Stealing GPS units

[dhn]

This article is in my local (Toronto, Canada) paper today:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/302373

 

[Marcstang]

This article is in my local (Toronto, Canada) paper today:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/302373

Read this as well. Not a better way to say to a thief "GPS inside my car, please steal it"

 

[rcacs]

they have thieves in Toronto?

Cheers

 

[dhn]

they have thieves in Toronto?

Cheers

No longer......the thief set a route on the stolen TomTom for Winnipeg. He's on the way, now.

 

[flyer1024]

how is he gonna feel when he finds his street is not on the map!

 

[46jimbo]

how is he gonna feel when he finds his street is not on the map!

He'll start posting on this forum, complaining about his unit!

 

[rcacs]

LOL

I suspect once the villian arrives, he will quickly head back to the Big Smoke. It has been in the -40 (with windchill) range for about 3 weeks here.

Keep an eye out for cars with large amounts of ice on them.

Cheers!

Rick in MB

 

[dhn]

LOL

I suspect once the villian arrives, he will quickly head back to the Big Smoke. It has been in the -40 (with windchill) range for about 3 weeks here.

Cheers!

Rick in MB

Sorry......for a moment there I thought you were describing the weather for July in MB. Wait, you didn't mention the helicopters, uh, mosquitoes, did you?


(my wife is from Winnipeg.....she's actually been to Morden!)

 

[rcacs]

small world eh?

i am actually from NS, but now stuck here in the middle of the country

 

[SShadow]

Stuck out there eh? You'll move back eventually. Everyone comes back to the Maritimes... Even if it is just to retire.

Where abouts in NS were you from?

Luckily, I don't think the GPS theft rate is high here in NS... At least not high enough to rate news worthiness... I never leave mine in plain sight in the truck, and even then I only leave it in the truck when I'm going to be out of it for only a short period (and it gets hidden in a compartment that doesn't look like a compartment at first glance) - otherwise is always goes with me.

I got nailed several years back when I had my Accord. They tried prying both door handles out of the car (idiot didn't know that wouldn't work on slide locks, as opposed to vertical push/pull locks) damaging the paint and metal, and breaking one of the door handle mechanics totally. So then they smashed the rear window ($270 to replace because it was tinted) and bent the crap out of the window moulding. And of course it rained a bloody ocean that night so my car got soaked.
Know what they got out of the car? A mini BIC lighter. The stereo face plate was in the house with me and the CDs in the car were all burnt copies with no markings. There was $12 of change in the change drawer that wasn't touched. There also was a $25 gift certificate on the dash in an envelope that they didn't even move.
The guy was a bloody genius. And possibly the most expensive mini-BIC lighter because it did over $1200 damage to the car, and I ended up with a rental for 5 days while they fixed it all.

I had learned my lesson - until I stopped at the mall for 15 minutes one day, and someone managed to get my (by this time) piece of crap stereo. Funny thing is, they tried to pry the door handle out AGAIN - but then realized the door was unlocked. I had forgotten to lock the door - and the idiot didn't even try the door before he started prying on the handle.

So I gave up. Bought a $10 Kenwood tape deck, threw it in the car - didn't even mount it - I just shoved it in the hole and spliced the wires together, wrapped it up with electrical tape.
Then one night (when I was working two jobs) I left work to go to my car and someone had pried off the ventvisor from the passenger side of the car and pried the window out of the rubber door seal and flipped the lock. Didn't get anything in the car, but the kenwood deck was partially hauled out of the hole. He must of started to steal it, realized it wasn't even mounted, then took a better look at what crap he was stealing, and decided it wasn't worth it. LOL No damage except the cracked ventvisor.

Then not two weeks after that, I went out to my car and someone had kicked the passenger mirror off the car. I almost caught the guy too. I was about 25 feet from rounding the corner where my car was parked when I heard a loud crack. When I got around the corner, I saw my mirror on the ground and a guy crossing the street at the top of the hill - by the time I got to the top of the hill, he had disappeared into a crowd of people.
Luckily, the only thing that was busted was the outer shell of the mirror. The glass and everything was ok. Got a used mirror (the whole assembly) from a scrap yard for $50. The dealer wanted $110 just for the outer housing.

I didn't have much luck with that Accord. So far (knock on wood) I've not had those kinds of issues with my Santa Fe. Having an alarm system helps. And having power locks on a remote now - I never forget to lock the truck.

 

[Langod]

In my area, thieves don't just look for the suction mount as evidence of a GPS being in the car, they looks for the ring left on the windshield left by the suction cup.
Manchester Union Leader article

Best thing to do -- don't use the suction cup mount -- either find a way to build it into the dash (the flip-out "ashtray" in my Maxima is almost perfrctly sized for the TomTom One) or get a dashmount "beanbag".

And of course -- take your GPS with you when you leave the car.