is beyond my comprehension how Toyota could make such a mistake.

My only explanation is that the dashcam was originally intended to use the existing camera system, and the ridiculous hardware glued to the windshield was a last minute fix forced by internal politics. Or perhaps indicative of heavy drug use by the responsible designers and engineers . Toyota should drug test the entire approval chain responsible for such a POS.

I don't think they ever planned to use the integrated cameras since they've had other (even worse) versions available in the past on other vehicles. This is just how they do dash cams. I have one on mine.

 

[Gabel1]

Has anyone brought up the new Garmin Dashcam systems?

I am using the new Garmin X110 powered by the mirror connector from Dongar. Works great!

 

[ultane]

I am using the new Garmin X110 powered by the mirror connector from Dongar. Works great!
View attachment 12208

The first thing I did to Miss Daisy after purchasing her, was have the interior of every glass surface tinted with Expel ‘ceramic’ window tint (various shades, as needed). I wonder how the sticky stuff will do, stuck to the inside window film.. I guess I need to contact Garmin customer support to find out if the dash cam will stay put when applied over the window film.

 

[Alpha Puppy]

I am using the new Garmin X110 powered by the mirror connector from Dongar. Works great!
View attachment 12208

Maybe try a sideways 90° USB connector? I think it would look cleaner that way

 

[Gabel1]

Maybe try a sideways 90° USB connector? I think it would look cleaner that way

The one I used was the one provided by Dongar, which was only about a foot long. The camera is super small, and smaller than it looks in the photo. It is mostly hidden from view by the mirror, and is barely noticeable unless you are focusing on it. I tried using the right angle connector supplied with the camera, but it was super long and would not fit inside the mirror enclosure.

 

[Gabel1]

Maybe try a sideways 90° USB connector? I think it would look cleaner that way

Here is a view from outside looking in (sorry about the reflection from my garage's textured ceiling),

 

[Gabel1]

My favorite feature of the Garmin is that it can quickly & easily be popped out of its mount and used in another vehicle. I have another mount ordered for my 2nd vehicle and will wire it up next week.

 

[BigE]

I purchased a FITCAMX and couldn’t get the trim pieces securely back together. I emailed the company and received a replacement which now fits great and looks really good.

 

[Nick]

The first thing I did to Miss Daisy after purchasing her, was have the interior of every glass surface tinted with Expel ‘ceramic’ window tint (various shades, as needed). I wonder how the sticky stuff will do, stuck to the inside window film.. I guess I need to contact Garmin customer support to find out if the dash cam will stay put when applied over the window film.

I have never had an issue with my heavy-ass Blackvue dash cam coming off window tint. I waited about three days to mount it though to give the tint time to dry good.

 

[Nick]

Dash Cam Relocate or Remove

Here is the procedure to remove or move the dash cam. Remove the overhead console by pulling down on the end pointed toward the windshield. It's a tight fit and you may have to use a trim tool. Do not pull down of the opposite end or you could break the tabs. Remove the clamshell behind the...

forum.ih8mud.com

Everything came apart so easy but the one thing I cannot do is get to connect her out of the dash cam. I'm just not sure which way the pry that cover over the connector. Any help? It's not on that site.

 

[glibglob]

Can you post a photo of the connector? Are you trying to pull it out of the OE dashcam at the dashcam end of the cable?

 

[Nick]

Are you sure? By the look of it these cameras are likely smart sensors from their suppliers, which output object data rather than raw pixels/streams. In order to implement a multi-purpose from facing camera you typically need to spawn that single input stream into two and use one for detection, another one for recording. I would be surprised these camera can support dual stream video processing.

Can you say that in English?

 

[Nick]

Everything came apart so easy but the one thing I cannot do is get to connect her out of the dash cam. I'm just not sure which way the pry that cover over the connector. Any help? It's not on that site.

STOP TRYING!!
I don't think it's ever meant to come out. I tried everything I could for at least 30 minutes. Luckily it did not break. There is no tab for releasing that cover over top of where the wires connects into the dash cam.
Lucky for me Nebula 'Nomad was helping me out in real time and was trying to find out how the wires came out of the dash cam itself.

Apparently it does not! When he suggested that it might not come out of there, I looked again at the installation pics which showed the wire was already connected to the dash cam when it was being installed.
That's when the bells and whistles went off and believe me, in my cranial cavity they ring loud and clear.
So, with my little mini nippers, I cut the two cable ties in the overhead, unwrap the rubber wrapper, disconnected the dash cam wire at that point, and was then able to pull the dash cam out and away with the wire still connected to it.
That's the way it's done.

The two piece covers behind everything came out super easy but I had a hell of a time trying to put them back together and stay in place. I got them to go back together easily, but they would not sit tight. So, for now I just put some 3M black electrical tape on top of the seams to keep it from rattling.

When I go for my break-in oil change next week I'll ask them to look at it. When you're ready to put them back together, make sure you put them together with the understanding of how they fit together before you try to put them up there permanent again.
When I went to remove them to begin with, they just basically fell out together. I did use that plastic trim tool at two corners closest to the windshield.

The overhead piece with the lights came out very easily. With a plastic trim tool, worked the two front corners facing the windshield and it popped out and then I believe it was pulling it slightly forward towards the windshield to undo the back end. the long connector with all the wires was easy to disconnect, reconnect when I was ready to reinstall it and that whole piece went back in with no problem and seats well.

I did not reinstall the camera because I'm thinking about selling it, but then again it works well in parking mode with the motion/ impact sensor (I don't know which one triggers it)

I know this because when I had it dangling there after I removed it from the windshield and the red light kept going off.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

FYI:
Those little mini nippers are mini diagonal pliers which we always call dikes, as most of you are probably well aware of.
Back in 2002, two of my guys were working under an escort in a secure area at the space center and one asked the other to hand him his dikes.
Well, she, the escort was offended by that, as you can imagine why, and that guy got fired. Then they came out with a list of tool nicknames that we were not allowed to use. I think that was the beginning of our government going woke.

 

[Marinna]

Can you say that in English?

Can you say that in English?

These camera systems are not designed as nicely as what you can see in Tesla….

 

[Nick]

These camera systems are not designed as nicely as what you can see in Tesla….

I have no doubt whatsoever that you are correct. The technology in those Teslas is awesome and I wish these Toyotas had that kind of camera system built in.
I have my own Blackvue 2-channel systems but you have to use a power magic pro or equivalent to keep it from draining down the battery. I have that also but haven't got around to connecting it that way. Also, it's a LTE system and for $10 a month I had a prepaid plan from T-Mobile. Two phones and Internet with AT&T and they wouldn't give me the same deal.
Do you have a favorite camera that you either own or would own?
The Black view was a pain in the ass to connect to on the phone although once you get the hang of it it's not too bad.
My biggest gripe is having to connect to them with Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. I wish it was just as simple as opening the app and you were there.