Woman Buys RAV4. Then She Realizes This Highly Sought-After Item Is Already Built-In: ‘They Did Not Tell Me This’

"I think EVERY new vehicle should have one."

Photo by: denae1cami & vishal bonthapally

By: Nina Hernandez

Oct 24, at 6:00am ET

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Buying a brand-new car is almost always a thrill. Many people do exhaustive research before deciding which car is "the one."

One woman who bought a Toyota RAV4 got it home and learned that it has a feature that many drivers only dream of: a built-in dash cam.

TikTok creator Denae (@denae1cami) recently posted a video about discovering her RAV4's dash cam.

“They did not tell me this at the dealership when I got this car,” she says. “So I’m gonna tell you, if you have a 2026 RAV4 SE, you have a built-in dash cam.”

Denae zooms in on the windshield of her vehicle where the viewer can see a camera lens. “There it is right there,” she says. “You’re welcome. And you actually have to go in and turn it on.”

The video cuts to a clip of her inside the vehicle. She points to the display. “So you’ll go to settings, drive recorder, and click this on,” she says.

What Does The RAV4 Dash Cam Do Exactly?

Toyota’s RAV4 Drive Recorder feature is a built-in dash cam that, when enabled, records what happens in front of the vehicle using the cameras the RAV4 already has. That means you essentially have a dash cam without having to purchase a separate device.

The clips are stored in the RAV4’s multimedia system and are retained until the driver decides to delete them. You can also export those videos to another device. The system can save up to five different incident recordings, four manual recordings, and 90 continuous loop recordings. Clips can be a maximum of a minute long.

According to Toyota, the continuous loop recordings will automatically overwrite the oldest clip to ensure there is always room for more recordings. Incident recordings are prompted by certain circumstances, and manual recordings are activated using the multimedia system or the Intelligent Assistant.

Gallery: 2026 Toyota RAV4 First Drive Review

Source: Jeff Perez / Motor1

The Pros And Cons Of Toyota RAV4’s Drive Recorder

In the comments section of Denae’s video, viewers discussed the Toyota RAV4’s dash cam and the potential pros and cons of having it.

“I work at a Toyota dealer and the salesman shoulda told you this when setting up your app,” one person wrote.

“I think EVERY new vehicle should have one of these,” a second person wrote.

“It’s also close to $3K to replace if it gets damaged,” warned a third person. "You will lose your lane assistance and your cruise control if it goes out. And your dashboard will be a Christmas tree.”

"I just can't," a third person wrote. "I don't want Big Brother in my car."

What do you think?

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Another person pointed out that the lens is the forward recognition camera, but it’s really semantics because that camera is part of what powers Drive Recorder.

Motor1 contacted Denae via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We'll be sure to update this if she responds.