Ya, logically it is bullshit to say dashcam hardwire can void warranty. It don't make sense but the warranty manual that shield the car manufacturer gives them the right to void related warranties that can relate to 3rd party installation.

Normally, even if do, SC ignore and the skip those warranty conditions and continue doing claim as it logically is not the cause of those warranty claim failure.

However for eg. Car Manufacturer might react differently to this logic. Oh....you touch this area, it might NOT be the cause but since you touch that area when it is not allow, we void warranty for that area and save ourself a bundle.

You can appeal that is not the logical cause of the failure (more than likely it is not) BUT the warranty manual will back the SC up....no 3rd party installation or else they can void. So the ball is in their court.

You might argue hard on this cause it is obvious the cause of failure might not be the 3rd party installation (or you can say 100% not that), but legal clause of the warranty manual will side with the car manufacturer.

What most cowardly ppl like us would like to avoid is such case as above. It likely would never happen to us but when it does, we are screwed if the warranty claims are costly one...

What is insurance then....this is one of such logic, you want to be insured, don't do it. You don't mind risking not buying medical insurance (most likely nothing happen and you save a bundle by not paying super high insurance premium), then go ahead and likely you are the winner....but when shits happened....then you might be screwed. But if you can afford to be screwed, then go ahead, I do that as well, at least with my so-called 3rd party tint..

So most ppl who don't want risk decide to buy the insurance but many others that willing to bear the risk, just not pay...and enjoy the money save over the years....if nothing happen. That's the logic I am arguing to.

If this is Honda of old, I would do install it....as I did on my last Honda decades ago. But with all the news of Honda rejecting even minor bits of claims if that area was reported to them in claim report as having 3rd party installation. I become a proponent of avoid warranty issues if you can afford it. I am using Honda as example cause I am still mainly Hondas owner.

This is not arguing of what logic is right or if there are any real cases or not. That will side with logic aka no issue with 3rd party dashcam installation but for any warranty claims dispute, it will almost ALWAYS side with the car manufacturer when 3rd party item are involved.

This post has been edited by Cavino: Jan 15 2025, 01:40 PM

I am not so sure about Z60. I am considering it for one of my car.
But the DDPAI Z50 GPS for both of my other cars are doing fine with the software unless you are pointing specifically for Z60 connection.

Just go for the 2 most popular budget and mid range brands here if you are unfamiliar with dashcam. 70Mai and DDpai.

You can't go wrong with the price vs feature vs value for money with these 2 dashcam. Their dashcam are well proven with good pricing and many reviews.

There are more premium pricier brands but unless you have very specific high expectation for the dashcam features and quality, these 2 are considered well established top of range low and mid budget dashcam that can fit MOST ppl budget and expectations with many use cases liao.

In general, battery generally require 12V for stable startup. Anything below 12V, can start also but not so consistent.
So I always set cutoff at 12.4V. No issue with battery so far. Many times DDPAI kena cut off tho due to below 12.4V but then my battery would be safe to start car.

Not consistent, the dashcam, I fire and forget. It is only when I connect dashcam to cleanup....I get the multiple message of 12.4V shutdown happened on certain dates. Mostly ok tho...

BUT a big BUT is because I only use sleep in parking mode, for collision and vibration wakeup recording. If set as 12.4V with continuouse recording, I think most recording will just stop after sometime coz low batt..then sleep mode also takda. So I just switch to sleep mode, at least almost garantee got sleep mode emergency recording but even then occasionally still get 12.4V shutdown notification on certain days.

If I want 24 hours recording, I think I will have to go for external battery pack for the dashcam but to mafan for me. Prefer fire and forget for accidents.

Also nowadays, I practice changing battery every 2 years or so, even when it still worked. It is a waste, I know but I don't want to get stuck elsewhere (happened a number of times over the years) especially for cars driven by family (never want to receive call while working...say battery kaput, come help).

Most of my cars has VS (voltage stabilizer) installed (long time ago, still working perfectly even after a decade) and battery last way longer in general but VS has a weakness. Battery weak sometimes has symptom like headlamp dim, harder to start car...but with VS stabilizing, such symptoms are minimized. So when battery dying....we don't know until it died...especially cialat if start at midnight elsewhere (not home).

This post has been edited by Cavino: May 27 2025, 09:58 AM

OBD hardware is really a plug and play. However OBD port is also used by technician to access car system for diagnosis. In terms of easy to install hardwire, this is the one. Just plug in and it can work. The cabling still require to slip behind dashboard, etc but no kacau other electrical wires.

Any hardwire, be it the plug and play OBD or Fusekit hardwire can potentially void car electrical or electronic warranty if any issue arises and you got caught with it. No actual case yet tho, I think.

Many 3rd party devices that require readings from car such as performance monitoring tools for temperature, engine speed, etc used this port.

For myself, I have been using OBD hardwired DDPAi dashcams for my older cars (after warranty). So far no issue. For car under warranty, too many electronics, I takut, so I installed car manufacturer official celup but expensive dashcam.

This post has been edited by Cavino: Jun 20 2025, 04:17 PM

Usually using the 12V port does not void warranty. That is the purpose of 12V port with a separate fuse for external non heavy duty connection. At most pay for the fuse if burnt.

It is direct hardwiring thru fuse or OBD that might void.

I got z60 gps and rear cam. So far no issue.

Oh...long time did read this thread.

For budget friendly and reliable dashcam, the most popular around here is 70 Mai and DDPai. I personally preferred DDPai due to it not using lithium battery and using super capacitor that can withstand high heat (safer especially for our super hot weather). That is my preference.

For 500 to 600, can get Z50 dual (front and rear). I don't know if rear dashcam hurt battery but all my dashcams, I always get dual front and rear. Since only record front, may as well record rear if ppl knock you and say you brake without cause. Both front and rear cam combined will provide much better viewpoint from police report perspective.

Myself, I always try to get GPS version but that will hike up the price to above 600. Forget about 4G link kit, that will require sim card that you have to additional pay monthly subscription to telco. Just take without 4g for fire and forget dashcam usage especially for parent usage (which I am the parent).

DDPAI has feature to shutdown dashcam under parking mode if set to limit battery going below 12.4V. This will prevent unexpected draining of battery. I use sleep mode aka only record if got collision. Unfortunately for most, it's very unlikely car battery can last for overnight recording during parking mode unless you installed dashcam battery packs to support recording during parking mode.

Accs shop that I am familiar with. They just happened to carry z50 and z60 then...All using OBD hardwire. I only installed these on my older cars tho coz the newer cars bought with overpriced but low quality car manufacturer dashcam for warranty voidance peace of mind purpose.

This post has been edited by Cavino: Sep 8 2025, 03:40 PM

Technically minimum. Note that the more memory storage you have, the more days it can retained the recording before overwriting. If you suddenly wanted to refer back to certain incidents days ago with lots of driving, you might have your days old data overwritten if memory is insufficient. So if 128GB say enuf, yes, but if you want days of recordings, even weeks, the more storage, the safer it is. Just like cctv, you can get a 500gb storage or 2 TB storage. Both can do the job and overwrite data when full BUT if you suddenly want to refer to recording months ago, you might not get it in 500GB but more chances the recording are still retained in 2TB storage. Your choice.

For 4K, I would suggest 256GB at moderate recording period at least if you want to keep days or week old recording.
Optionally, you can also switch to 2K recording to lessen the recording size (I feel already good enuf unless you want to do tik tok) to increase number of days it can retain data for reference if needed.

This post has been edited by Cavino: Nov 17 2025, 01:35 PM