Someone hit my car. Help!!

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by BEZO760

Was it hard to fix in your case? How much did it run you?

Mine was a little different than yours, but none of it was difficult as far as I could tell. I hit the front left corner of the car when someone cut in front of me (you can see the details and some pics in my owner's journal starting here post 397.

It was about $2,000 all told, but it was paid by the other person's insurance.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If hit when parked it should be comprehensive which will not affect your premiums (unless you make a bunch of claims). Although if you were looking at aftermarket parts anyway this would be the time to do them.

It won’t affect your base rate but you won’t qualify for the bullshit claim-free discount. That was 10-15% for me.

[Tcoat]

If your policy has a claim free discount. Many don't. We are back into the whole "Not all policies are the same" territory.

[RToyo86]

I went with this cam off Amazon. $80 and it goes on sale often.
CHORTAU 1080p. Never heard of the brand but the 2018 version had a ton of 5 star reviews and the 2019 has over 300 4-5 star so I bite the bullet.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07D8MMCY6?...p_mob_ap_share

Some footage I pulled off not long after I got it. I have some of the rear cam, which if I'm honest isn't the best quality. For the price I can't complain.(I also mounted the rear cam in the cabin and not on the plate which is likely why the quality isn't as good)
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLYvvVrNFg[/ame]

[Impureclient]

Too late for you @BEZO760 for this time around but here is what I came up with for next time. If going with less than $150, I'd just get whatever the highest rated and purchased one from Amazon is. I went with a $150 limit and am pretty happy with this.

https://www.amazon.com/Vantrue-3840x...s%2C188&sr=1-3

Pretty heavily researched here and this is what I came up with for the other best dash cams out there right now if a single camera isn't what you are looking for:

This Vantrue X4 above is $150 with the $20 Amazon coupon and then another $30 off with EJJU6K7H code. It's only front facing but it's 4k. Might buy a second one and run 4k front and rear. It's for sure the best 4k one out there and for only $150, it's a no brainer.
If getting one with rear and front together then the Vantrue S1 or Vantrue N2 PRO is the way to go. S1 is rear window and N2Pro is rear inside. N2Pro still captures a lot out the rear but not as well as the separate unit style of the S1. S1 is capacitor style though so better in the heat. They also are only recording at 1080 (both front and rear at the same time) in 1080p. That N2 Pro for sure records better at night with it's infrared emitters inside the car though. That one is really aimed at Uber/Lyft drivers since it captures all the weird stuff in the car they could do as you drive.

I feel like a Vantrue camera salesman here but that brand really has it together and covers all bases with their different cameras they have. They even have a Wifi one but high quality being the most important feature, the X4 is my choice. Also high heat resistance design(crappy Florida weather) and the parking mode made the choice easy not to mention getting $50 off the original $200 price.

[Grey86]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Dashcam prices and tech are constantly improving, but reliability can be iffy on even the top-rated cams. During your research, scanning verified Amazon reviews can help and buy on a credit card with price matching and extended warranty benefits.

Users in hot climates like the capacitor models that withstand high temps better than the battery models, but the battery models record long after the loss of power and in some other situations.

I'm running Viofo 119's in my cars and SUV, recent upgrades when they were on sale for $50 last year. They're good in low light where most other dashcams fall off.

Here are some recent reviews:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2942...y-driving.html

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/

https://www.techradar.com/news/best-dash-cam

I had a battery dash cam and the battery blew up after 24 hours, it couldnt handle the heat, got that replaced with a model up and the same thing but it lasted a week :/ great camera just sucks i cant run any battery type dash cams so now the dash cam turns on when the car is on.

[Impureclient]

Originally Posted by Grey86

I had a battery dash cam and the battery blew up after 24 hours, it couldnt handle the heat, got that replaced with a model up and the same thing but it lasted a week :/ great camera just sucks i cant run any battery type dash cams so now the dash cam turns on when the car is on.

Use a capacitor type one, like I am getting above, and run the hardwire kit w/ low voltage shut off with it.

[GrantedTaken]

Please post the outcome and what the body shop says.
You just bent a support rail, right?

[BEZO760]

Originally Posted by GrantedTaken

Please post the outcome and what the body shop says.
You just bent a support rail, right?

I went to caliber collisions and they said that because of company policy they can't work on my car. Apparently putting on a front splitter changes the structure of the car, I had to drill 4 holes into the crash bar for the support rods to attach to.
I ended up taking it to a small mom & pops shop and they said if I buy all the parts (front bumper/crash bar) that they'll install, color match, and bend the frame back to its original position for 1000. I think that's a reasonable deal so I told them I'll return in about a month when the parts arrive.
I just need to save some money to buy the APR Performance front bumper with APR Lip & a Drift Armor Pro crash bar. I'll post pictures when it all gets done.
From what the guy said the truck hit my crash bar pretty hard because it pushed back enough to slightly bend the side frames outward. Which is why theirs a gap on either side of my hood. Easy fix he said since it's less than a centimeter on each side. Other shops were trying to charge double.

[Impureclient]

@BEZO760, get that camera. Lightning might not usually strike twice in the same spot but if it does the camera will catch them.
I just got mine all hard wired in last night and tonight did it's maiden test voyage. I snuck around back of the car and patted on the bumper and then it started recording.
If it's in the front of the car, it also automatically catches that as soon as whoever/whatever gets in view of the camera by it's motion capture.
Since it is only front facing the back end is still vulnerable but the camera does have a 170 degree view.

For now I am manually turning it full off when in the garage with the power button on it and outside leaving it on with that parking mode armed. This way all day long driving and when parked,
it's capturing everything but at night when sitting inside and not needing security, it's not draining the battery at all.

Front and rear seem the way to go and if they had a 4k front and rear together that would be the way for sure. Since they don't and if money isn't to tight the two separate
4k ones, or any cam for that matter, have almost a 360 view of the car. Nobody sells a front rear that doesn't anything better than 1080p for the rear facing.

My issue is I have 5% tint on the back windows so a second one inside is not going to fully work. At night, no camera is catching much through there. Day would be OK though.
I am currently looking for a higher resolution one for outside that would be small enough to be kind of unnoticeable like a back up camera.
My back up camera is placed right below the reverse light on the bumper a couple inches from the ground. If it's possible to get the same kind of thing like that, that would be most ideal.

If you don't have tint in rear(can't see with your pics), that front/rear one here: https://www.amazon.com/Vantrue-Capac...s%2C176&sr=8-6 would be my choice if the highest resolution didn't matter to you.
It looks like all the same features but in 1080 front and the rear. In fact if that rear one could be mounted outside, that would be what I would have gotten.
Looking at the video RToyo86 posted up there, 1080 looks pretty good still.
If you do go with any of those through Amazon, make sure you use the "Save an extra $20.00 when you apply this coupon" thing they have by the price. I also got the extra $30 off from a guy
who makes Youtube reviews video and posted that extra $30 off in his video description to make it go from $200 to the $150.
Then figure in another $50 for a big SD card and hardwire kit to get use of the parking mode.

Upon further research and thinking of wanting front/rear that can be outside a motorcycle camera system would probably be best. It's missing the park mode though and only 1080 front/rear but something this actually makes the most sense for tinted windows to have one or this case both outside the car: https://www.amazon.com/WonVon-Motorc...a-787505808840

[vh_supra26]

I have this one. It works pretty good, no issues so far.

https://www.amazon.com/Rexing-Dashbo...gateway&sr=8-9

[BEZO760]

Just bought the APR performance front bumper and a hotchkis strut tower brace. I was about to buy a Drift Armor front crash bar but I remembered my splitter rods need the oem crash bars thickness to reach. I could buy longer splitter rods but sticking with oem is the smart move this time around. Anywho if anyone knows of a FRONT CRASH BAR FOR SALE LET ME KNOW. I'm in SoCal.