Dash Cams

[fruitsalad]

Can you just plug these into a cigarette lighter and away you go, or is there more to it than that and do they need to be hard wired into the car

[Buenchico]

I bought one ages ago but I've hardly ever used it. All that's needed to get one up and running is to buy and insert an SD card (or micro-SD card, as appropriate for the model, unless one comes supplied with the unit), attach it to the windscreen (or possibly to the dashboard with some models) and plug the lead into cigarette lighter socket.

However I found that getting the thing to stick to the windscreen, without it falling off after a few miles, wasn't as easy as it was meant to be and that I couldn't find a neat way of routing the cable between the dashcam and the power socket so that it wasn't dangling in front of me as I was driving.

Perhaps I ought to give it another try though.

[Baldric]

Had one fitted by Halfords about a year ago, think it cost about £25, when car was written off it proved other driver was repsonsible , so worth every penny.

[bhg481]

Yes, you can but, as Buenchico has pointed out, you might find the cable dangles annoyingly in front of you. It's also best to make sure your cigarette lighter socket is only live when the ignition is on; that way your dashcam will start and stop itself automatically.
Hard-wiring them is not difficult and there are lots of videos on UTube explaining how to do it.

[Prudie]

You can but we also paid a low amount to Halfords to hardwire it in. If you are particular about appearance it's so much better without all the cables hanging down and around..

[Hopkirk]

Depending on how low down your powere socket is, you might be able to buy a short curly lead off eBay. That way you can put the camera low down on the screen and plug it in with the short cable.

[SteveD]

Mine has a very powerful sucker on the mounting bracket so it is well and truly fixed in place right over on the passenger side of the windscreen. It also has a long power cable; I have tucked a small loop of cable into an air vent to keep it in place, then the rest runs down the door frame (tucked into the trim), under the floor mats, under the front seats and to a power socket in the rear compartment between the driver's and front passenger's seats (Renault Kadjar). The dashcam switches itself on as soon as a door is opened.