RD DVR 90 Rear View Mirror: Horrible experience, poor quality

I also got it checked by their authorised installer and there was nothing wrong with my installation. So in short, it was neither a proper dashcam nor an auto-dimming IRVM. My money went down the drain.

BHPian Leoshashi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My experience with a decently reputed Brand, RD: I first heard about the firm when DBHPian Saket77 told me about the PW unit on his Zen, and that it is a reliable brand with decent aftersales. I also noticed this brand to be a common name in aftermarket locking systems and PW modules. So it had a certain image in my mind.

We all know how poorly equipped the XL6 is. I was looking for an Auto Dimming IRVM and RD had a product which claimed to have "Anti Glare" properties, was shaped like an Auto-dimming IRVM and had an integrated camera for dashcam. In theory, it looked like a perfect product as I thought it will remove one separate dashcam unit too from my windscreen.

That's where I got duped. I failed to notice that this doesn't have a light sensor in the back which proper Auto dimming Units have. The front sensors are dummy units.  Perhaps the product being from a so called "Reputed" vendor was influencing my mind. I placed an enquiry on the site and Mr. Rupesh Pandey, their area sales manager contacted me. I asked for pics of bracket etc. and he provided me some pics.

I was directed to a famous car accessories market in Ranchi, where I was promised that one of their installers will deliver me the product. I chose not to get it installed by them since they often tend to be very rough with the car, and I didn't get confidence when talking to them. For example, the fuse end provided in wiring harness was different than what XL6 uses, but when asked, the installer said it can be pushed into the fuse box and the blade type fuse cuts through the plastic fuse box and makes it's required space. Felt scary.

Hence I just paid the chap Rs. 9,000 and took delivery of the unit. Back home when I installed it, I came to know it's nothing but a cheaply made product. Issues I had:

• Lots of vibrations on the IRVM.
• Anti Glare claim was a joke. Forget Auto-dimming, it was just a simple IRVM.
• Video Quality was Horrendous. Nowhere compared to dashcams like Aukey, 70mai etc.
• Lots of videos got corrupted. What's the use of a dashcam when half of your videos are getting corrupted.
• The hidden rear camera (which recorded in cabin events) was of funny quality.

I also got it checked by their authorised installer and there was nothing wrong with my installation. So in short, it was neither a proper dashcam nor an auto-dimming IRVM. My money went down the drain.

I then contacted the sales manager who clearly said they cannot return the product, no matter what. They offered me a replacement to check, but by this time, I was clear their product was of low quality, and no amount of replacement will solve it. Funnily, RD has mentioned on their site that they value customer satisfaction and cases can be looked into if reported within 2 days. I did, and I was also called by many senior people of RD like Mr. B. K Nagpal who happens to be a product incharge at RD. I bluntly told them that their product is horrible and doesn't compare with any proper dashcam. Still, they clearly told me that their company doesn't have any return policy, all they can do is replacement of the unit. Talks volumes about their claim of customer satisfaction when they themselves had RETURN POLICY proclaimed in bold. I don't care what your return policy states, when your product doesn't do what it claims to, it's equivalent to cheating which should be shamed in public.

Later, I was assured by Mr Rupesh, off the records, that he will get my unit sold whenever any next enquiry comes in the region. Well, the support I needed from the company was never received, and his small gesture of solving the case from his personal level doesn't change anything.

I plan to discard the unit someday as I cannot keep it for long and have my blood boiling everytime I look at it. I will not sell it on OLX or via any other means, since I know the product is crappy, and anyone buying it will feel cheated.

I later came to know that one Youtuber had reviewed it and had sung all praises for it. Had I known that the fool had endorsed the product and brand, I would have never gone for it. They are all thugs and opportunists of the highest order. Well I approached that Youtuber too to help me with the contact of that RD official in the video via a mutual friend, and unsurprisingly, I'm yet to hear back from him. You can also see that video quality in his video too seems bad.

Lesson Learnt:

1. Before parting with your hard earned money, research well at your own level, no matter how reputed the firm is. I admit I was a bit too excited and didn't doubt that a firm as reputed as RD can have such a crappy product. Not everything which glitters is Gold.

2. Beware of those thugs posing as Karolbagh Youtubers these days. If any product is endorsed by them, odds are they are mostly of crappy quality and hence be double vigilant.

Some pics and videos:

Day time footage of the Dashcam. Look how bad it is.

Night time footage of the Dashcam.

Night time footage of hidden cam.

Here's what BHPian saket77 had to say on the matter:

Sad to know about your experience. Wish that it had ended well but sadly that hasn’t happened as yet.

I don’t know about the current status but RD used to be not only a good after market player but was also an OEM supplier including that to Maruti Suzuki. But with the advent of Chinese low priced products, especially electronics, I can tell you that a lot of reputed brands knowing well that they can’t compete with Chinese prices have themselves gone the same road for the sake of their survival. A lot of manufacturers today even stamp their logo on basic Chinese products. It’s happening across all the segments today including micro electronics stuff to home appliances. Niche and expensive brands once like Blaupunkt today is almost like any consumer grade brand, even price wise.

BHPian SS-Traveller had this to say:

RD is not a company I trust for quality. This is so sad. Personally, I know of someone's hard-top Thar with RD's central locking system. The unit was fiddly and prone to breakdowns, though RD always sent their mechanic to fix the issue as long as warranty lasted. After the end of warranty, they couldn't care less.

OTOH, my Thar had a Minda central locking system, which worked faultlessly for 3 years, till I sold the car.

My Zen in 2003-2004 had an aftermarket RD central locking system installed, by the company's technician. The system would drain the battery so much, that I would have a flat battery in a week or 10 days. Till the time I sold the car, RD was unable to resolve the issue.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

I wish I had shared this information earlier. In the past, I purchased few products from RD (mostly the remote lock units) and was fully satisfied until I got a similar product as yours (Anti-glare IRVM).

Auto dimming was not working. Opened the unit to understand I was fooled. Got to know it is nothing more than a Anti glare (??) mirror + display unit for reverse camera input.

Even the mount was not holding well, had all sort of rattle and vibration. Finally ditched it and went back to OE IRVM.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.