Guide: Fitting a Dashcam to your Avensis

[Guest]

Thought I'd share what I eventually figured out today. I don't have photos - sorry. But I'll do my best to describe what you'll need and how it relates (in my case) to a 2018 Avensis D4-D 1.6, I'd imagine most if not all of this applies to other variants. 

 

What you'll need:

- A Dash Cam (I recommend the Nextbase 522GW or similar)

- Optional: A Rear Dash Cam (I recommend the Nextbase rear module)

- A Hardwire Kit (I recommend the Nextbase one, again, all compatible and readily available at Currys/Halfords) 

- A decent memory card (U3 marked on it) of 128GB or more if you don't want to need to wipe it every week

- Some Low Profile Car Fuses (7.5 amp) at hand

- A little tool to 'tweeze' or 'pull' Low Profile Car Fuses

- Optional: A trim puller / plastic pry tool 

- A spanner set or adjustable wrench 

- A Low Profile Fuse Ending for your Hardwire Kit like this 

 

How to fit your Dashcam 

1. Turn it on so you can see what it sees on the screen. Find a position close to your drivers rear view mirror on the passenger side of the car. When you're happy you've got a good view point, stick it to the windscreen. AVOID the black dotted print on the glass, I suspect this stops it sticking as well and in my case I found quality 3M pads couldn't stick to it, I'd move it a tad to the left to be safe. 

 

How to route your wire-in kit wire 

1. Pull the A-Pillar (between your passenger door window and windscreen) gently with your fingers or trim removal tool from the top left corner, gently / firmly apply pressure to 'pop' it loose, but do NOT try to pull it as the clips retain. This gives you enough space to wiggle the wire through in another step. 

2. Route your hardwire kit (the end that goes into the dash cam) through the BOTTOM of the trim. Route it upward to near the top. Try to get it below where you can peek in and see the retaining clip that holds the trim to the cars A-Pillar so it is clear of the clip, and will not get in its trim when you pop it back on. Pull it through the top/front at the top corner of your windscreen and along the top of the windscreen and into your Dash cam. Tuck the cable in and along the top of the windscreen and tuck it in to the cushiony front of the headliner so it's hidden and not slack. Make sure it's neatly tucked in along to the trim piece on the A-Pillar. 

3. Now, with what is left hanging down, route this under the black rubbery flat trip piece that touches the left side of your dashboard on the passenger side. Try to push it behind, I got most of mine behind out of sight. Before you get to the bottom, stop and do the next step. 

4. Look at your door sill / the long flat plastic trim that runs along the bottom of the door opening / beside your seat. Pull this gently up from the inside / floor carpet edge and it should pop off easily enough. Don't be afraid to give it a good firm pull on the front end and work your way along the back until it pops off. 

5. Now, you can pull off the plastic piece toward the front. Which joins on to the door sill piece you just removed at its front end, and sits below the glove box. Look / reach in ward to the footwell. There is an exposed bolt end, with a plastic tab you need to 'push in' so it's not touching the bolt , and the piece can slide a little closer to you without the bolt end gripping it.  Continue to pull it gently until this piece pops off too. 

6. Pull the wire in and under the globe box toward the footwell. It and the rest of the wire in kit is ready for the wiring in stage (which isn't that hard). You also now should be able to see a bolt on your left, on the cars chassis with an 'E' on it. This is a factory electrical earth point. Take a second and make sure you're happy with your wire routing, is it hidden away and tucked away nicely? You can pop the A-Pillar trim back on now and deal with any slack in your wire routing. 

 

How to wire in to the fuse box (required a hardwire kit / e.g. from Nextbase)

WARNING: REMOVE YOUR Battery NEGATIVE TERMINAL BEFORE DOING THE NEXT STEP TO BE SAFE!!!

1. Pop off the footwell trim under the glove box. There are three little push in plastic tabs, look for those. Push them in and this piece of trim under the glove box will gradually fall down. Move it out of the way. 

2. Look for your fuse box, pop off the little cover. It's a long rectangular thing with a sticker showing the diagram of which fuse is where on it. 

3. Look for FUSE 23 / CIGARETTE LIGHTER - ACCESSORY. It should be a brown 7.5 amp fuse, of the low profile variety. It was certainly the first time I saw these. 

4. Remove the fuse in this spot. Put it into your hardwire kit RED ending (it should have a 2 amp fuse already fitted with an extra spare slot). 

5. Pop this into the place of FUSE 23. 

6. Unscrew the bolt with the 'E' on it, the earth point. Once it's loose, put the fork shape / BLACK earth wire on your wire-in kit around this bolt. If it won't fit, you may need to cut and crimp on a big enough ending piece to fit snugly around the bolt. Ask someone you know with a garage / good at DIY if you think this sounds too confusing or you don't have the little tools to do this. Tighten the Earth bolt with this having a secure, steady connection / touch point once screwed down. 

7. With the excess length in your wire-in kit, bundle up the RED and BLACK and extra length left over from the wire that goes to your Dash cam and use one of the little wire-tie cable-tie things that came with your kit / dash cam to neatly hold these together so it's not a mess in your face when you / if you ever need to change a fuse in the future by the road side. 

8. Refit your trim piece at the bottom / front of the door sill. Ensure the bolt is routed through it's little hole and the plastic piece is gripping it to hold it in place. 

9. Refit your door sill piece of plastic trim. 

10. Refit your footwell trim cover. Neatly position your bundle of wires / excess length in a way that they won't be putting pressure against anything up under the glovebox. Start by aligning the back end that sticks out into its hole and the rest should line up nicely, re-secure the three little clips at the front / closest to you that hold the trim piece up. 

11. REFIT YOUR Battery NEGATIVE TERMINAL

11. Turn on your ignition. Your dash cam should now come on automatically. Your wires should be all hidden. Job done! 

 

How to fit the rear dash cam module 

1. Stick the rear module magnetic holder to the rear windscreen. Use the printed de-froster central line down the middle on the Avensis to give it your best shot at getting this perfectly centred. Take your time - once these 3M stick pads stuck, you'll not want to pull them off without a good reason. They won't budge. 

2. Begin to tuck the wiring into the soft headliner edge along the rear window. I was able to tuck the thicker connection part between the camera module and the long wire inside the headliner but be VERY careful not to visually mess up a nice clean edge. 

3. Pop off the trim piece on the PASSENGER side of the rear quarter / C-Pillar. This might take a bit of fiddling. Be firm but gentle. DO NOT try to pull it off completely, it will loosen but retain on its clip. Work with this. 

4. Route your cable through this and leave a little slack. Keep the trim piece loose. 

5. Route it along the top of the rubber seal on the edge of the rear door / headliner. Tuck it in well so it can't be seen and isn't likely to fall down. 

6. Pop off the B-Pillar trim. Firm but gentle. This is a harder one, at least in my experience. As with the others, DON'T try to fully pull it off. Just enough to work with.

7. Route your cable through this, and be mindful to avoid the clips that you'll need to make sure can be pushed back together without the wire getting jammed in the way. 

8. Along the front passenger door, tuck in the wire under the black seal

9. Pop off the A-Pillar and route the cable through here, trying to not get in the way of the clips.

10. Push it through the front / top along the top of the windscreen until it meets your dash cam, plug it in here. 

11. Work with the slack, pull it back from the front. And pull it forward from the back. You want the slack away from the front A-Pillar and rear C-Pillar. 

12. What to do with the extra length... I folded the extra length into back and forth folds and stuffed them into the headliner above the front and rear doors. Not too much, but enough for it to be neatly tucked out of the way, and not piling up or causing too much trouble inside the A or C-Pillars where you need it to pop back into perfect position. 

13. Pop all your trim, A, B and C-Pillars into place. Your rear module camera should now power on and work with your front dash cam. It might restart as it recognises it for the first time. 

14. Check that your rear dash cam is pointed in a way that shows the rear view straight / not slanted. You'll pretty much need it at maximum tilt back on the Avensis Saloon sloping rear windscreen. 

 

 

That's it! That's what I did to fit my Nextbase 522GW and Rear Cam using the official Hardwire Kit.  Plus my experience with the low profile fuses and that extra ending that was needed because of Toyota's fuse box choice. 

I'm NOT paid by Nextbase (but if they're reading this and want to pay me, feel free!!!). I went with them because they had the front, the rear and the hardwire kit readily available at Halfords and price matched it in May 2020. It's been pretty reliable and good since then. I've refitted it in 3 different cars and have no experience with electricity etc. It wasn't too hard. And the result was great. 

Good luck, and feel free to ask me any questions and I will try clarify anything I didn't explain well above. 

[Konrad C]

Great post. The point regarding the black dotted area. It is a bit excessive for what would be the ideal location for the Dashcam. I use the sucker. 
I use a Nextbase 222X that has front and rear cams since end of 2019. I did previously use the earlier generation Nextbase 212. In both cases I used the cigarette lighter, so I can unplug the unit when in the car and not needing the Dashcam on when parked up. I am using a 128GB memory card and routinely back up the footage onto external hard drives, for my personal and security reasons. Since Nextbase updated the range to second generation, the files are recorded in MP4 format and that suites me, since I can copy files using an adapter to my phone, then do complete editing without having to go home to a PC. Great if there was an incident and footage is needed on the spot. I don't need the WiFi of the higher versions to transfer footage. Overall I have been happy with Nextbase. 
I personally would urge most drivers to have a Dashcam these days.  

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Konrad C said:

Great post. The point regarding the black dotted area. It is a bit excessive for what would be the ideal location for the dashcam. I use the sucker. 
I use a Nextbase 222X that has front and rear cams since end of 2019. I did previously use the earlier generation Nextbase 212. In both cases I used the cigarette lighter, so I can unplug the unit when in the car and not needing the dashcam on when parked up. I am using a 128GB memory card and routinely back up the footage onto external hard drives, for my personal and security reasons. Since Nextbase updated the range to second generation, the files are recorded in MP4 format and that suites me, since I can copy files using an adapter to my phone, then do complete editing without having to go home to a PC. Great if there was an incident and footage is needed on the spot. I don't need the WiFi of the higher versions to transfer footage. Overall I have been happy with Nextbase. 
I personally would urge most drivers to have a dashcam these days.  

I bought mine because I suspected an oil lorry dragged the hose and it pulled up against the back corner of my 2017 Fiat Panda in black. The corner was all scratched down to the white primer and the high rear tail lights all scuffed and scratched. They told me if I couldn’t prove it then they didn’t want to know, and refused to provide (but admitted that they had) their own lorry dash cams 😞 really annoyed me at the time as that car was pristine (after me owning old battered up cars for years).  I slept easier at night after buying it. And I’m not as worried about parking it places now overnight 🙂 

plus, if someone’s tailgating you or being dangerous and it’s clear as day before they catch up and potentially hit or risk your car or life, it’d make for a better police report to show what happened behind you and as they pass you etc