r/Dashcam

3–4 months ago, I bought the two-channel Viofo A229 Plus with the OBD kit, specifically so I could use parking mode.

Up until now, it has worked great. I’ve checked every couple of weeks to make sure parking mode was still recording properly, and it always was.

This morning, I went out to my car and noticed that the driver’s side door had been damaged by someone opening their door into mine.

My first thought was: “Well, at least I’ll have video of it.”

I didn’t.

I opened the Viofo app - which, in my opinion, is already quite far behind what I’d expect from a modern app, and discovered that the camera had not recorded any parking footage for roughly four days.

Nothing.

The last parking recording had suddenly stopped at around 2 AM four days earlier.

Normal driving footage had still been recorded perfectly fine during those days.

That was obviously extremely frustrating, because 90% of the reason I bought this camera was parking mode. I live in an area where people have a habit of opening their doors into other cars and then leaving. It had already happened to me once, and that was actually the main reason I bought the camera in the first place.

After going through all the footage today, it is pretty clear that something is not functioning normally.

The timeline looks something like this:

No parking recordings at all for around four days.
Then today it suddenly recorded approximately 30 minutes of parking footage and stopped.
Later, it recorded no parking footage at all.
Later again, it recorded roughly two hours of parking footage and then stopped.

That makes me somewhat doubtful that this is simply the car battery reaching the low-voltage cutoff, because the behaviour is so inconsistent. After having recorded nothing for four days, it suddenly manages 30 minutes, then nothing, then two hours.

The camera has also started behaving strangely when I start and stop the car.

When starting the car, it may turn Wi-Fi on and off several times and repeatedly announce things like:

“Recording two channels”
“Wi-Fi disconnected”
“Wi-Fi connected”
“Recording two channels”

Something similar happens when turning the car off.

For example, earlier today I switched the car off and waited for the camera to enter parking mode. It announced:

“Parking recording started”

Then immediately afterwards:

“Wi-Fi disconnected”

And then:

“Recording two channels”

This strange Wi-Fi/voice behaviour only started today, after I updated the firmware.

However, the important part is that the unreliable parking recordings started approximately four days BEFORE I installed that firmware update, so the update cannot explain the original problem.

What should I do from here?

At this point I’m extremely disappointed. The exact situation I bought the camera to protect myself against happened, and when I actually needed the footage, parking mode had silently stopped working.

So now I’m left with a damaged car door, no way of identifying who did it, a camera whose parking mode currently seems to work only intermittently, and a pretty bitter feeling about the whole purchase.

I am looking at dash cams that include a parking mode but am worried about hardwiring it to my car and having the battery die. I would like to not have it running at home as I park in my driveway, but I do want for it to be running while I am parked at school or any other parking lot. The main concern is I might not run the car for a couple of days and the battery might die, is this a problem with new dash cams/ is there measures in place to ensure this doesn't happen. If so, what dash cams come with these measures.

Parked my car outside in the sun all day, and my dashcam gets scalding hot to the touch. I’m low-key paranoid about the lithium battery swelling or failing under that heat. Got in a minor fender bender a while back, power flickered for half a second, and the last 10 seconds of footage was just gone. Support said the lithium battery dropped voltage too fast to finish writing the file.

This is my second lithium-powered dashcam. Either they run way too hot in summer, or they eat critical footage the second power cuts out. Looking for recs for dashcams that actually hold up to high heat. Bonus points if they reliably save files on sudden power loss.

Looking for the best quality dash cam for front and back and interior and are there any of that record on the side of the vehicle?

I’m trying not to choose a dash cam just because the spec sheet is packed with features.

I’ve narrowed it down to VUEROID, Thinkware, and Vantrue, but somehow every comparison gives me something else to think about.

If you’ve owned one for a while, what feature did you think you absolutely needed but barely ended up using? And what feature did you overlook that turned out to be really useful?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

To start. I live in Florida where the summers are absolutely BRUTAL on electronics left inside of vehicles. As a result I have had to replace my cheap dash cam about every 12-18 months. As I am writing this, I am perusing Amazon to look for a replacement for my current dash cam since the heat finally destroyed it. I suspect the heat is destroying the battery before anything else.

So with that thought in mind. I would absolutely LOVE to find a dash cam that does NOT have any sort of internal battery. Additionally, I would prefer for it to plug into my 12v / cigarette lighter port so I can easily unplug it when the car will be sitting for an extended period of time.

Does such as beast exist? And please feel free to offer recommendations. I'm tired of having to replace something so often due to a flawed design.

I have put off buying one for a long time because, frankly, the image quality is so atrocious on dash cams. And for night? forget it...

The main reason to get one is to see people's plate numbers clearly.

and if a dash cam cannot do this simple thing. Then that product is a failure.

Hi everyone, my dad was looking for dash cams that would cover the entire car such as front, back, and sides. He doesn't mind if it gets the interior as well. He absolutely does not care about any special features, and only wants video + audio. Personally I don't mind so if yall got any good recommendations I would love to hear them. Looking for 4 to cover all our cars. Currently he has his eyes on the IIWEY N5. Thanks in advance

I drive a 2021 Subaru Forster and have a Vantrue E3 camera. It has been installed for over a year but recently the rear camera won’t stay stuck. I’ve tried new 3M pads and still can’t get it. I did order a new set to try (they haven’t arrived yet) but where it mounts is semi-textured. Any advice?

So, I am planning to buy a 70mai A200 Dash cam with a hardwire kit plugged into it. I know that even if I turn off the parking surveillance it will still draw power from my battery. BUT, what if I remove the type C cable from my dash cam… Will it still draw power from my battery?

If yes, will the power drawn be reduced to the point that it’s unnoticeable or will it still stay the same as if i have the parking surveillance turned on? Thank you!!!

I recently installed and hard wired a Wolfang wd03 dual channel camera in my 2021 Seat Leon (plug-in hybrid). The hard wire kit is a cheap one off amazon but it seems legit enough, comes with a low-voltage driver with necessary cutoff, fuse and ground injectors, etc.

My issue is that the camera stays on and records even when the car is off.

I've watched videos and read instructions on how to properly wire a camera so it records in park mode in case something triggers the camera while the car is off. I've configured the camera in the software side so it's "parking recording" mode is on. I've even tried adjusting for different levels of sensitivity - as it has a g-force sensor so recording is triggered by a motion to the car.

I'm pretty handy with basic electronics and have the right tools but this issue seems beyond me. I have a voltmeter and I've checked for the right fuse spots to use so I'm connecting to the accessory and battery terminals, as necessary. I've checked using the voltmeter to confirm that the battery terminal stays on and that the accessory terminal is on only with car ignition, etc.

I've read thru all the other related posts on here but none of them seem to have a solution that would help my case.

Anyone out there have any thought or suggestions?