Dash Camera in Gen 4 Prius?

[MichaelM]

Has anyone fitted a Dash Cam to a Gen 4 Prius and if so did a Toyota dealer or a company like Halfords fit it?

I would like to have one on my Gen. 4 Prius Excel but I don't want wires dangling everywhere and if it was wired in, I am not sure I would trust a non-Toyota person to fit it.

As Dash Cams vary significantly in quality, I would probably go for one of the Nextbase cameras recommended by Which?.

 

 

[BhxTrev]

Hi Michael,

I've just replaced my Gen3 Prius with a new Gen4 Prius Excel & like you I'm considering having front & rear dash cams fitted. I also would have liked to have had my Toyota garage fit these cameras but they told me they don't. I did ask about the effect on the warranty having them fitted by a third party? They said they didn't think this would affect the warranty as long as they were professionally fitted. I think both us need to use a professional fitting agent because like you I don't want to see wires dangling around & I definitely want it hard wired. We also have to consider that Battery drain can be a problem while the car is parked & this is where a decent professional company would be able to fit the right equipment that would prevent that happening. Also after discussing the issue of the warranty with one company at,

http://www.dashwitness.com/car-camera-installation-service/?gclid=CKuL5-npic0CFdQaGwodXSgHtg

they said that they would ensure that the cameras were on a separate individually fused circuit & that this circuit could be disconnected easily from the car's electrics if there was a problem or if the car was going into the garage. I have to say they aren't cheap with decent top notch front & rear cameras fully fitted costing around £500, depending of course on how much you want to pay for the hardware & whether you want both front & rear cameras, but they will send a fitter to you so he can do the job on your drive. Look up this company & give them a call to discuss your requirements. Let's know what you think?

 

[cuius]

Given the exorbitant price Toyota charge for a sat-nav, in the Auris, I've gone for a Garmin DriveAssist 50 combined satnav/dashcam, includes lifetime map updates, Agreed, have to put up with an exposed cable; but at a saving of £300/400 plus cost of updates, and it's transferable, I can live with that

[Ancient Nerd]

I bought a Thinkware F770 dual camera setup online, from the RAC shop for just under £320, including fitting. There was a very good offer at the time for the fitting, which made it very attractive.

I wanted this type of system because it is  relatively unobtrusive. The cameras are fixed tightly to the front and rear screens by a sticky pad, with camera angle adjusted by rotating the camera. There is no viewing screen. You can set the cameras up, and view video, either by taking a micro SD card out of the camera and using a PC app, or by connecting a smartphone/tablet to the cameras by WiFi. 

The fitting was done in my driveway by a company called Chameleon Codewing, who are apparently a very large national installer. It took a bit under an hour to install both cameras. The rear camera is very small, and almost invisible from the outside. The front camera is larger, but close fitted to the windscreen, and is not visible to the driver as it is completely hidden behind the mirror. The connection to the car electrics was made behind the panel to the right of the driver's feet, in front of the right hand door. The only visible wiring is a vertical cable from the camera to the top of the windscreen, that is about an inch away from the central pillar behind the mirror.

The installer appeared to know exactly what he was doing, agreed where he was going to fit things, and worked quickly and cleanly. I would happily use them again.

The positioning of the cables to the front camera were not ideal, as I would have preferred them tight against the central mirror pillar. However, the design of the camera was obviously intended for a LHD car, where it would fit very neatly indeed. It can't be that bad because SWMBO, who can see the camera from the passenger side, pronounced it OK.

The camera has two alternative parking modes. Either it records for a minute or so when it detects movement, or it records continuously at one frame per second when the car is switched off. If the car Battery voltage drops below a pre-set value, the camera switches off completely to avoid flatting the 12.volt Battery. The cutoff voltage is one of the setup options.

Wireless setup using phone (Android) or tablet is quick and easy. You can also do this offline using the PC viewer.

Downloading video to your phone is a slow process, the files are large, and I really don't recommend this. The PC viewer is faster, has much better functionality and is a whole lot easier to use.

It includes things like lane departure warning and speed camera warnings, which I have switched off via the setup, as I really don't want these twice.

The camera takes a few seconds to boot up, and then announces its status in a really irritating female American voice. This I could do without.

Overall, I've been very impressed by both cameras and the fitting

[kithmo]

I fitted mine and stuffed the wire behind the headlining, the A-pillar trim, then down under the glove box and along the inside of the passenger side of the centre console bringing the wire out to the 12v power socket and plugged in. The wire is hidden without disturbing the original wiring so no warranty issues.

[PeteB]

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/174427-2016-prius-how-to-fit-dash-cam/#comment-1424220

You might find this string enlightening.

[MichaelM]

Thank you for all your comments.   Out of interest Which? recommends the Next iN-Car 312GW cam at about £100 as the best Dash Cam

currently available so I will have to look at one to see what size it is.  Also I may think about a rear cam as well but this will involve

more extensive wiring.  When I get things sorted, I will let the forum know the result.

[Drpepper99uk]

Hi,

 

I recently fitted a Dashcam to my Gen 3 Prius without issue. Not sure on the layout interior wise of the Gen 4 but it was simple enough and looks great. I bought the Mio Mivue 688 cam which has a decent sensor inside for poor light situations and it's got all the usual speed camera alerts etc built in.

 

Mike.

[Harters]

I currently have a Rexing V1 dash cam in my Zoe which is very discreet and produces pretty good footage for its price, but I am unsure where I will fit it when I get the Prius as there is such a large dotted area on the windscreen.  The dotted area on the Zoe is quite small so the camera fits up nice and high and out of the way.

[PeteB]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

...unsure where I will fit it when I get the PRius as there is such a large dotted area on the windscreen...

It looks worse than it is in the photo, but I can't say I've noticed it at all when I've been a passenger (which admittedly isn't very often), and none of my passengers have commented on it:

http://www.biwel.com/pmb01/Dash_Cam.jpg

[Harters]

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

It looks worse than it is in the photo, but I can't say I've noticed it at all when I've been a passenger (which admittedly isn't very often), and none of my passengers have commented on it:

http://www.biwel.com/pmb01/Dash_Cam.jpg

Thank you for the photo, it's really useful. Currently about 90% of mine is stuck to the dots with the lens part picking up just the clear screen.

There is more room on the passenger side than I remember so I think my little wedge shape camera should be OK 👍🏻

[PeteB]

The camera in my Gen 3 was a bit larger and my dealer (who fitted and wired in both systems for me) put that on the dots so it peered out below them, but I like it where it is on this one.  It probably wouldn't work with a suction mount on the dots though. 

Both are completely invisible to the driver, and my current one has a rear camera which, high on the screen, is completely hidden by the headlining.

[cviclark]

I installed a Lukas 7950 Duo in my Auris and posted installation notes, pics fuse taps and how to get into the tailgate. It is in this forum somewhere. Is was very easy but there are a lot things to consider when buying a camera.  Do your homework and look at Dashcam Talk forum for tips.  Mine is a dual front and back with a wi-fi dongle to Phone and no back screen or distractions. You will review whats recorded on a PC or via an App on a Tab/phone so a quality SD card is needed (mine has two).  I use both PC and Tab as even the S5 is too small to capture the detail and control the functions like volt cut off.  The viewing screen on some cameras are a waste of space and a distraction. The screen fixing on the Lukas is great it just clips into a holder secured by 3M tape, no suction cups.  Do not buy one that has batteries of any type capacitors are best as the unit will get very hot on sunny days.  The Lukas has power control built in. It can be set to record events in park but I set mine to be on all the time I drive only.  I wired mine onto fuse taps into the fuse box under the passengers foot well. Aux and Ign fuses, but some people use the roof light, the cables tuck under the head liner and down the door under the weather strip. The only hard part is getting the rear cable into the tailgate inside the rubber gator. fuse taps are available from Halfords or Amazon the pitch of both mini and micro are the same but you may not get the fuse box cover back on. As I used the end two fuses I just cut the cover to fit. The tap replaces the fuse you then ad a fuse across the tap of the value used and another to fuse the camera, no splicing or joining cables. Just do not buy cheap and try to get a polarisation filter over the lens for extra stealth. Black nothing that shines removable labels. 

The best are just a like an an aircraft black box that record all the time you drive with no distractions or lights at the back. I posted a clip front and back of a loud bang when I hit a sunk drain. As it was there was no damage but had there been it could have been used in evidence.  Techmoan is another good source of info.

When its warmer outside I will fit mine to my new Gen 4 and post notes.  If you are in UK look at buying a Lukas , Blackbox or  Blackvue from Canada they are much less expensive and Calgary Dashcam will ship here.  Or Nikko from Ireland.  Be warned some can cause interference with DAB. Insurance do not like ones that plug into the cig. lighter.  Mine was well hid behind the interior mirror on the Auris and almost impossible to see from outside but I did remove it if left at the Airport as they can be attractive to thieves.  Choose the right dash cam and they are a doddle the wrong one a nightmare.