Dashcam installer recommendations

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sportback A3

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Hi all, I've tried searching the forum.

I'm considering a dashcam, front and rear, I'm hopefully collecting my new A3 sportback mid March, and I'm looking for somebody to install possibly a Thinkware set up,

I'm near Leeds, looking for installer recommendations please
 
If you fancy a trip to London I offer the full range of Thinkware systems, hidden installations and offer appointments 7 days of the week.
 
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Cryingly simple DIY job , that people fleece themselves of money for .
 
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Not even that , piggy back fuse and female cig socket .

2020 01 19 181650
 
@DJAlix did mine along with a rear parking camera and can’t fault either.
Would highly recommend him :icon thumright:

as for a diy job as a few has mentioned, not everyone is competent, able or confident to do something like this without creating a potential fire risk or breaking trim panels/clips. Front cameras are a bit easier as there’s one or 2 trims need removing/worked around but if you are going for a dual camera you got lots of trims to work around and then getting wiring into the boot lid without breaking something and without obstructing safety things like airbags, seatbelts etc.
 
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Agree here with @DJAlix

Cable needs routing safely past curtain airbags, behind trims etc..... not something everyone is ok with

Proper earths / live connections need to be sourced too.




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cheers for all advice guys, much apprecated. Im not sure if the female cig socket will allow all of the parking mode features the camera im looking at has. i will certainly go down the more wired permanant route, and as im like most on here, maticulas with my car, many years ago i had a so called cat1 toad alarm fitter bodge fit an alarm in a Sierra Cosworth, cut into its loom twisted and taped up wires, broke trim fixngs, a real bodge it job from a supposedly reputable company. It cost me £750 to have it put right, although the company coughed up later, its a shame how bad experiences wreck trust.
thanks for the offer DJAlix but im not down that way sadly,
This is a great forum, some great guys n gals offering superb advice.
 
I bought an cable which plugs into my OBD2 Port and run it behind the driver pillar and under the headliner. Cost me around £10 on amazon.
 
My dashcam also works with parking mode etc due to ODB2 port supply power when car not in use, I can leave the car roughyl 3/4 days without any issues.

Only problem I had was I went away for 12 nights and came back to say battery was slighly low.
 
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audi upgrades
Which brand cam do you have Adam please,
Gazwould said:
Over complicating the simple , I suppose you have to justify your employment .
Click to expand...
Its not just the wiring connections id be needing Gaz, its also the experiance of somebody in the know, as to routing cables, prizing off trim, and as said, not affecting safety features like airbags etc. Id be hopefully paying for peace of mind regarding a brand new cars cosmetics.
 
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Hard wire it to the interior light....

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I'm having a Blackvue DR750 front and rear camera installed in the next few days by CarCamera.co.uk. They have a nation wide team of installers.
 
Gazwould said:
Over complicating the simple , I suppose you have to justify your employment .
Click to expand...

Why is it over complicating the simple ?

Just because there are owners who can dismantle just about anything, doesn’t mean that everyone fancies / can have a go at doing it properly.

Modern cars have safety features that could be affected by a wire in the wrong place or trim put back incorrectly.

As for justifying earning a living wtf, in case you hadn’t noticed it’s what retro fitters do for a living and it wouldn’t be a living if they did it for free now would it.


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Last edited:
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Gazwould said:
And how much do you charge for such a job ?
Click to expand...
Depends on the Camera / Camera's, the vehicle type and any outboard / accessories. My pricing starts from £65.00 for a 1CH hidden and hardwired installation and as a genuine company I am FULLY insured.
 
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Thinkware F770 is great although I would prob go for the 800 for the added tech like cloud and tracking etc.... install is super simple with loads of guides and videos online via YouTube or this forum but again I will prob get it checked by djalix when I get over to a London as I’m not 100% confident of the safety aspect of my install. For now it’s fine, but to get it 100% then it’s worth doing professionally, although that’s just my personal opinion, especially nowadays what with all the tech and safety aspects of cars being so complicated.
 
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h5djr said:
I'm having a Blackvue DR750 front and rear camera installed in the next few days by CarCamera.co.uk. They have a nation wide team of installers.
Click to expand...
Interesting as these recommend the female cig lighter socket, as means of power.
 
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sportback A3 said:
Interesting as these recommend the female cig lighter socket, as means of power.
Click to expand...
one of the reasons I don't resell or even recommend BlackVue systems unless you want 4K and Cloud streaming. If a customer does / must have a BlackVue system is replace the cig lighter parts with proper components at no extra cost.
 
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I installed a front dashcam myself last year. I have good electrical and electronic skills and equipment, and I have a fair bit of experience of working on cars (and a good set of tools) acquired over more decades than I want to admit to. Sourcing the various bits and pieces for the installation, including a decent low emission 5volt power supply module to replace the rubbishy item which came with the camera, and good quality connectors, took a bit of time and effort. The installation itself took me about half a day. I wanted it to be neat and tidy, with wiring out of sight, secure and rattle free, and no trim damage. I also wanted the camera itself to be optimally placed, which took some time trying it out in different temporary positions. If I was doing it again it would be faster, but not much unless all the wiring had been prepared in advance. The point of all this is that if a trusted installer would do all of this for, say, £100, never mind £65, I would rip his hand off!
 
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Mikeso51 said:
I installed a front dashcam myself last year. I have good electrical and electronic skills and equipment, and I have a fair bit of experience of working on cars (and a good set of tools) acquired over more decades than I want to admit to. Sourcing the various bits and pieces for the installation, including a decent low emission 5volt power supply module to replace the rubbishy item which came with the camera, and good quality connectors, took a bit of time and effort. The installation itself took me about half a day. I wanted it to be neat and tidy, with wiring out of sight, secure and rattle free, and no trim damage. I also wanted the camera itself to be optimally placed, which took some time trying it out in different temporary positions. If I was doing it again it would be faster, but not much unless all the wiring had been prepared in advance. The point of all this is that if a trusted installer would do all of this for, say, £100, never mind £65, I would rip his hand off!
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly Mike.
 
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Mikeso51 said:
I installed a front dashcam myself last year. I have good electrical and electronic skills and equipment, and I have a fair bit of experience of working on cars (and a good set of tools) acquired over more decades than I want to admit to. Sourcing the various bits and pieces for the installation, including a decent low emission 5volt power supply module to replace the rubbishy item which came with the camera, and good quality connectors, took a bit of time and effort. The installation itself took me about half a day. I wanted it to be neat and tidy, with wiring out of sight, secure and rattle free, and no trim damage. I also wanted the camera itself to be optimally placed, which took some time trying it out in different temporary positions. If I was doing it again it would be faster, but not much unless all the wiring had been prepared in advance. The point of all this is that if a trusted installer would do all of this for, say, £100, never mind £65, I would rip his hand off!
Click to expand...

Agree with this. As a first timer, installing the F770 was tricky but very straightforward. Took me ages, maybe 2 days to get it perfect and get the parts I needed like the piggy back fuse and plastic trim removers. Also I put the front camera in a weird place 1st time around so had to move it after a month or so to make it more out of sight. At the end of the day, it’s super easy to install. My advice is to buy trim removers, piggy back fuse and cable ties (to guide the rear camera wire through the rear electrics housing) before starting and do research of how to install and what fuse to piggy back. Bookmark a good video and instructions so you can play it in the car when you are installing. Do it on a Saturday in the day time so you have plenty of uninterrupted time. Then if you are not happy or can’t do it, take a trip to a garage to do it properly!

Even though Iv said it’s easy, if djalix lived near me then I would have given him the cash to install it, or anyone else come to think of it, just as long as it’s professional and safe. I always feel like Iv bodged it somehow!!
 
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DIY
Trim tools £15-20 for a cheap set or £50-60+ for a decent set.
Cables, fuse holders, power taps etc £10-30
Time anything from a few hours to a couple of days - free

Fitter
I.e @DJAlix a couple of hours fitted @ ~£65

no brainier for the sake of £20-30 even if it was £50 more as I wouldn’t want my car in bits for 2 days in my drive with the wife moaning at me for taking the new car apart :wink:

I’m fairly competent mucking about with cars and electronics (fitted the folding mirrors myself)but for the money it was better letting him do it and fitting the parking camera since he was ripping the car apart anyway. He’s also a bit more familiar with the a3/s3 compared to me so can do it really quick not my slow pace trying to find every clip/nut/trim piece. Another thing for me was for what I paid him for the parking camera with fitting wasn’t much more than what I could get the parts for so win win. Big win for my lazy a55:wink:
 
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AlS3BE said:
DIY
Trim tools £15-20 for a cheap set or £50-60+ for a decent set.
Cables, fuse holders, power taps etc £10-30
Time anything from a few hours to a couple of days - free

Fitter
I.e @DJAlix a couple of hours fitted @ ~£65

no brainier for the sake of £20-30 even if it was £50 more as I wouldn’t want my car in bits for 2 days in my drive with the wife moaning at me for taking the new car apart :wink:

I’m fairly competent mucking about with cars and electronics (fitted the folding mirrors myself)but for the money it was better letting him do it and fitting the parking camera since he was ripping the car apart anyway. He’s also a bit more familiar with the a3/s3 compared to me so can do it really quick not my slow pace trying to find every clip/nut/trim piece. Another thing for me was for what I paid him for the parking camera with fitting wasn’t much more than what I could get the parts for so win win. Big win for my lazy a55:wink:
Click to expand...
Cannot speak for other retrofitters but in addition to all the needed professional hand and power tools (the trim tools I use are £117.00 a set alone... and I have multiple sets for both dark and light interiors in order to avoid marking anything, not to mention more for external use) I also keep a full stock of genuine VW group trim clips, screws, fixings, loom tape and electrical connectors. Many forget about things like this and end up needing to “attack” the install multiple times or improvising in order to get something working / back on the road. A couple of the VW group approved crimp connectors I use cost more than that fuse tap come cig lighter hybrid piece of rubbish posted above! Lol
 
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T-1000 said:
Why is it over complicating the simple ?

Just because there are owners who can dismantle just about anything, doesn’t mean that everyone fancies / can have a go at doing it properly.

Modern cars have safety features that could be affected by a wire in the wrong place or trim put back incorrectly.

As for justifying earning a living wtf, in case you hadn’t noticed it’s what retro fitters do for a living and it wouldn’t be a living if they did it for free now would it.


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Click to expand...



Same as servicing which in particular is extremely overpriced .

So satisfying when you learn and DIY .
 
Gazwould said:
Same as servicing which in particular is extremely overpriced .

So satisfying when you learn and DIY .
Click to expand...

Satisfying yes, however you have to remember not every owner will want / be interested in fitting / servicing their own car, I know people that are crazy about cars, however show them a mechanical procedure on their car and they just say “I’ll get the the garage to look at that”.

I get that Audi are charging a small fortune for servicing, however you can either take it to a decent independent who actually cares, or do it yourself if you aren’t too worried about a battle with Audi should a warranty situation occur.

People such as DJAlix provide a service because not every car is perfectly suited to every owner and not every owner will want to pull a car to bits, it’s worth it to people who want the retrofit doing and doing correctly.
I’ve seen some horror stories over the years of retrofits to cars and the knock on misery they bring to the next owner.

Most retrofits these days require a person of Alex’s competence anyway because there are so many other factors at play in the modern Audi / vag group cars.


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Thanks again for the replies, My post was asking for peoples reccomendations for installers, whilst i appreciate how easy a job this might be to some, wether with a connection of some type etc. I asked because id find it too hard to start ripping trim panels etc off a brand new car. I absolutley love detailing my cars, and if id either damaged or marked anything, it would nark the hell out of me. Id consider any payment as reward for the persons insurance, experiance etc, not just their time.

Not entirely the same level of example here, but we have things like Gas safe, Part P electricians and other laws etc, but its always made me wonder how we can pop to a motor factors, and buy brake pads etc to install, with no more qualified Experiance than building a push bike.
 
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Bought mine with thinkware f770? All I can hear with slightly bassy music is the damn cable for the rear cam vibrating in the head liner. Any suggestions on a DIY fix? Close to pulling the whole damn thing! Back windows such a heavy tint rear videos only good on a nice bright day at any rate....
 
T-1000 said:
Satisfying yes, however you have to remember not every owner will want / be interested in fitting / servicing their own car, I know people that are crazy about cars, however show them a mechanical procedure on their car and they just say “I’ll get the the garage to look at that”.

I get that Audi are charging a small fortune for servicing, however you can either take it to a decent independent who actually cares, or do it yourself if you aren’t too worried about a battle with Audi should a warranty situation occur.

People such as DJAlix provide a service because not every car is perfectly suited to every owner and not every owner will want to pull a car to bits, it’s worth it to people who want the retrofit doing and doing correctly.
I’ve seen some horror stories over the years of retrofits to cars and the knock on misery they bring to the next owner.

Most retrofits these days require a person of Alex’s competence anyway because there are so many other factors at play in the modern Audi / vag group cars.


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Click to expand...

^^THIS. And having used @DJAlix myself, it is most definitely worth a day trip down to London, get the Cams fitted, and have some hidden features on your new car unlocked at the same time:)
 
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