I'm unlucky as experienced a couple of accidents. The dashcam saved me a lot of time so I wonder why it's still not a standard car feature.
Why The Dashcam Isn't a Built-in Car Feature?
etan on 04/03/2023 - 11:44
Last edited 05/03/2023 - 01:29 by 1 other user
Last edited 05/03/2023 - 01:29 by 1 other user
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Adding $100 of camera to a car would add on unnecessary cost.
It would be another easy point of failure - especially with memory cards etc
Not in car manufacturers interest to bother helping customers with accidents - more accidents more repairs.
Liability also -
Adding $100 of camera to a car would add on unnecessary cost.
It can be made a paid optional extra like lot of the advanced safety and comfort features offered with new cars. Manufactures don't have to lose any money, in fact it can be yet another optional extra they can overcharge and make a profit.
It would be another easy point of failure - especially with memory cards etc
Most modern cars have memory card readers for music and software updates, but manufacturer don't offer memory cards or any warranty/support for them, same can be done for cameras. Or they can use more reliable built in memory modules like they already do for navigation and infotainment .
more accidents more repairs
Dashcams don't prevent accidents, but all the active safety features (e.g: active lane keep, AEB, cross traffic alert, etc..) that car manufacturers have no issues promoting or installing do.
Liability also -
Not sure how, given dashcams are perfectly legal and as indicated above some manufacturers already offer them and lot of dealers offer them via 3rd party installers
more like $2!
How much is a camera phone?A good number of cars have cameras in as standard (reversing camera at the very least, some front and rear parking, a few 360 degree). Shouldn't be too much effort to make them recordable in top spec models.
Wait till Gerry H gets his sole dealership?
lol. I have a 2TB SSD in my Tesla Model Y glovebox to record all the dashcam video. Bit overkill, but it was something I already had handy.
I wonder if with the rise of electric vehicles we'll see more dashcam integration.
At present you could imagine that most ice vehicles would need an additional battery to support parking mode but that requirement is obviously unnecessary when there's already a huge battery in the electrics (and probably large enough in hybrids).
We shall see…
Here is me thinking why navigator in my Hyundai should not be a built in feature. It cost money to upgrade the maps and it's no way better than Google maps.
You mean it costs Hyundai money to upgrade the maps? Because map upgrades are free with Hyundai.
For about 2 to 3 years. I haven't had an upgrade since 2019/20, as my unit was no longer supported. Thank god for Android Auto.
If you continue to have your car serviced with a Hyundai dealer, the upgrades are free and they do it automatically. My car is a 2018 and the media unit and maps still get updated every time I get a service.
Having said that, i never use the built in stuff.
Why the dashcam isn't a built-in car feature?
It is a standard feature in a Tesla and the BYD Atto 3
https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/dashcams-which-cars-ha…
But given that electronics will fail after some time it's probably going to be fairly expensive to get your integrated camera replaced, whereas it's fairly cheap and easy to replace a windscreen mounted dashcam yourself.
But given that electronics will fail after some time it's probably going to be fairly expensive to get your integrated camera replaced, whereas it's fairly cheap and easy to replace a windscreen mounted dashcam yourself.
That pretty much applies to anything in the car though.
Decades ago they had been saying WOAH don't get a car with an integrated stereo, it might fail and will be costly to replace. But that has worked out fine and no one thinks twice about it.
Subaru has its eyesight system and other manufacturers have similar which, as you point out, are entirely dependent on the in built electronics. Why they don’t add a camera I don’t know; if the camera itself is the potential point of failure then just make it a plug and play which can be swapped out easily.
if the camera itself is the potential point of failure
Well the Subaru eyesight is a camera based system and that doesn't seem to be a point of failure for those with it installed and its running whenever the car is running.
The Teslas cameras run 24/7 in most cases and these don't seem to be failing at a crazy rate that I've heard about either.
@JimmyF: It’s interesting they haven’t added a record feature for the safety camera systems (that we are aware of)
@Euphemistic: Remember for dashcams you want a reasonable resolution (able to distinguish number plates, at least) and wide angle.
Safety system cameras may not even be able to record normal video, and they're also configured for specific situations - approach speed, lane markings, etc.
@Chandler: Those things might be nice, but I would say the most important thing is to prove who is at fault. You're more likely to be arguing who's at fault with a known party than trying to hunt down an unknown party.
"Decades ago they had been saying WOAH don't get a car with an integrated stereo, it might fail and will be costly to replace. But that has worked out fine and no one thinks twice about it."
True, I haven't had a car where the stereo has failed during ownership and I don't know of any family or friends who have had this issue before changing cars, I can't imagine a camera being that much worse (unless you or someone/something hits the camera or something the camera needs to function).
The stereo in my wife's old Getz failed. We paid a few hundred dollars to get it replaced with a better unit which added bluetooth etc.
It's all about consumer expectations and laws. Car companies are never going to include a feature in the car that consumers are happy to purchase separately or isn't required by law.
If one mainstream car company like Mazda did it, the others would follow pretty quick. Given Tesla has so far set the benchmark for electric car consumer expectations, we probably will see dashcam functionality become at least a standard optional upgrade in future.
Yeah they are not going to include a dashcam that isn't required by law because that would just increase the price and make them look less competitive on price. But if one or two brands included it as standard, and it becomes an expectation, then all the brands will do it to be competitive on features.
Also, dealerships like to charge $1,000 for $200 dashcam, it's a premium service you should be grateful for hahaha
This did happen in the case of sat navs. We used to buy Tom Toms & Navmans but now they're included in most makes
Probably for a subscription fee I assume. 🙁
I read that most cars in South Korea are fitted with dashcams…esp those like trucks, cabs, utility vehicles, etc.
Wait until you know that in China with all these above there are cameras within the these vehicles. It is not necessarily a bad thing to be clear.
it's probably going to be fairly expensive to get your integrated camera replaced
Even my 2010 Kluger has an integrated rear view camera.
It’ll probably become a built-in feature at some point.
Would a prebuilt hardwire port near the mirror be a good incremental step? noting I have Nfi how complicated it would be to create something that works with a number of different brands 😂
Some Skoda models include a USB-C port above the rear-view mirror maybe there are more that we're not aware of?
Grouse, should have googled it before I mentally invented it 😂
Skoda are so good with thoughtful additions like that. It’s a pity they don’t seem to roll up to VW and Audi for whatever reason (likely money).
Yeah, mine has that but local Skoda dealer can't tell me what voltages available and Blackvue don't sell a USB-C to power input cable as units require 12V
@mattmel96: The USB-C port is likely to be 5V which sadly won't power a Blackvue, super-annoying as you've chosen a worthy dashcam
@mattmel96: You can probably just bring a cable that measures power (cheap on amazon) https://www.amazon.com.au/Braided-Charging-Display-MacBook-S… and check it at the dealership.
@Jofzar: If it's USB then it's 5v unless the a higher voltage can be negotiated. The dashcam that's not designed to run on USB won't negotiate a higher USB power delivery.
@Jofzar: So that will display the power being drawn through the cable, not the voltage.
Would need a very short cable that goes from a USB-C to circular power plug to be of any use, so this unfortunately would not be of any use.
@mattmel96: Check your manual to see if it is a PD capable USBC port. If so likely will output 12V. I have DC cables that trigger 12V, 15V, 20V power delivery
@mctubster: That is the one downfall with Skoda, their manuals cover multiple models and very little detail. It is a PD socket (of the 5 in the car this one and 2 in rear console are power only, 2 in front console are power + data).
Unit is hard wired in now, but it would have been nice to use it.
MG (ZSEV at least, probably others) has a USB3 up there, 1 amp. One in the back would be handy too
I believe Ford included these in the previous gen Ranger after a certain year. Not sure about the current generation though.
Welcome innovation from Ford: USB charging port located in the rearview mirror for easy fitment of dash cams
And here i had a dash cam for 6 years. I didnt gain anything worthwhile. Lol
After being crashed into five times in seven years, I now have a dashcam after it took insurance five months to determine I wasn't at fault
Wow five times in seven years 😳
Must be something to do with driving in NSW. I had accidents early years of my life, but they were all my faults lolDunno, but I'm too paranoid to drive interstate in case someone drives into me hahaha
@kerfuffle: haha, I'm quite opposite, I get paranoid when driving in Sydney, feel like a rat race on narrow roads.
I really should install one, drivers were always crazy in my area, but now that the population of my town had suddenly increased, almost doubled in the span of 3 or 4 months, it's insane. I see multiple potential accidents everyday I go to/from work now (people are so careless or just don't care, the amount of cutting drivers off, illegal turns and crossing double line is nuts), makes me real uneasy driving around now.
I'm not that surprised you've had that many accidents, I've only avoiding them by being hyper vigilant and not trusting the other drivers. Almost got taken out by a 4WD recently because they indicated left at a roundabout and thought it was safe to move into the roundabout after I stopped to wait and see what they were going to do/give way to them. Turns out they went straight ahead despite indicating left.
they indicated left at a roundabout.
Yeah never trust indicators.
The frightening thing is that your standard front-facing dashcam wouldn't capture the left-indicate you observed visually. Whether it's truly safe to enter the roundabout or not is really at your own discretion.
No smoke without fire 🙄
5 in 7 years…. Either you’re extremely unlucky or the common denominator.
All not at fault. Three rear ends, one failure to give way and a T-Bone. Sydney drivers are shit.
similar timeframe and there was only one time I caught something worthy of a dashcamau post but realising the cigi plus was loose. So they all get hardwired now.
I buy cars with airbags and seat belts and they never get used. Waste of money.
And here i had a dash cam for 6 years. I didnt gain anything worthwhile. Lol
Same can be said about car insurance or safety tech like air bags, you don't really need them, until you do ;)
I'm unlucky as experienced a couple of accidents.
Most people aren't "unlucky" very often. They go for decades without being "unlucky".
That said, dashcams can be entertaining when they record other people being "unlucky".
You sound like the type that doesnt have comprehensive insurance
Sure I do. For the year it cost me $217-02. That's what I pay for not being "unlucky" regularly. How much does comprehensive insurance cost you?
I've read your comment many times, but I can't for the life of me understand what you're on about.
@Ryanek: I think I understand. Going without being 'unlucky' is code for driving cautiously and with an eye to avoiding predictable trouble.. for which insurers give a discount. I tend to agree - I've been in zero accidents in >20 years vs folks I know who seem to be 'unlucky' quite often. I have been thinking about getting a dashcam because it seems fun but not really sure what use it would actually be.
I wonder if you'll change your tune when somebody t-bones you speeding through a red light? You were "unlucky" not to have foreseen that would happen with your psychic powers. How about when somebody rams you from behind while you're waiting at a give way sign? Silly GordonD, should have driven more defensively.
I was crashed into 5 times in ~5 years while parked (car off) or stopped at lights. Twice I had the car written off, never at fault (obviously). According to your asinine opinion, I should practice more defensive stop-positioning at stop signs and a dash cam would be a waste of time.
Capitalism.
watermelon
The downvoters got dashcams for free I guess?
Sounds like a pay per month feature. Someone send BMW and Mercedes a message! $5.99 a month to access your recordings
$4.99 a month to record
$11.99 extra a month to save more than 24 hour history
$15.99 to access each recording
$7.99 extra to access HD with soundIt's coming
3.99 for cloud storage
$49.99 to extract data from the stream such as regos
$19.99 a month for 4k quality
$9.99 a month for an app to access footage from a mobile device (per registered device, no sharing in your household allowed unless you upgrade to a family plan)$199.99 to access recorded footage per instance if you have no preexisting subscription
I would not be surprised if dashcams are standard equipment soon … it takes a few years to design and manufacture cars so there a lead time in responding to customer demand.
This.
Wouldn't most cars be given the bare minimum of a camera with the worst sensors and worse performance in light conditions worst frame rate etc.? If Ford is putting millions of cameras in their cheapest cars then they will save millions of dollars by using the worst camera they can find. What we need is an easy way to swap out built in cameras, a standard socket shape for cameras to slot into at the front and back of all cars.
It really should be standard now with how many bad drivers are out there.
Licensing standards have gotten stricter over the years yet the drivers get worse, OR, is it just all the reddit and tik tok videos of idiot drivers that everyone watches on their phones whilst they are driving.
Idk, the population of my town greatly increased the last few months as people are leaving the cities to live in the country (and then getting upset that country towns aren't like cities), we've always had bad drivers, but now it's so much worse because there's so many more people than there was before.
Big Dashcam.
Multiple reasons. They omit it so you can purchase your choice of camera. They omit it because they don’t want the hassle of managing the software stuff and storage glitches and warranty etc. They omit it so they can upsell to the higher model or sell you an aftermarket version. It would cost a few dollars to factory fit, but they can milk you of a few hundred. They omit it because drivers fear big brother and they don’t want to track you. Etc etc.
I didn't get a "choice of camera" on my rear view one. Nor would I want to.
There’s probably a lot of “corporate & reputational risks” the manufacturers need to work through before doing this. There’s definitely disincentive for a manufacturer to go first because they need to answer questions like:
- are we liable for damages in any scenario where the camera fails to record?
- do recordings stay on the device/car, or do we need to collect and store them ourselves? (And deal with all the privacy laws about that)
- will the authorities demand access to the recordings? What will the impact be on the owners privacy, and how will it impact their willingness to purchase from us again?
- what if insurance companies put it in their T&Cs that a driver has to hand over recordings, and owners blame us/choose not to buy one of our cars again because of it?
None of those are insurmountable problems. You just give the driver the right to turn the camera off; then all the rest of your questions are the same as the case when people put their own dash cam in.
There are a couple of assumptions in there - like what’s the brand impact if a customer forgets to turn it off, then are forced to hand over the footage when they’re at fault? Etc etc
I agree that it’s not insurmountable by any means… but would I want to be the first car manufacturer to try and set these precedents in court? Definitely not
They still make cars without cruise control as a standard feature, usually it is an option though.
However, I am surprised that a lot of manufacturers don’t make it a option to be added.
I would have thought they would love slugging people $1200 for a $300 camera to be inbuilt 😂It’s more like charging $300 to allow access to the safety cameras. They love putting stuff ‘mostly’ in and charging a fortune to plug in a 3c sensor.
If you live in Russia & do not have a dash cam fitted to your vehicle in an accident, you claim could be rejected.They are encouraged over there, so there is no dispute over who is in the right or wrong.They should be standard fitment in ALL new vehicles.
I guess that includes their tanks and rocket launch vehicles so they can prove it’s not their fault when they bomb the crap out of villages and apartment buildings and pretty much everything else.
Some (many?) cars in America have a button to sync with your garage door opener as well as a power port on the rear view mirror to allow easy installation of a dash cam.
That’s the real question?! Why isn’t there a standard port integrated somewhere for this??
With the way business is going, they'll come built-in soon, but probably charge a subscription fee to access it.
This is a standard feature at the BYD Atto3. You can set it up to start recording automatically (once you switch on the car) or manually. It also records some technical parameters, GPS position, brake pedal etc. All data and the video is recorded only on a standard SD memory card that sits under the dash. Once the card is full it rotates, starting replacing the oldest recordings. But if you want to see your trips from 6 months ago you can put in a 64 or128 GB SD. So no subscription to access it. You can watch it on the big screen in the car or take it out and watch on the computer.
Cost cutting for manufacturers, replacements would be expensive and the tech would be outdated in a few years anyway.
What cars should be doing is putting the USB output near the rear view mirror to make it easier for people to install one themselves. Some cars do, not all.
eh I don't think they should be a feature, but what I really liked when I test drove a GWM ute was that there is a USB outlet ready to go for one. They're pretty cheap devices and easily replaceable. It's running constant power to them that's the headache.
Indicators and break lights are standards, but that doesn’t mean everyone uses them or maintains their functionalities to avoid accidents !!
Mercedes already has a build-in dashcam in the latest models for augmented reality navigation, but this dashcam option is not activated in Australia yet.
And the build-in dash has a low resolution compared to aftermarket 4k and also you need to turn it on every time you start the car according to youtube video out of the UK.Also, the manufacturers haven't made it a standard feature because in some countries the use of dashcam is not permitted.
Easy to want dashcams when it's "someone else's" fault.
However, the dashcam also records your own mistakes too,
and if they have a microphone,
it's recording everything within your car as well,
before/after any accidents,
which could be an admission of guilt.One good thing about dashcams, ie. recording who bumps into your car
while it's parked, say…inside in a shopping centre car-park.
For this, you would need the right model of Dashcam to enable that feature,
which also tends to drain a lot of your car battery too.You don't need to show the full footage
That's another good reason to install one in my books…
It keeps the battery low enough that it fully deactivates the auto-stop/start system.
Never had an issue with a flat battery as it disables the dashcam when battery gets too a certain threshold, so it's win/win.
Because most people drive like 'tards, crash and try to blame the other party. Last thing they want is evidence against them.
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Waits for Tesla, BMW, MB, BYD fan bois to reply.