Leave GPS in car or take inside?

I always bring mine in. Even if I know I'm in a "safe" area. I'm at least concerned about batteries and electronics.

I love it!! I bet your wife didn't leave her car unlocked after that.

That actually sounds like a really good way to teach people to lock their car.

The only time I take it off its mount and store it is in the summer and when I'm in public. At home or at work during cool weather, I just leave it.

When I take it off the mount, I put it in the arm rest.

I don't bring it inside or take it with me unless I have a reason to do so.

I always bring my GPS inside with me both at work as well at home....

When I first got my 260 I always took it with me. It was so small, it was easy to put in a pocket or my wife's bag. When I bought the 255W with the case, it was harder to fit in my pocket but not impossible. I have started to leave it in my center console with the cable, when we are out. My beanbag slips under the seat. My thinking is "Out of sight, out of mind". Do I worry that it might be gone when I get back? YES! When at home I take it in.

When traveling about town I leave it in my car, but if I head out to Portland or Seattle, I take it with me.

I always take mine out and carry it with me while I go around parking lots farting in cars.

I leave mine in the car, but use a bean bag....

My Nuvi comes inside most of the time. I just feel better when it is inside my house.

At first she said she'd never leave her car unlocked again. As time has gone on though, she's been leaving it unlocked more and more since then. I still think she locks it though when she is at Walmart.

I bring both my GPS and my iPod inside at night. One night with freezing temps I forgot my iPod in the car, and my scroll wheel hasn't worked right since.

I'm a field service person and if I go into my office I bring it with me to keep it safe. If I go to an account then I keep it in the car, hopefully well hidden, I tend to leave my coat unattended at times. At night I bring it in just in case I have an emergency POI file that I need to add! I have a XM radio that I keep in the car as well that I remove from the mount but leave the mount sitting in one of my cupholders.

I also stow the bean bag mount under my seat ... let theives look for GPS circles on the windshield!

As far as overheating in the car I think as long as you keep windows cracked a little you should be OK as long as the sun doesn't beat on the unit. I don't know what to think about freezing weather as the LCD can freeze. I notice that my XM radio takes a while until the scrolling becomes clear enough to read easily after sitting out all night in freezing conditions.

Mine too is mounted, hidden away only so I can see and find it. Somebody have to be really desperate to find it when you cant even see anything from the outside!!

Would love to see a pic of the custom mount/compartment.

#1 always put in case, so if I accidently drop, it has some protection.

#2 always bring it indoors.

I left my Nuvi out in the cold car 2 nights ago; she decided to up and leave me! I found half her power cable on the ground 50 ft away...

I bring it inside whenever possible. Sometimes I want to plug it into the computer and there are other times that I do not take it with me in the car. So, it works better keeping it inside.

The battery is even more vulnerable to weather!

My units never get left alone, I like them to much and worked to hard to get them. And if you think thieves don't migrate to small towns to do their deeds, well, be careful with that then.

I take with me.

in the cold the battery is affected but the 530 is always plugged in so battery life really does not matter to me. My experience has been that the battery still charges well and holds the charge when it warms up.

I figure my car stereo (Alpine) has chips and graphics, etc. and it does not come in so I just don't worry about the GPS

Regards, Ted

On where and what I am doing. In and out and I can see my car, I will put it and the bean bag mount on the floor out of sight, doors locked of course. Cannot see vehicle from where I plan on being, its going for a ride.

I do the same..

My Nuvi is relatively new, less than 6 months, and is in the car only when I’m in the car, wouldn’t think of leaving it behind.

Lots of chatter about temperatures and the affect on the operation/battery etc… I use a suction mount and as most people do, mine is attached to the windshield.

I’ve noticed that the unit gets pretty ‘warm’ – ‘hot’ from the car heater when running on defrost and on sunny days it just bakes.

Anyone have problems with high heat when used in this location?

Up to this past weekend it always came in with me. However this weekend was a camping trip and it was a toss up where it would be the safest (more so from damage than theft). Took it down, wiped all marks from the window and stored it under the floor (caravan with under the floor storage).

Here's one of these circulating warning emails:

"A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football match. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean up the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents."

Just leave it.....

Except for the use of the GPS, there is nothing new here and it definitely bears repeating. Almost everybody has some kind of document in the glove box with their home address on it (insurance, registration, etc.). If you also have a portable garage door opener transmitter, then you are vulnerable.

Editorial comment: It never ceases to amaze me how totally stupid "average" people can be. Leaving wallets, purses and other valuables in UNLOCKED cars....or worse, the keys in the ignition.....only to have it stolen. Surprise...NOT...DUH!

the vehicle registration (glove box) + the garage door opener yields the same result.

Where I go...NUVI goes.

in the vehicle, even at work.

As to temperature concerns my Nuvi goes into the house if it’s going to below 0 overnight. I read somewhere perhaps on this site that the LCD's don't like really cold temps. I have a satellite radio and the read out on cold mornings is all fouled up.
As far as security reasons go, during customer calls the GPS sits in front of the tach on my dash. Some what hidden from causal view. But at overnight hotel stops the car is stripped of everything not standard equipment. I also carry my overnight bag in the back seat, where everything is put. I carry my bag into my room with my gear for safe keeping overnight. My theory is if someone is watching the parking lot when you come to the hotel they will see you open the trunk and assume you're putting the GPS or Sat radio in the trunk. So your car could be come a target unwittingly.

i usually take mine in but at times i leave mine in my glove box in houston tx during summer months, weather hasnt really had an effect on the screen

I take mine inside, ask this question again after I have had it for a year or so.

I always take mine (Nuvi 350) with me. It's not only my GPS, but my MP3 player for podcasts.

My first Magellan would not function below it's operating temperature. If it was too cold, it would say so and go into a 'warming' mode. It never took too long to warm up, even in Minnesota at 20 below,so I left out of sight it in the car. No impact to operation or performance ever noted.

always in the house or my pocket

keep it safe from all elements.

I've had my 660 nuvi and 330 unit for 2 and 3 years respectively. I spend winters in s florida where the temp in the car is often 95 degrees plus and in upstate ny where in december it often drops to 10 degrees. I keep my gps units in both cars and have not experienced any battery problems. my 330 was in the car at home for 6 months while I was in florida. When I returned I found the battery still fully charged.
gusb

I take my GPS in at home so I have it for updates. On the road i just stick it under the seat.

I tend to leave mine in the car most of the time. Has not seemed to hurt it yet.

Always take it with me!

I don't leave it in a vehicle unless it's locked up.

The Garmin manual states .To maximize the lifetime of the battery do not leave your nuvi in direct sunlight,and avoid prolonged exposure to excessive heat.Based on that and the possibility of theft I take it with me when I leave the vehicle.

I never leave it in my car. besides for the heat, im worried it will get stolen. its small enough to carry with me.

Always take it with me. Too many auto break ins around here.

At work I lock it in the trunk and place the beanbag out of sight on the floor. At home I take it inside with me.

People who leave their GPS in plain sight and get it stolen remind me of women who leave their purses on the seat and then are amazed when someone steals the thing. I see it in the paper all the time. A car is broken into and the purse or laptop that was left in plain sight on the car seat is stolen. I have no sympathy for these people. Fools abound.

As for temperature (gee - something more relevant to the original question) I don't leave it in the trunk during the summer when it gets HOT here. I don't want to leave the unit in the trunk when it's 110 degrees or more outside.

With the previous comments regarding temperature, I think I will be bringing it in from now on.

I take mine with me. Out of sight - Out of mind.

OK, so here's the thing, my Nuvi stays in it's case in the glove box unless and until I need it... No reason to have it mounted to go to and from work.

When using it to go somewhere upon arrival it gets disconnected and the mount, unit and cable go in the glove box. A quick wipe of the windshield.. no evidence at all.

I live in Phoenix, AZ and I've never had a problem with it sitting in the glove box even during the summer heat.

I will admit that I do lock the glove box in some situations and even remove the unit when the car goes in for an oil change

It only takes 3-5 minutes to put the GPS away instead of leaving it up there to tempt someone.

could you give me an idea of how many days it might typically sit in your glove compartment between trips?

I am curious as to how long the battery would last when shutdown, sort of in standby mode.