Dashcam Pre-Fitted by Car Retailer at an Additional Cost - Should I Get It?

After my earlier post on which car to purchase for the wife - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/613924, we finally put down a deposit for 2021 Yaris Cross Urban Hybrid AWD (Auto CVT). We have been offered the option of getting the car fitted with a front and rear dashcam pre-delivery, so its ready when we pick up the car. The model they are supplying is BLACKVUE 750 GOLD + Power Magic Pro with a 64gb card for $1,395. This particular model is only available through car dealerships although I wouldn't be surprised if an identical model just marketed under a different name is also available in the market. They said that they'll bring down the cost by $200 if we also sign up for exterior paint protection (not sure if I want this for additional $990). I am not that handy with tools and don't have a high-level of confidence in me to install any dashcam on my own. Also, given I have never looked at dashcams before now here is my question - is this model okay and is the price acceptable? Is it cheaper to get an equivalent model supplied and installed from outside (such as Supercheap, Autobarn, etc?

Note that I brought down the price of the car by 9% and they may be charging me more to make up for the lost revenue.

Thank you all in advance!

Comments

  • +2

    I know what you're thinking, I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars on a car, what's another one or two?

    But this is where your bargain senses should be tingling. It's because you've spent so much that you should be looking to save everywhere else.

    Dashcams aren't expensive and you can get large high endurance sdcards for not much more. It may not be the prettiest wiring but will do the job.

  • +5

    Is being upsold ever a bargain?
    Answer: no.

    Get yourself a cheaper camera, lookup a YouTube video on how to install it. Spend an hour of your time and save $1400.

  • +3

    You're being ripped off.

    I purchased a VIOFO Duo Dual Lens Dash Cam for about $200 from eBay and an Autolec quoted $200 to wire it up for me (less for cash).

    If you want the exterior paint protection which IMO is unnecessary, get it done by a third party not the stealership, it'll be a lot cheaper.

    • "Stealership" - I love it! 🙂

  • +2

    I got a Viofo A129 Duo several years ago for about $300 including the hard wiring kit and high endurance 128GB sd card. I'm no car fanatic or know what I'm really doing, but it took me about 2 hours to install it looking up youtube videos, putting it all hidden up into the moulding and roof cavities of the car and hard wired up. But that was on my 10 year old car, not sure I'd want to do it on a brand new car though, but there's generally people around that'll do it for a few hundred on carguru or airtasker. Definitely not worth it to get it done at the dealer IMO

  • +2

    You can get the DR750X/S 2ch on sale for under $450. You are being ripped off. The install is also very simple, just watch Youtube.

  • +10

    *spits coffee out* How much???

    And this, kids, is why we don't get dealers to fit anything.

    When the Ming moll comes out, what do we say? "No thanks"

  • Rip off. You won't want to pull panels off yourself on a new car. Get someone to install. Can be hard to get the camera to the back, and also to the fuse box.

  • Thanks all! Really appreciate your comments. So I saw a few brands mentioned on this thread - DR750X/S 2ch and Viofo (A129) Duo. Any other recommendations?

  • +1

    The Viofo are meant to be quite good. I got ours from JB and it’s been okay, does the job but I’m sure I could have gotten something better for cheaper, but that’s life.

    If I was looking again, and ideally I’d like a rear view cam as well, I’ll be looking at Viofo.

  • +4

    $1,395

    🤣

    • I agree, this is outrageous!
      Which is why I decided to post my question here as I don't know what price to expect, but I know that $1,395 is a lot.

  • +1

    Dashcam installs by car dealers are the new tinting. Yeah the product is good but the install cost is often outrageous.

  • +1

    I just installed a blackvue 2 channel dash cam into a new Santa Fe and it wasn't as hard as i expected. Tip, pulling down the door weather seals makes things so much easier. The tricky bit is picking a fuse to piggy back off. With a multimeter or circuit tester, it's not hard to find a spare or empty constant / switched fuse and use a fuse holder (tap) to add a new circuit.

  • +3

    Nearly $1400?!
    Wait till the 750X comes up on sale again like here. Don't need the PMP with the newer X models so you'll save a bit there….leaves $900 for a memory card and installation lol
    Can easily get it done for half the price.

    Also steer clear of the $990 paint protection. It will be absolute rubbish and they won't prep/correct the surface prior to application.
    While I do recommend you get ceramic coating (which will probably cost a similar amount), get it done at a proper detailer, not a dealership.

  • +1

    You’re being ripped off.

    That model they’re peddling is the old 750S model.

    New one is 750X. The old 750S is still good and the power magic pro is somewhat superior because it has more options that the 750X but this went on sale for $471 last month.

    Installs in your area can be had between $100-250 depending on the installer.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/607676

  • Thanks all!

  • +1

    Install-my.com.au do dash cams installation in Victoria they give online quotes as well the car dealership as many have said are ripping you off.

  • +1

    My opinion, it’s seems they’re over charging you to make up on the car price.

    For my new car, a MB SUV
    I got the BlackVue 900-2ch-32gb + power Magic pro from Repco for $607.

    Then had it installed by a tech from AirTasker for $110 + AirTasker service few (~$10-15 from memory). Honestly the installer was great, very professionally done, on time and all, could not fault him!.

    If you’ve never used AT before you can get a promotional sign up credit and save a littler more.

    If you live in Melb, happy to pass on the installer’s details.

    • Thanks, mate!
      I'll look into AT. I am not based in Melbourne, otherwise would have asked for the installer's details.

    • Hey mate, can you msg me the airtasker number. Looking to get it done for my car here in Melbourne

  • +1

    We are in the market for Yaris Cross as well.
    How much did you pay for it?

    It’s great that you were able to secure a 9% discount which works out to be over $3k. Any tips on haggling?

    • +2

      Set a price, say X% off and just stick to it. When they try talk you up, just tell them there is no point to continue and tell them you're leaving, I'm positive they will not let you walk…

      I used https://autoexpert.com.au/ to get a price and then used that at my local dealer to shop around. The local, surprisingly ended up matching the price and including 2k of extras in my price..

  • I hope you didn’t get the blinker fluid upgrade, sounds like they are trying to sell you every pointless accessory.

    • No I didn't. 🙂

Login or Join to leave a comment