Moderator please excuse this post, but I need opinions on security cameras, lastnight my sons car was vandalized in our driveway for the 2nd time in 2 months, he has a very nice car I bought him last year & he takes very good care of it. Once again somebody dumped 2 large metals containers of mexican food all over it, the same exact food they dumped on it the first time, same type of foil containers. I didn't report either incident to the police because I know they don't care & I don't want to waste their time. My son values his car like we do with our TL's, its AWD & not stock & he keeps it mint.
My question: Does anyone have a security camera in their driveway? How good is it at videoing? Sharpness? Do you think they are worth it? I have to do something, I want to capture these scumbags on video. THANK YOU,

 

you'll get better responses if this thread is moved to ramblings or the home improvement section; where a broader range of people (not just 3G TL peeps) with more experience can help you out.

 

I would definitely invest in a camera as well as some sort of security system on the car.

Look into a camera with 1080p recording capability. Last thing you want it someone vandalizing the car and not being able to ID them because they look like 8-bit video game characters.

 

THANK YOU

 

One thing I can recommend with first hand experience is this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380420068845...84.m1439.l2649

it's a shock sensor that you wire to your factory alarm so if anyone hits/slams into the car, it will go off. Not sure if it will help in your case (depends how hard they're hitting the car) but it might be worth a piece of mind.

 

That's a tough nut to crack unless you want to spend good money or have a well lit street. Infrared night cameras typically don't have a great range as they rely on the infrared light for picture clarity. Additionally, you'd need a DVR to record to that has a large enough hard drive to record all night unless you have some rough idea on when the vandalism is occurring. One option would be to trigger an "event" which will start the recording but that would mean wiring the DVR into a motion detector like possibly your front porch light if it has adequate range.

Sorry I don't have a solution for you, I have a lot of experience in mobile surveillance for law enforcement, but not much in home security so I can only give you things to think about.

I've seen video surveillance systems at Costco and they have a phenomenal return policy so it could be worth it to look there. Try it and if it doesn't fit your need then return it.

Best of luck on catching the vandals!!