Is it worth upgrading from a plug-in dash cam to a hardwired one?

Parking mode is what makes hardwiring actually useful, not just hiding the cable. Mine records when someone gets close to the car and I’ve caught a couple of door ding attempts that way. The drain concern is fair though, I just set a cutoff so it shuts off after a day or so.

Hardwiring is worth it for the clean install alone in my opinion. I had the same dangling cable annoyance and it drove me nuts. The parking stuff is a bonus, but the tidy setup was the real win for me.

I wouldn’t bother if the loose cable is the only issue. A hardwire kit can still draw a little power even in parking mode, and that was enough of a reason for me to leave mine on the lighter plug. Not worth the extra fuss unless you really want the parked recording.

Not worth it just to hide a cable. I hardwired mine for the clean look and ended up yanking the kit out after a few months because the camera kept running when it shouldn’t. Unless you actually need parked recording, the plug is fine.

I switched mine for the same reason, mostly the cable, and the parking mode was a bonus I barely use. I wouldn’t upgrade just for battery drain worry since you can turn parking off if it acts up. If the dangling cord really bothers you, it’s a small change.

I went from a plug-in to a hardwired setup and for me the difference was bigger than just tidying up the cable. The main thing was that the camera actually stayed put during the day instead of flopping around, and I ended up recording way more because I wasn’t messing with it every time I got in. The parking stuff barely registers for me though, I don’t leave it running overnight much so I haven’t seen any obvious battery trouble. It’s been a few months and the car starts fine every morning. I get that people worry about drain but in my case it just hasn’t shown up. If you’re mainly annoyed by the cable and want the thing to feel like part of the car, it’s a decent little upgrade. If you’re only doing it for parking recording I’d probably skip it.

I’m not really into parking mode stuff, so the hardwire thing only appeals to me for the tidy install. Having the cable tucked into the trim instead of dangling by the shifter is what would seal it for me.

I kept my plug-in setup and just ran the cable along the headliner and down the pillar, took maybe ten minutes and cost nothing. The parking drain thing is the reason I never bothered with hardwiring, since I don’t need it recording while I’m parked anyway.

Battery drain depends on the car, but the tidy install is nice.

Swapped mine last year and it’s been a solid upgrade for me. The install takes a bit of patience but once it’s in you basically forget it’s there. Battery’s been fine, my setup only runs while the car’s on anyway.