Does your car get scratched or suffer from vandalism to your car? A dashcam with parking mode or parking mode is the ideal security camera for your car against vandalism. The motion sensor in the dashcam detects movement around the car and the dashcam will start a short recording in that case. A dashcam as a security camera can also take one picture every second so that almost everything during parking is recorded. Such a surveillance camera is also very suitable as evidence in case of parking damage or other unknown scratches on your car.

Scratching and other vandalism of cars is a costly and time-consuming affair that seems to be becoming increasingly common. A security camera for your car against vandalism or if someone scratches your car can save a lot of frustration and uncertainty. The footage can be used by police and insurance companies to track down perpetrators and pay out damages faster. Such a car surveillance camera does not even have to be expensive, as a dashcam is available from around €100.

Before using a dashcam with motion sensor as a car security camera against vandalism or scratching, there are first a few things you need to consider;

1. Connection with continuous power supply or battery pack
A dashcam never has a (large) built-in battery or battery and therefore should always be connected to the power supply with it to be able to film. Because most cars when the ignition is turned off do not provide power through the cigarette power supply, the dashcam should be connected to the car battery with a Continuous power supply. This Continuous power supply provides the car security camera with power when the ignition is turned off and also has a built-in monitor that interrupts the power when the battery threatens to run down, something that is not possible with the cigarette power supply. This eliminates the risk of being left with a dead battery.

With some dashcams - those with a visual parking mode with motion sensor (see next section) - it is also possible to use a battery pack or power bank as a power supply. See this article for more information on the different options for connecting the dashcam to power.

2. Installation any second camera
The greatest chance of capturing a vandalist with a security camera for your car is with a 2CH dashcam with rear camera that also records behind or on the side of the car. This second security camera for car is connected with a long supplied cable. Installing this is therefore obviously a bit more work and requires some technical knowledge. You can of course choose to place only a dashcam at the front, however, you will then only capture the area in front of the car.

3. Risk of burglary
Placing a car surveillance camera can increase the risk of car break-ins. If the dashcam is stolen, all the footage will be lost and so will the evidence. It is therefore preferable to choose a dashcam that is as unobtrusive as possible from the outside and barely visible. You could argue that the use of a dashcam that stands out as much as possible has a deterrent effect for vandals, however, that risk does not outweigh the risk of theft of the dashcam with the associated damage to the car.

Manual or automatic parking mode

There are two different ways the Parking Mode on a car security camera is activated after you park the car: Manual and Automatic.

Manual parking mode

For a dashcam with manual parking mode, the parking mode must be manually turned on after parking and turned off again when driving away. When parking mode is manually turned on, the dashcam goes into Motion Detection mode and begins recording each time motion is detected. Because these recordings are of shorter duration and irregular, the mode must be turned off while driving because it can cause problems for Loop recording when used for long periods of time. A Time lapse parking mode is not possible (yet) with manual activation.

The advantage of a car security camera with manual parking mode is that these dashcams can also be used without continuous power supply but with for example a battery pack.

Automatic parking mode

The most convenient way to use a dashcam to secure the car is with a dashcam with Automatic Parking Mode. With a dashcam with Automatic Parking Mode, parking mode is activated automatically when you park the car, so you don't have to worry about it at all. We distinguish three different ways of activation here: on contact, visual or impact.

Contact: a dashcam with Automatic parking mode on contact goes directly into parking mode when you turn off the car's ignition. These dashcam with parking mode must be connected with a 3-wire Continuous power supply, one wire of which is connected to a switched power point. Through that wire, the signal is given to the dashcam when you turn the car ignition on or off. The advantage of this method is that there is no delay in turning on and off and hardly any chance of interference.

Visual: a dashcam with visual parking mode notices itself when the car is parked for an extended period of time using the vibration sensor and any GPS. This dashcam then - usually after 5 minutes - automatically switches to parking mode. The advantage of this method is that these dashcams can also be used without continuous power supply but with for example a battery pack.

Impact: dashcams with parking mode on impact turn off completely after the car is parked for several minutes. Only when a vibration is detected - that is, when someone scratches or drives into the car - does the camera jump on and begin recording. Kenwood's dashcams, among others, use this parking mode.

Type of recording in parking mode

In addition to the different types of activation, there are also two different ways in which parking mode takes recordings: Motion Detection or Time Lapse.

Motion detection parking mode

A dashcam with motion detection parking mode is on "standby" while parking. It is on but does not film and only begins a recording - often lasting 30 seconds - when a movement or vibration is detected via the motion sensor. This way, only the most important events are captured. This mode is useful when the car is parked in a quiet area, such as a parking garage or remote spot.

Time lapse parking mode

Time lapse is a special recording mode in which the dashcam takes pictures at short intervals - often 1 or 2 seconds. These pictures are later played back as accelerated video. So in this mode, the dashcam is recording continuously. Time lapse parking mode is therefore more convenient when the car is parked in a busy environment where there is a lot of movement.

Some dashcams only have Motion Detection parking mode or Time lapse parking mode, others have both. The type of parking mode is listed on our site in the specifications of the particular dashcam.

Best parking mode dashcams

Nearly all dashcams have the option to film in parking mode but the dashcams with automatic parking mode are the most user-friendly and are therefore preferred.

The currently best-selling AZDome M63 Pro is very convenient to use in parking mode. It is quite compact and also has an automatic parking mode on contact where you can choose between Motion Detection or Time Lapse.

For 360-degree views around your car, the Vantrue N4 Pro or Vantrue N5 are popular choices. These film with three and four cameras, respectively. The N4 Pro incorporates an interior camera in the front dashcam and the N5 Pro also incorporates the rear camera. In addition to the interior, these also film a large area on the sides of the car.

Finally, mirror dashcams are perfect for use in parking mode. Because you place these over your interior mirror, you cannot see from the outside that they are in the car. The mirror dashcams from AZDome and ThiEye all have automatic Time lapse parking mode.