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Putting HU Faceplate in glovebox

2K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  dashan 
#1 ·
I absolutely hate people who do this. Take the plate with you! I always take mine with me but sooner or later a thief is going to think I didn't and smash my window, tear through my car looking for it stashed away somewhere and never find it. All because he think I'm like everyone else who throws it in their glove box. If everyone took theirs with them thieves would not bother looking anymore. What do you people think about this?

Anyone have any tips on protecting your window from being smashed from a thief wanting to steal your head unit?
 
#5 ·
I always take mine with me but sooner or later a thief is going to think I didn't and smash my window, tear through my car looking for it stashed away somewhere and never find it. /QUOTE]


I don't think in 2009 you really have to worry about that too much.

There are so many vehicles with aftermarket systems it's more like a buffet to a thief as opposed to a rare occurence 15 years ago.

The chances of a thief actually getting something good now-a-days is slim to none with the flood of crappy gear on the market.

Do you blatantly blast your system in heavily populated areas?
 
#7 ·
I don't want to carry my faceplate.

I don't know about you, but I don't have a purse. And I'm not about to carry the stupid thing with me in stores. Heck, I got sick of carrying my wallet and switched to a money clip.

I put it in my center console, see how inventive I am?
 
#8 ·
I don't want to carry my faceplate.
I don't know about you, but I don't have a purse. And I'm not about to carry the stupid thing with me in stores. Heck, I got sick of carrying my wallet and switched to a money clip.
QUOTE]

Ditto. If I have a purse (aka "girlfriend") with me I will have her carry it, otherwise it goes in my locked glove compartment.

To the OP: The only way I have learned to keep my windows in tact is to leave them down. There is nothing interesting within arms-reach of my windows, so they will (without thinking) unlock the door from the handle inside and open the door. As soon as they do that the alarm goes crazy, and I no longer have to replace a window :)
 
#11 ·
Yup. I've thought about leaving directions in my dash on how to properly take out my head unit, because the last time someone stole it they basically put two feet on the dash and pulled. It took me about 10 hours and a bunch of hand-fabbed panels to rebuild the inside of my dash so that I could mount something in it again. I would honestly rather take it out myself and hand it to them rather than have to do that again.
 
#12 ·
I actually hide mine above the under-dash fusebox(just sits up there). I guess that's a bad idea as they'd probably reach up there to disable the alarm(which is hidden elsewhere btw).

I absolutely hate it when people unnecessarily break stuff trying to steal your things. For instance, they'll break your windows even though your door is unlocked, etc.
 
#15 ·
detach face is one level of deterrence. Whether the face is in the car or not has nothing to do with whether your window gets broken. Many thieves are junkies looking for a fix - don't expect rational decisons from them...

My car has an OE iPod adapter in the non-locking console. I always leave the console open and leave the cable hanging out so that it's obvious there is no iPod.

But once the would-be thief is wondering if I really took it, if they break the window to check, I am screwed whether the iPod or DF is in the car or not... so it's pretty silly to blame ME for your broken window which someone else broke, isn't it?
 
#16 ·
I will say it again... your only chance is to make the would-be thief think twice.. a simple flashing led, a single relay wired to flash the LED when the car is off uses less than 2-3milli-amps. Unless the car is not started for 3-4-5 DAYS, this will not starve the battery.

A flashing LED is the heart of ANY security system. Like what was already said, there are thousands of targets, if you make the thief think twice you did all you can do.

If its an educated thief looking for a specific model, he/she knows the trim ring & the design with the face off... no stopping them.

best defense, after an alarm/fake LED is an OE cover plate that makes the area look like a factory radio. Almost a lost art, installers who can install the new HU just shallow enough to allow good usage & allow the Fake face look OE.....

Rob
 
#17 ·
You'd think a flashing LED would work, but there are some smart thieves too. Since around Dec. 2008, there has been over 20 stolen Honda/Acuras with about half or more having alarms in the Charlotte/Concord area in NC. The only guy that was able to "save" his car was a guy with a two-way alarm but even then, they managed to drag his car to the end of the driveway by the time he got outside. The flashing LED is a good deterrent for smash n grab thieves, but if they want your car, they'll try to find every way around it. One of the best suggestions is the alarm install itself; don't put it in a typical location including the siren.
 
#19 ·
IMO removing the faceplate leads the thief to think you have something valuable to steal ...even if it is a $69 Dual HU from WalMart. This is why I prefer the OEM looks (and superior SQ) of many of the Nakamichi HU's. My '97 Miata has been broken into twice ...the HU has never been touched.

>^..^<
 
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