PSA: Remove your dashcams from your cars..

Gammawolf

Gammawolf

Gammawolf

Associate
Joined
15 Nov 2007
Posts
2,405
Location
Sheffield, UK
..when you park up. Got lazy and forgot to tell my wife to do it as well where she parks at work. Am now the proud owner of a smashed window and -1 dashcam. Luckily a replacement window was only £29 and managed to get it fixed the next day but i'd (and you too) would rather not spend my saturday fixing a car window and taking seats up to clean glass!

On a side note i've had a dashcam for going on nearly 10 years now and the only time i ever needed to use it was when a guy reversed into me. But the car was on cloned plates so the dashcam didn't matter (or any camera for that matter, only thing that finds cloned plates are coppers actively stopping suspect vehicles). I don't think i'm going to replace it as I think its just as likely to get broken into if there’s just a mount in the screen since most people just stow the camera somewhere else in the car.

Just a reminder for those that may have gotten complacent like me!
 
Mine has been fitted for 3 years and just stays in the window. I do take it out if the car is parked in a public place for a while and if I remember otherwise it just stays there and I've never had an issue. I think you've been really unlucky.
 
Aside for providing evidence in the even of an accident, I thought that leaving a dashcam in the car for when it was unattended was one of the prime reasons people bought them?
 
I think it depends on the installation as well. Stuck directly to the screen tucked up by the rear view mirror with the power lead tucked under the headlining you can barely see the ones in our cars.

Attached via a massive generic windscreen mount slap bang in the middle with the power leads dangling down however is a bit more obvious!
 
ShiWarrior said:
i have parking mode on mine, been in my car for several years and its been fine
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I went far longer than several years like this and it was fine, until it wasn't which is the point - having one there gives reason enough to smash a window and have a look round rather than the 90% of other cars that don't have them.

lordrobs said:
I think it depends on the installation as well. Stuck directly to the screen tucked up by the rear view mirror with the power lead tucked under the headlining you can barely see the ones in our cars.

Attached via a massive generic windscreen mount slap bang in the middle with the power leads dangling down however is a bit more obvious!
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I wouldn't be so sure, mine was setup like this (and is also the reason why I probably got complacent). I went through the effort to pull all the trim off and install a 5v hardline that went from behind the gear stick in the center console, up and around the glovebox, up the inside of the pillar and inside the roof liner. The camera was so high up behind the center mirror that you couldn't see it at all when in the drivers seat.

Conscript said:
Aside for providing evidence in the even of an accident, I thought that leaving a dashcam in the car for when it was unattended was one of the prime reasons people bought them?
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The prime reason is for while driving/evidence, parking mode was initially as an added value extra on early cameras. Imo depends on where you park and why - its a risk vs risk thing. Risk of getting damaged while parked vs risk of getting damaged because you make it more enticing to steal from the car. I could see someone maybe wanting it if they park in multistories a lot etc where through traffic is only other car owners. All other situations imo increase the break in risk too much.

But at the end of the day its about reducing opportunity. Thinking now about it, simply by leaving the camera in there increases your risk a lot. It takes minimal effort for anyone to smash a window and grab a camera. Then they just made themselves £40 for 20 seconds work. Needs viewing from the perspective of someone with no money/morals and out for their next drug hit for example, in which case they'd bust your window for anything they could flog for a tenner.
 
I have also had my dashcam for at least 10 years or more -I have had a strip of Limo tint put across top of the screen and dash cam is up by mirror so it can't be seen from outside unless you are specifically looking for one. The camera is a Roadhawk so it is long and slim horizontally and it just pokes down below tint
The MOT man keeps telling me to remove the tint but now I wind seat down as low as it goes and last MOT was fine.:)
 
Scrotes will nick anything sadly, it's a bit crap that they went after your dash cam but it could've been anything tbh.

Our neighbours' car was broken in to a while ago for a bottle of Jack Daniels :confused:
 
Gammawolf said:
parking mode was initially as an added value extra on early cameras.
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parking mode with just front/back cameras is unfortunately not useful to film folks breaking side windows, or those who keyed my side panels.

I suppose if you wanted to involve insurance, with fully comp, you could claim for camera theft under personal possessions.
 
Sadly some scrotes will break into cars even on the off chance if there is nothing on display :( fortunately not been a first hand experience so far...
 
Gammawolf said:
..when you park up. Got lazy and forgot to tell my wife to do it as well where she parks at work. Am now the proud owner of a smashed window and -1 dashcam. Luckily a replacement window was only £29 and managed to get it fixed the next day but i'd (and you too) would rather not spend my saturday fixing a car window and taking seats up to clean glass!

On a side note i've had a dashcam for going on nearly 10 years now and the only time i ever needed to use it was when a guy reversed into me. But the car was on cloned plates so the dashcam didn't matter (or any camera for that matter, only thing that finds cloned plates are coppers actively stopping suspect vehicles). I don't think i'm going to replace it as I think its just as likely to get broken into if there’s just a mount in the screen since most people just stow the camera somewhere else in the car.

Just a reminder for those that may have gotten complacent like me!
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That defeats the purpose, modern dash cams will turn on and record a their breaking into your car or a Karen sideswipping you so if you remove the camera then you have nothingn
 
chroniclard said:
Keep thinking I need one but then, after 30 years driving, can't recall ever really requiring one. Fomo maybe :cry:
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Over 20 years here and only bothered in the last ~3 years - never really felt a need before but seems to be a huge rise in absolute lunatics on the roads these days - including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians especially those who put themselves in a dangerous position in a way which defies any rational thought or logic.

Twice yesterday I encountered people walking or running in the road, for no good reason, back to traffic and zero care as to what vehicles were doing and/or expecting drivers to look out for them...
 
Rroff said:
Over 20 years here and only bothered in the last ~3 years - never really felt a need before but seems to be a huge rise in absolute lunatics on the roads these days - including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians especially those who put themselves in a dangerous position in a way which defies any rational thought or logic.

Twice yesterday I encountered people walking or running in the road, for no good reason, back to traffic and zero care as to what vehicles were doing and/or expecting drivers to look out for them...
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Actually I did have a road rage incident a few years back it would have been nice to record.:cry:
 
Grim5 said:
That defeats the purpose, modern dash cams will turn on and record a their breaking into your car or a Karen sideswipping you so if you remove the camera then you have nothingn
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You really didn't read or think when posting this did you LOL. Firstly dashcams point outside the front windscreen and most people don't bother covering the side where people break in. Secondly how do you propose to view the footage from a dashcam that was taken lmao.
 
This is why I went for the ThinkWare versus the gaudy screen versions. Tucks away fairly hidden.
 
Conscript said:
Aside for providing evidence in the even of an accident, I thought that leaving a dashcam in the car for when it was unattended was one of the prime reasons people bought them?
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Yeah mine runs in parking mode for when the numpty in a car park reverses and I can track them down and do them. So, yeah mine stays in tucked away you can't even see mine tbh
 
pugheaven said:
Yeah mine runs in parking mode for when the numpty in a car park reverses and I can track them down and do them. So, yeah mine stays in tucked away you can't even see mine tbh
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Though it is just a cheap one - mine never activated, and was facing the wrong way anyhow, when someone reversed into my parked vehicle - fortunately they came into work and reported it.
 
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