Hi guys, in less than 2 weeks of having my car that took MONTHS to find and purchase, I was the victim of a hit and run ( damaged my bumper and rear sensor) while I was in a store this weekend. For my upcoming birthday, I want to gift myself with a dash cam for my 2010 IS 350. My question is, is a rear camera possible for a convertible, does anyone in the Atlanta area have suggestions on who can install and if you guys have any thoughts about it. Signed a frustrated new Lexus owner.

 

Many people stick their rear dash cams directly on their rear glass.

I don't think that's a good idea on a convertible.

I do have a 2 channel dash cam that has saved my tail in a rear-end accident once. The insurance company agent commented that she saw the surprise on the driver's face when they rear-ended me at night.

I keep the rear-facing camera of my 2 channel camera sandwiched between the passenger side sun visor and the roof. This has no effect on convertible top operation. It has no effect on the sun visor either--the camera has never fell out once in nearly 2 years of operation and the sun visor isn't sagging (yet). I have no doubt that it will continue to hold the camera securely.

Alternatively, an even simpler solution is something like this:

 

@OldLs400 thanks for your reply. I am looking at Dual Dash Cams per your suggestion.. I will let you know what I decide on. Thanks again!!

 

Glad to help. Hope you find a suitable dash cam.

This is my setup. I would suggest getting a dash cam from a known, major brand such as Blackvue, Thinkware, Street Guardian, etc. instead of a little-known brand like the product I linked to above. That was just something as an example of a dashcam with a built-in front and rear camera. Doing some more search, I can't find a single major brand making a dash cam with a built-in front and rear camera. All of the major brands have separate front and rear cameras that must be connected via cable.

In the picture you can see that I have the front facing dash cam attached to the upper edge of the front windshield, and the rear dash cam is sandwiched between the passenger sun visor and the roof. There's also a radar detector hanging on the passenger sun visor, and the visor does not rattle or move at all!

The cabling is mostly tucked away and I can provide more pictures tomorrow if you are interested .



This is the camera I've been using since 2018:


I like the brand, Street Guardian, and they are very responsive to emails if you have issues or questions.

I can also provide footage from the dash cam if you are interested in how good the quality is.

There are also other good quality dashcam companies such as Thinkware and Blackvue and I highly suggest looking into their models as well, as I've only heard good thing about those brands. Street Guardian is not as well known as those two brands.

 

I would love to see some video. I know top down is probably fantastic but really curious about how good it is with the top up!

I search and found this one that had a lot of good reviews...tell me your thoughts please
I plan to get it hardwired with an external battery source.

Vantrue N2 Pro Uber Dual Dash Cam Infrared Night Vision, Dual Channel 1080P Front and Inside Dash Cam, 2.5K Single Front Car Accident Dash Camera, 24hr Motion Sensor Parking Mode, Support 256GB

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0742J69SQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9uFnFbFDR0Z1K

 

I'll definitely upload some video ASAP for you.

I don't know much about that particular dashcam but YouTube has a lot of videos on how it performs in a variety of conditions:


ETA: sample footage from my Street Guardian

 

I put mine in the driver side roll bar

 

 

Wow, you put it inside? Had no idea those roll bar plastic covers came off! Did you have to drill a hole in the plastic?

Second, I like the color. Is that factory?

Third, did you cover up/paint over the taillamp?

 

Inside inside the plastic roll bar is the middle roll bar. There's a little bit of space in there for a camera if you take the outer shell off the camera.

Yes you have to drill a hole.

I wrapped my car. $333 in wrap, maybe $50 in tools and perishables. Plus black roof and door handels $60ish. 5 to 3 straight days of learning and labor.

On the tail light is wrap.

 

Wow, that wrap job came out well. I would wrap but my factory paint job is kinda degraded and there are a bunch of rock chips and bumps from paint repair pens that would probably cause issues with the wrap. I don't know, I'll have to look into it.

I'm curious about the taillight because it looks like the wrap is covering up the turn signal and reverse lamp compartments...then again, I rarely use my turn signal!

 

I fabricated sequential turn signals...
https://youtu.be/R0F9-5eoUec