I got a 2017 F-Type Base recently. One thing I missed was back-up cameras - and I missed them more after backing into someone in a parking lot (NOT my fault, and I'm sticking to it :-)))). The next day, I contacted Nav-TV and made arrangements to have front and rear cameras installed. They cost about $1,200 installed. It was installed before I could get the rear touched up.

OH - I Love a clean car, and thought that I might be a little fanatical about keeping a new white Jag clean, so I bought a 1 year pass to the local car wash.

The rear camera works fine - no problems, except when my car wash got it moved so that I couldn't see anything. Went to the back of the car and re-adjusted it easily by hand. No biggie.

The front camera - oh, the front one. The first time I got the car washed, I was playing with the camera while in line, and it was intermittent - sometimes fine, then two seconds later black, with occasional snow. When I left, it was black - no picture. Took it to the installer, and they said that the camera had failed, and replaced it. OK!

The second time, they broke it off the mounts, and it was just dangling off the front. Took it to the installer, and they fixed it. OK.

The third time I washed it at the car wash, the camera showed only black - no picture at all. The installer said that the camera had failed, and replaced it.

I haven't yet got it washed again. We'll see how it goes. My wife actually enjoys the failures - the installer is near her favorite restaurant, far from our house, and I get her favorite takeout (shrimp salad) whenever I'm in that area.

The cameras are very wide-angle, and very deceptive about how close things are. I'd hoped that the front camera might help me keep the fenders intact while parking, but the only thing it's good for is protecting the front splitter. When the curb is at the very bottom of the screen, I'm about 6" from the curb. The way I sit in the car, there's a lot of car (from the front of the hood vents to the splitter) I can't see while parking.

Looking at the front camera while driving is totally useless, but visually interesting ;-)

I had to have a switch for the front camera, and the installer initially put it under the dash where it was hard for me to find. I had them move it to a round rocker switch in place of the power outlet on the right side of the console (to the right and above the shifter) which I greatly prefer.

IF you're thinking about Nav-TV, you might want to hand wash the car (probably should anyway) and your odds may be better.

 

Yours is actually the first published account of an F-Type being sentenced to a tunnel wash.

 

Taking an F-Type through an automatic wash does make you a monster.

 

After my left leg was amputated, I had to give up on hand washing. Had a buddy try to wrap his leg up so he could hand wash his Nissan 370Z and his leg got wet and ruined it... The electronics in my leg are more expensive than my F-Type.

Thankfully, my right leg still can go to the floor!

 

Was pondering the front camera install myself, but they sound a little flakey...is it the water that's destroying them?

 

you win.

 

LOL... class response. I was wondering why you would drive her through the scratch tunnel regularly. Might also become the first published account not not to get *much* $hit for running it through..

If you haven't done so, it might be worth getting a local detailer to opti coat her. It should help reducing watermarks, scratches, etc.. from the machines. The 3m clear is better, but *I* wasn't going to spend 4K to get the whole car done.

Back to cameras.. if you find a good curb protector solution, please let us know. I've already done the dirty deed with my right front and am not old enough to justify curb feelers.

-Mike

 

Not sure - they just told me that the camera had failed and they replaced it. The second failure was just it coming loose - probably an install problem. The problem is that I can't imagine that it would be water OR the car wash - I'll bet that 50% of the cars washed at the place I go to have some cameras... but they are factory installed. I went to a vendor recommended by Nav-TV, and they seemed on top of it, but ... it has not been the smoothest experience.

Just offering a data point for others to use as they see fit - wish it could be better data!