How to Buy & Install a Dash Cam for $150

Scotty

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Friday while stopped at a red light the car in front of me decided to backup and hit my car. The driver refused to give me his drivers license so police had to come. He claimed he did not speak English and denied backing into me. Fortunately the damage was minor. Afterword, I decided a dash cam was needed. I previously installed and removed the Porsche Dash Cam ($2700 inc install) after it did not work well. Dealer refunded the full costs and admitted the Porsche Cam was not good due to power being cutoff all the time.
I purchased the Garmin Mini 2 for $130 and the Skyocean cup power socket from Amazon for $20.
I was able to hide the cable leading from the camera to the 12V power outlet in the center console. As you can see from the picture the cables that do show are minimal. I ran the cable from the camera to the console by pushing the cable behind the trim. I used a plastic tool to push the cable behind the trim and it was easy.
The 12 V outlet has a cutoff timer that turns power off to the outlet after 30 Mins when the car shutoffs. I purchased the Skyocean power adapter so I can turn the power off to the camera( camera has no on -off switch) by pushing the power on off button on the Skyocean, just added protection to ensure the camera has no power when I exit the car.

Porsche Taycan How to Buy & Install a Dash Cam for $150 IMG_1287


Porsche Taycan How to Buy & Install a Dash Cam for $150 IMG_1286
 

outie

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If you were willing to spend over 2k on the Porsche dashcam in the first place, why not get the blackvue dual cam installed?
 
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Scotty

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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
 

Taycanfamily

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Friday while stopped at a red light the car in front of me decided to backup and hit my car. The driver refused to give me his drivers license so police had to come. He claimed he did not speak English and denied backing into me. Fortunately the damage was minor. Afterword, I decided a dash cam was needed. I previously installed and removed the Porsche Dash Cam ($2700 inc install) after it did not work well. Dealer refunded the full costs and admitted the Porsche Cam was not good due to power being cutoff all the time.
I purchased the Garmin Mini 2 for $130 and the Skyocean cup power socket from Amazon for $20.
I was able to hide the cable leading from the camera to the 12V power outlet in the center console. As you can see from the picture the cables that do show are minimal. I ran the cable from the camera to the console by pushing the cable behind the trim. I used a plastic tool to push the cable behind the trim and it was easy.
The 12 V outlet has a cutoff timer that turns power off to the outlet after 30 Mins when the car shutoffs. I purchased the Skyocean power adapter so I can turn the power off to the camera( camera has no on -off switch) by pushing the power on off button on the Skyocean, just added protection to ensure the camera has no power when I exit the car.

IMG_1287.jpeg


IMG_1286.jpeg
I have the Garmin Mini 2 in all my cars. Great product.
 

Jayyvr890

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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
I have had blackvues on all my cars for almost a decade and I have yet to have a camera fail. For non-EVs, the camera will Detect the 12V battery voltage and shut down if it reaches a set point.

On EVs this is a non-issue as the big battery charges the 12V if the voltage drops too low. My camera is on 24/7 and I have left the car for up to 2 weeks with no issues. There is nothing better than the blackvue 2 camera set up IMO.
 


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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
I've had the latest BlackVue DR900X-2CH installed since I bought the car (3 months), hardwired. The camera when on standby (parking mode) monitors the battery drain and will shutoff if the 12v battery falls too low (Note: When wired according to the instructions). It cost me about $700 total for the cameras and professional installation. I bought the camera myself.

My SA was puzzled as to why it would void the warranty. Especially as they will, for a minor up charge, arrange to have it done by the local installer they use. I've also had the same setup in my wife's Acura RDX for even longer with zero battery issues.
 

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I've had the latest BlackVue DR900X-2CH installed since I bought the car (3 months), hardwired. The camera when on standby (parking mode) monitors the battery drain and will shutoff if the 12v battery falls too low (Note: When wired according to the instructions). It cost me about $700 total for the cameras and professional installation. I bought the camera myself.

My SA was puzzled as to why it would void the warranty. Especially as they will, for a minor up charge, arrange to have it done by the local installer they use. I've also had the same setup in my wife's Acura RDX for even longer with zero battery issues.
What voltage do you set it as before shutoff? Mine says 12.0V and I am not sure if it should be higher or lower for our Taycans.
 

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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
I don't know why your dealer takes that stance, but mine didn't say anything about my BlackVue cameras. There's no risk on the battery drain since it has a built-in voltage detector and shuts itself off if needed. The parking mode recording can be switched to record on motion only to further reduce battery usage. I have mine on time lapse, and it hasn't needed to shut itself off at all yet. I have a Thinkware (competitor of BV) in my 991 C2S for over 6 years, and it still works perfectly. Lastly, the rear camera is needed. My co-worker had to go to court because the guy who rear ended him claimed that he was cut off and didn't give him enough time to brake. The cop actually sided with the other guy.
 


gnop1950

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What voltage do you set it as before shutoff? Mine says 12.0V and I am not sure if it should be higher or lower for our Taycans.
I leave it on the default, 12.0-12.5 volt shutoff. You might find the following video useful.

 

Jayyvr890

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What voltage do you set it as before shutoff? Mine says 12.0V and I am not sure if it should be higher or lower for our Taycans.
Don't even need to worry about it as the HV battery will recharge the 12V battery when needed
 

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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
I installed my front and rear Dashvue myself in a hour or so. No wires visible other than going into the front camera. Rear cam is not visible from inside the car. The Blackvue hardwires to the fuse box and has built in a voltage meter to watch for a drop and shut off (some prior units required a separate module).

I can think of some situations where the rearview can help in a crash. Especially if the one hitting you claims you rolled back.
 

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I also installed blackvue dash cam myself and had a spare one so actually installed front with left side and full rear with right side. I keep them attached via external battery, when left on can record for 14hrs. I also linked it with my external hotspot so that I can see the car 360 on the iPhone blackvue app. I had previously installed Garmin min2 but it was too temperamental and didn't provide remote view access through WiFI hotspot.
 

WuffvonTrips

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...Lastly, the rear camera is needed. My co-worker had to go to court because the guy who rear ended him claimed that he was cut off and didn't give him enough time to brake. The cop actually sided with the other guy.
This is my first car that I felt needs a rear cam (I got a Garmin Mini 2)- despite my being considerate of other road users and driving within safe margins, I'm occasionally getting disapproval from overtaken vehicles (maybe they wrongly think I'm going to brake in front of them for the upcoming bend). As I'm in a distinctive vehicle with a fairly memorable reg I think it best to record as much evidence as possible.
 

whitex

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Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
Not true for all accidents. My wife was pit-maneuvered on a highway totaling the car, but without a rear camera it would have been hard to prove who veered into whose lane, so it would get filed as no fault (a.k.a. shared fault). While possible, it would require cops to do a lot more vector math to prove from front view whether the car crossed into the other lane - a lot more work than they are willing to do in most cases actually. A rear dashcam however made this case a slam dunk. Here is the dashcam footage of the crash in question:
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