Gang,

The other day I was sitting in my daily driver '93 Volvo 940 Turbo getting ready to walk to class. While sitting there I realized how much time I spend "preparing" the car to sit in the massive unsupervised lot on campus. My routine goes something like this, I pull down the Valentine radar detector, remove the face off of the Alpine head unit, store it in case. Then depending on how much time I have, I either hide it all under the seat or lock it in the glove box. After that I scan the car for anything else that might catch the eye of a thief, so I end up stuffing CD cases between the seats etc... It only takes a few minutes but by the time I drive to campus and back to my apartment again a 2 or 3 times a day, I have to be spending at least 15 to 20 minutes a day.

Is it worth it? As I walk through the sea of parked cars, SUV's and PUT's (Pick Up Truck), I see 100's of radar detectors stuck to windshields, of course they are all cheapos, but I seem to be the only one who cares on my campus about protecting there stuff. I even hide everything at the end of the day when I've driven the car for the last time. Back when I lived at home during high school, I never worried about it, never even locked the car. Now that I park in public places 100% of the time, I've gotten paranoid. Have any of you had trouble with break ins at school, college, or apartments?

Just wondering if I'm the only person who "truly" doesn't want to walk up to smashed window. Maybe if I had more then liability insurance I would fill differently.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

 

You aren't the only person who wants to protect their belongings...or find their car with a smashed window. I think one of the best anti-theft devices is to hide anything of value from sight, or not keep it in the car. If you are on a college campus, beware of leaving text books in the open as well. It make take 10 minutes longer to hide things, but it is a benefit to do so in the long run.

-Robert D.

 

I always hide my CD faceplate and put on my clutch lock. I've got super cheap insurance, not full coverage. If my car got stolen I'm pretty sure I'd just have to eat the cost.

You're not paranoid since there is a real danger. As for not seeing a lot of other people hiding things, are you really so sure? You said that you only see cheap radar detectors. Do you think the expensive ones are really so uncommon that you don't see them? Are do the owner's maybe want to keep their investment the same as you do?

I've known serveral people at Georgia Tech that got their cars broken into either at school or in parking lots. Most were broken into for things in plain sight. A CD player with a non-detachable faceplate in one case (old CD-player anyway), and one friend has his car broken into for an EMPTY carton of cigarettes.

Keeping stuff out of sight is the absolute best thing you can do. Sure, everybody knows that the faceplate is probably either in the glove box or under the seat. To a potential theif that's extra time spent breaking into the glove box or searching the car for something that might not be there. Doesn't mean your car won't get broken into, but it does reduce the chances considerably.

Stay safe.

 

My thought is always: Think about the effort now, vs. the heartache later. THerefore I always wear a bike helmet, always wore my leathers and helmet on the motorcycle, always lock the front door, and always take the V1 off the windshield and stow it in a map pocket. If it takes 30 seconds to stow your stuff, who cares? you'd be on hold with 911 for longer than that to report it stolen.

 

My V1 stays mounted all the time, my deck is a kenwood mask flip, so I just let it flip around. I just bought a new Alpine deck thats not, so I will prob. take it off and throw it in the glovebox when parking for longer than 15min or so. I also have a Clifford G4 alarm. Thats great protection, most thieves will go on to the next car just so they dont have to hassle with the noise and attn it gets when set off. In a big city however, this method is prob worthless as Im sure they go off constantly.
I dont carry large amounts of cds when tooling around campus, only on long trips. They go behind the front seats on the floorboard then. Maybe 10 at the most in a small cd case thats easily thrown and hidden.
Good Luck.

 

I always pulled my detector off my windshield when I had it. As for anything else, I generally leave it in place. I am going to eventually get my windows tinted for this very reason.

 

Sam G, how do you have your v1 mounted? I just recieved my remote display, I'm trying to figure out where to place it and the main unit.

 

The other folks who leave their valuables out in the open are the best prevention for you. Theives will always move on to an easier target/sure thing if it is readily available.

So let everyone else leave bait in their car. Keep your interior empty and boring.

 

i also take down my radar detector from view most of the time...its not a bad idea really.

as for the stereo, i just have a tape player...hahaha

 

You kidding! In New Orleans I hide everything. As a rule of thumb if it's nailed down it will probably still be stolen. Hopefully, you're not in it while it's being stolen. Thus, the Pcar only makes in-frequent trips south of the lake.

 

I have a radio I would LIKE stolen...problem is, they don't open your door gently, slide out the radio, and leave. Broken window, broken dash, and or broken door lock = major hastle!

A friend of mine left his leather crappy jacket in the hatch of my Integra 10 years ago. Some low-life broke my rear window, and stole the jacket. Had it been hidden, no broken window, etc.

If they break into a car with no visible goodies, then at least you know you have done all you could not to attract them...also, having a Porsche crest on the hood doesn't help!

 

It depends on where I park at and how long I will be away.

The night I brought my Pcar home (maybe 2 hours) I heard an alarm go off in the parking lot of my apt. complex, looked out the window and saw this rocket scientist in a white jacket and cap walk to the other side of the lot-away from the alarm and start shining a flashlight into cars, shopping.
I called security but he got close to my "new" S before security arrived, I thought not that car you're not, snuck about 30 ft. behind him and racked the slide and let it drop on my .40 he looked at me with very big eyes and took off as I yelled something about being found in the river and then took off running, tripped over a parking block and disapeared.

Lesson learned-glass, like locks only keep out honest people, and lowlife car burglars do shop around.

 

On the rare occasions that I have to park in a questionable place, I try to remember to unload any goodies that I don't have to have along before I leave home. I keep a crummy old jacket in the back seat year around, partly to have something to cover stuff up in these situations. Faceplate comes off, goes in the glovebox.

Long ago, I had to leave my old truck in unattended parking overnight on a regular basis. Despite being right between deteriorating downtown & a run-down neighborhood, nothing ever got stolen, since the tool box stayed under the seat out of sight.

But I'll admit to having had my winch stolen off my pickup right in front of my apartment, ~1982... suckers just unbolted it & cut the wires... The one I have now has welded nuts at every joint; it'll be easier to take the whole front clip.

Jim, "The floggings will continue until morale improves!"

 

Now THAT's what I call security--.40 cal automatic! I guess it's pretty easy to get a pistol permit in OK!? I have one (.45 Gold Cup), but if I got caught doing what you did, I'd be in deep sh*t!

 

[quote]Originally posted by triscadek: racked the slide and let it drop on my .40 he looked at me with very big eyes and...<hr></blockquote>

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

I once heard of a guy who had had his pick-up truck broken into once too often- he hooked up some fish hooks all around his stereo- down underneath where no one could see them- the next theif got stuck to the stereo Cops said he COULD have been sued, but that the thief was well known, and wouldn't make a fuss- I'm not sure that it really happened locally, as was told to me, but it was a good story anyway...