Stay safe (theft / windows smashed)

That's why I have zero deductible glass coverage and never leave my Nuvi in my car when I am away from it for very long. Can't trust anyone these days.

Every time that I'm not in the car I have it in my pocket. Those Nuvi's are just so slim.

How do you know?

After my c340 was stolen from my workplace parking lot, I learned to carry my Nuvi 660 wherever I go. I use a bean bag and I hide it, along with the charger, in the middle storage console.

I wondered about this myself! Maybe the parking lot tram drivers were announcing it as they delvered everyone back to their cars. Seriously though, I'd be very interested in knowing how you found this out?

I take mine out of my truck whenever I am not in it, but I leave the mount on the windshield.

I do worry that someone will think that I simply too it down and placed it in the console and will break in anyway.

I was thinking of putting a little sign that says "I really did take the GPS with me!" LOL

Randy

Speaking of taking the GPS with you, are there any places that sell carrying cases or a leather pouches?

I have a Garmin NUVI 200.

Thanks,

Randy

In my haste to post my last message, I forgot to mention that I rarely leave my Nuvi in the car. I use the friction mount and I put it in the console and usually take the Nuvi with me. I do on occasion leave the gps unit in the car as well. When I do, I always put it in the console along with the friction mount. And lastly, I use the Garmin lock so it's useless to someone if they do steal it.

You may find a better deal (and maybe a better case) by looking at the cases made for digital cameras. There seem to be dozens of different ones on the shelves at WalMart, Staples, OfficeMax, etc.

really sucks.

It would be nice to believe that if someone stole your GPS and tried to plug it in to a PC, it would upload a virus and send a signal to you letting you know where it is...

Either that or theives should just have their hands cut off. It's an effective deterent in places like Saudi Arabia, even as inhumane as it is...

i bought a nice carry bag from Target photo dept for
$6.00.
It has a velcro flap and a loop for the belt

I know because there were three Orange County Sheriff car's close to mine. One of the vehicles that was vandalized was right behind mine. The officer was talking to the driver as I was checking my car. He told the driver that even though he had his GPS out of sight, they look for the ring left on the windshield.

I saw a story on the news as well about three weeks ago. Philadelphia has reported many stolen GPS devices all around center city. And they too said that is what the thieves look for.

THATS HOW I KNOW!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24392168/

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20080423_GPS_devices...

The second link is the same story I saw on NBC10 as well.

These same types of newspaper article have done the rounds this side of the Atlantic as well. I was curious to see if there was anything to substantiate them...

I have read thread with similar subject and ever since, I now pay close attention to cars parked in public places. It's mind boggling to see how many cars here in Colorado Springs have GPS mounted on their windshield when parked in malls and other places. Just last sunday going to see a movie with the kids, I counted 7 GPS and mounts between where my car was parked and the Theatre entrance!

I must be paranoid because I hide my GPS or carry it with me everywhere but that makes me wonder, are there really that many theft? Am I paranoid?

Thanks for clarifying this for me. I was really curious how you knew what thieves are looking for. I've not heard this before, but it makes perfect sense. I've learned something. Lucky for me, I don't use the suction cup and now have even more reason for not using it.

As long as a thief thinks there is one in the car, your window is busted. If you have it with you, then yes, he did not get it, but your window is broken just the same.
In addition to not leaving a ring on the window, I have entertained the idea of leaving the glove box open so that a thief can see there is nothing in there. However, that may be just the tip to a thief that you may own a GPS, even without any other clues. He might then think breaking your window is worth it to check under the seat, etc. Sigh.
Remember after-market car stereos in the early 80's? Put one in, theif comes along, takes it out. Get a removable face-plate, theif steals speakers instead. Another similarity is that high-end OEM car stereos that came factory installed also cost much more than their after market counterparts, and where less quality as well. The main difference now is that crooks today use auction sites to sell the stolen items.

It's a sad state in our society when there has to be a thread about this...

One would hope that if a "smash & grab" took place, that once the thief discovered that the unit was usless to him, he'd drop it right there. One would hope.

On my splash screen, I have a picture with words superimposed on the side that states:

This unit is locked. If found, please call (xxx) yyy-zzzz for a CASH REWARD.

Hope I never have to pay that money.

Joe

Thanks to the media, if the thieves didn't know to look for a ring on the windshield before, they do now.

I place on mine "Initializing security beacon... please stand by" plus my phone number.

Take your little toy w/you, hide any traces of it ... and leave an unfolded map in plain sight

I suggest you carry your Nuvi with you to ascertain perfect fit with the camera case. Target is another option. I'm cheap. I use the case from a broken diabetic monitoring machine. It has a zipper, a carrying strap and a belt loop. It fits my Nuvi 600 perfectly. There is an extra pouch for my iPod. It's not bulky at all. What more can you ask?

Actually, the removable face plate radios aren't that much of a deterrent, since most of the people who have them just put the face plate in the glove box and the thieves know this.

My son's car was broken into twice in a 3 or 4 month period while parked all day at the commuter train station. The first time, they got the stereo and took the face plate from his glove box. The second time, he had the face plate with him but they stole the radio anyway. Thieves can buy replacement face plates on the internet.

This particular commuter train station had over 500 smash and grabs in a year. The thieves would do a walk-through of the parking lot and sometimes hit 10 cars in a single day. Takes less than 3 minutes per car. After the second window and radio replacement within a few months, my son just left the hole in the dash and bought an IPOD. And he started looking for a new job that did not require taking the train downtown. Within a couple months he changed jobs and put that all behind him. 6 months later we read in the newspaper that the city was putting $300,000 worth of security cameras in the parking lot because of all break-ins there.

What a life!

sorry to hear that . we were just at disney last month.

Hey just because it's Disney, doesn't mean it's safe...It's just SAFER than most.

Look at Downtown Disney, Those white contraptions in the parking lots that look like a cherry-picker with an enclosed box on the end of them are actually for police or security persons to sit in and be elevated up above the parking lot area to watch for suspicious activities.

Also, you'll also never hear about kidnappings at Disney either. BUT they do happen. However, No child has ever been kidnapped and taken outside of a Disney Park, Security has always caught them before they get outside the gates of the particular park.

I LOVE Disney, my wife LOVES Disney, but we don't let our guard down for one minute we are there.

I use a friction mount, and never leave it on the dash. If I don't take the GPSr with me, it's locked away with the mount. (well, I take that back. While on our Winery trip, I did leave it on the dash while we did the tastings...as long as there were only a few cars or people there. If the place was busy, I put away).

You know I usually agree with this type of statement. However in this particular case, I think it was helpful that the media reported this. Look at how many people here never thought about the ring on the left on the windshield if you take the suction cup down.

they toss it and it goes to the landfill. You are still missing your gps. For years thieves have been looking for ladies purses left on the seat and breaking into those cars. It is the same now with any valuable left in sight or signs that it may be there. they won't break into a car if they think there is nothing inside worth stealing.

I use a suction cup mount for my Nuvi 660. Is there a specific beanbag made for this model, or is it one size fits all.
A link would be nice if possible.

I left on a trip a few days ago. Real easy. Drive 7 miles and catch a bus to the airport. I was delayed by traffic and instead of being early, things were a bit rushed when I parked. I was planning on taking my nuvi 660 to Seattle with me. I ended up leaving turned on in an unlocked car. Go figure.

I called a friend and he removed the GPS from the window and locked my car. Remembering all the broken glass in the outer fringes of the parking lot I figured my GPS was history. Thankfully, it was only unlocked for a couple of hours.

I actually received the GPS as a thank you for tracking down the owner of a back pack that was left in the same parking lot. The contents of the back pack....books, Poggy Bait (Junk Food), a Digital Camera, 30GB iPod and a Garmin nuvi 760!! No ID anywhere in the bag made it a bit difficult. So, I called Garmin with the Registration Number. So they could contact the owner. Nope...Too Easy, it wasn't registered. So I did the same with the iPod. Same result. Home on the GPS was a point-in-space somewhere in Colorado. I ended up calling the local Police Chief and gave him the details of what was in the back pack, addresses in his town, and photos on the iPod.

His response....I KNOW HER!

I got everything back to her the next day. The real kicker, was that the back pack had been there for nearly 5 weeks and everything was undamaged!! Even after some really rotten weather. The owner gave me a small gift bag. In it??? A Garmin nuvi 260. I upgraded to a 660 and now have a 260W in my daughters car also.

So, drive safe and clean your windshield often.

I bought a portable hard drive (Western Digital) for my pc. It came with a nice zipper case and works fine with my Nuvi 780. Bought the drive at Costco.

Ray

This is a really good idea.....good thinking.

Here are 2 sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-Dashboard-StreetPilot-...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8231861&st=nuv...

The price at Amazon is really pretty good!

Target photo - what a great idea, I didn't even think of that! I am literally leaving now to go check.

Thanks!

I have the Bracketron friction mount.
Good value and it works well, one size fits all Nuvi.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000U5TUWE

Whenever I leave the car mine goes into my pocket.

The Bracketron friction mount still requires the suction cup to attach the little gizmo ... not so reliable in the long run.
Nothing beats "El baggo del beanos" (from Amazon or whatever)!

I use a PDA case from Spec-Ops. It is padded and fits my Nuvi 260 real good.

I've had my window smashed for a CD player already, and it gets expensive. Guess I need to invest in a carrying case also.

Deauxmain

i wish i would cathc a thief trying to take my gps or anything else in my car -- good help one if i do cause he will get his ass kicked for everyone who ever messed with my truck in the past lol

This is rediculous - I don't buy it.

These type of thieves are looking for a quick grab.
They are not going to break a window and risk drawing a crowd orver the HOPE of digging through your car and finding a GPS.

Sure, if you leave your car unlocked someone might open the door for a quick look. But who leaves their car unlocked these days.

This stuff is just silly.

How about this line:
"If someone steals your GPS device, they've stolen more than just your device," said Ken Westin, chief executive officer of GadgetTrak, in Portland, Ore. "It has your home address and where you've been for the past week."

So what? I'm in the phone book and my address is there. A thief is not going to look at this - he will sell it and the first thing the buyer does is hit the reset button.

Everyone is making a big deal over nothing.

Take the mount down if you wish, always take the GPS with you, but clean the winshield - come on.

My wife had her car window smashed when nothing was visible, they didn't get a gps but we still had to replace a window.. And this was in a parking lot with a gaurd..

I ordered one of these, but I haven't received it yet. I figure for the price I can't go too wrong. You have to use the coupon code at checkout.

PCMicrost0re Has Nylon And Airform GPS Carrying Cases for Garmin, Magellan, Tomtom, And Mio Units
For $11.48 After 50% Off Coupon code:

Techbargain50%KrooGPS

Shipping is free.

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/searchresult.aspx?q=kw:kroo%20gp...

Target sell a nylon cell phone case for a Blackberry phone for $9.00 that will fit. Palm PDA and the TRIO cases will also fit. The leather or vinal are to tight, but the nylon works.

Now that's a good idea with the unfolded map to throw off a thieve!

I was just in New York City this past weekend with my brand new Garmin 260w. It was stuck right on the dash in plain view. I actually didn't even think of hiding it or taking it with me. I also remember seeing at least 2-3 more similar units in other cars while walking along the street. Luckily, At the end of the day none of our windows were smashed in. However, I am going out to wash my window right now and at least hide the gps under the seat. What a weird price to pay for a little convenience.

I got a really nice hard case at BestBuy...$19.95. It has a place on one side for my TT...there is a hard divider then a net area on the other side for whatever else you need to store.

No matter what we do, if THEY want it, THEY'LL take it

Great advice everyone! thanks!