Question regarding prewiring for dash cam & aftermarket dashcam

[TruN0rth]

Hey everyone, first time post. I just took possession of a 2024 Taycan GTS Sport Turismo, and for some reason the previous owner did not check the $150 box for the dash cam prewire. So, I have a few questions. Can a Porsche dealer do the prewire for a dash cam? Or can you use a third-party dash cam, and if you do, does installing a third-party dash cam affect your warranty?

Thanks in advance.

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[Tooney]

Hey everyone, first time post. I just took possession of a 2024 Taycan GTS Sport Turismo, and for some reason the previous owner did not check the $150 box for the dash cam prewire. So, I have a few questions. Can a Porsche dealer do the prewire for a dash cam? Or can you use a third-party dash cam, and if you do, does installing a third-party dash cam affect your warranty?

Thanks in advance.

TSB for retrofitting Porsche dashcam kit
Also, search forum for threads with info and photos from owners who wired their cars with other dashcams.

 

[Fantasmos]

Honestly, the camera is subpar and not worth it. The dashcam install is trivial for every professional. Get the top of the line Blackvue cam for less money…

 

[TruN0rth]

Thanks for the quick reply...I did find some, but couldn't find anything about the warranty.

Cheers

 

[TruN0rth]

I was actually just looking at the Blackvue.

Cheers

 

[DerekS]

Thanks for the quick reply...I did find some, but couldn't find anything about the warranty.

Cheers

I had the Porsche OEM camera installed by the dealership - despite its shortcomings - specifically so it would be a warranteed part of the car.

 

[ShiftyWolf]

I wrote an install thread about adding a Thinkware dash cam and the Blackvue should be very similar.

Dash cam install link if it helps

 

[TruN0rth]

@DerekS did you have the pre wire already done? Mine unfortunately doesn’t.

 

[DerekS]

@DerekS did you have the pre wire already done? Mine unfortunately doesn’t.

Nope, no pre-wire. But I'm very happy with the install, and I reviewed the TSB mentioned earlier in the thread before they did it.

 

[Fantasmos]

Adding a dash cam can’t void your warranty if done professionally. No matter if oem or not.

 

[tigerbalm]

Adding a dash cam can’t void your warranty if done professionally. No matter if oem or not.

Not true – at least in UK and Ireland. As part of a car purchase you agree to the following clause as part of the New Car Warranty:

Porsche can – and do – utilise this clause to refuse a warranty repair. In my case, they refused to investigate a alarm activation trigger on car locking – due to the installation of a professionally installed Blackvue dashcam.

 

[whitex]

I had the Porsche OEM camera installed by the dealership - despite its shortcomings - specifically so it would be a warranteed part of the car.

Third party dashcams come with warranty from their respective manufacturers too. Also, for the price premium Porsche charges on a dual dashcam, you can buy multiple replacements. Powering the dashcam from Porsche's 12V is trivial, and would not void any warranties, as you can power anything you want from the 12V cigarette lighter adapter. Sure, if you tap into power going to the mirror cameras or similar, you might have to remove disconnect it if there are issues with any downstream devices, but it's not that hard to just wire your own fuse directly from Porsche 12V distribution. Even there, the dealer may ask you to disconnect that fuse during diagnostics, just in case.

I think the internet is spreading too much FUD. Sharing only the ultra rare events where some dealer made a stupid statement about voiding warranty (which might have even been retracted/corrected later, but that got lost in the viral posts, which were further amplified by people's imagination, filtered through the lens of viral comments (only the most interesting, sensational, and believable on the surface ideas survive). Look through this forum for the snippet from the Taycan User Manual that says only Porsche branded chargers should be used with the car, which of course was extended by readers that you'd void your warranty if you plugged in your Taycan to anything but a PMC+, PMCC, PWC, or Porsche DC charger. I guess I voided my warranty few hours after picking up my Taycan by plugging it into Electrify America charger.

 

[whitex]

Not true – at least in UK and Ireland. As part of a car purchase you agree to the following clause as part of the New Car Warranty:

Porsche can – and do – utilise this clause to refuse a warranty repair. In my case, they refused to investigate a alarm activation trigger on car locking – due to the installation of a professionally installed Blackvue dashcam.

I highlighted the earlier part of the clause you quoted:

Porsche can definitely wash their hands from any damage caused by the installation of your dashcam, but that damage has to come from that installation. The 12V cigarette adapter can be used to power things like dashcam, and it does not void any warranties. Now, if they wanted you to disconnect the dashcam installation to investigate an alarm activation, sure, I can see that, it's a good way to eliminate the dashcam as a possible cause. That is why for my install, there is a single 6 pin connector (official Porsche pre-wire) which can be quickly disconnected, leaving the Taycan without anything connected to the dashcams.

 

[whitex]

Adding a dash cam can’t void your warranty if done professionally. No matter if oem or not.

Even professionals can botch an installation job. I've seen some bad "professional" installations of 3rd party add-ons in cars in my time. Cut/torn wiring (causing electrical issues post install), cut gaskets (causing water ingress). Some less egregious ones included lazy install tapping power from the first wire they found which had 12V they needed, which resulted in fuses blowing at random times (too much current load - installer never checked or did the necessary calculations). Those are example of install jobs manufacturers do not want to take any responsibility for. Most examples above were not dashcams, except for the torn wires where the installer was fishing the daschcam wire through a tight grommet/boot, ended up tearing some wires which controlled the rear stop lights, so after the install the stop lights would flicker and computer would throw errors. The manufacturer spent some time diagnosing it, then after finding the damaged harness, charged the owner a for all the diagnostics and repair (as they should).

There is a reason why I prefer to do my own installations in my cars.

 

[BigBob]

If you just want a from facing camera, consider the fitcamx. It installs in the rearview mirror housing and virtually un-noticeable. It just slaves off some wiring (via connector), not via wire tap. Takes about 1/2 for or so to do yourself. Plenty of threads on it. I wanted the invisible option as it doesn't block the windscreen, and i've always wondered whether car thieves break into cars to steal dash cams that are more obvious!

Certainly fine for my purposes - peace of mind incase accident caused by someone else. I doubt it has the features of blackvue etc, but as i've no interest in live streaming it or looking at it other than the above, I'm happy. I don't think it has a sentry mode, but you'd need to install a battery pack for blackvue etc to for it to work without screwing the 12v battery.

fitcamx do a rear camera too, which would involve moving trim etc, but i think even the porsche one does, as it's just preinstallation of a power supply for their front one (not from to back cabling). I'm sure someone with one will be able to confirm/deny that.

Anyway food for thought.

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