Leave GPS in car or take inside?

I usually leave it when in a temporary stop, but I take it off the dash and place it on the floor covered by a towel. If a longer stop, as in overnight I'll take it inside, or at least put it in the trunk.

I usually take my GPS in the house when not needed. On a temporary stop, I usually hide it away before I get there.

How can you play with it if it has been locked out in the car all alone in the cold and darkness?

Can't afford to buy another one every time the kids use the car

I normally leave my gps in the car, hidden in the center console.

I use a proclip vent mount so its not readily apparent to the uneducated eye that my car has something to steal. The ac adapter cord is hidden behind the dash housing via the vent opening.

Easy to mount and dismount. Two seconds on a slow day!

When I lived in an apartment complex, I had my vehicles broken-into many times--even when there was nothing to steal. Before I got my own portable unit, I'd see people leave theirs in their cars at the malls and always thought it would be so easy just to smash and grab.

I have my own garage and portable unit now, and I don't always remove the GPS from my dash--mostly because I'm lazy. However, I've had to park my vehicle outside overnight for the summer and a couple different nights my car alarm gave out a warning signal (like someone was checking it out) so now I'm paranoid. I used to just remove the GPS and radar detector from the dash and put it in the center console. Now I totally empty the vehicle if it's parked outside.

I used to have a cheap car stereo with a removable faceplate that I hid under my seat. The car was broken into and stereo and faceplate were missing so the crooks know that a lot of owners must do the same as I did.

I put PIN security on my GPS and I'd hope that thieves would assume that most people would have some sort of security code so it wouldn't be worth it to steal, but how easy are the codes to break? And maybe I give the crooks too much credit in the brain department.

nevermind

I even remove my nuvi 465t from the cradle and put it in my pocket when re-fueling and running into the truck stop to pick up my receipt.

Still doing this practice for the past five years in Greater LA area so the theft factor is obviously very high.

So either "borrowed time" is running out or, I'm just lucky..

Aways take it in. My son left his GPX in his car in his Garage. Someone broke into the garage and took both his GPX and Sat. radio.

Be careful – If you play with it to often you might go blind….

I used to take with me, but now I just leave it in glove compartment.

I'm 60 miles east of LA and theft is a high factor. I remove my 760 and windsheild mount everytime I exit my car

I agree with the fact that batteries don't generally like the heat - Bring it inside!

I always take it with me, into the house when I am home and into my purse, when I am away. I don't want to take the chance that someone will steal it.

I always make it a point to take it inside or with me when I leave the car. It makes it handy to have it in the house if I want to update the RLC file or check Garmin for software version updates.

I can't be bothered to worry about such things, smart or not. My radar detector and GPS stay in the vehicle and are both very hot to the touch. The display will be dim at first when the unit is hot. Sometimes after I get in, I direct the A/C out the defrost vents to help cool it down. They were built to take the heat.

My GPS always stays in the car these days. I used to bring it inside, but I would forget to bring it back to the car, defeating the purpose of having a GPS navigator.

I always bring my GPS inside. I also never leave the section cup on the windshield, expecially when parking the car in a parking lot. I don't want to take a chance on someone breaking into the car because they think a GPS might be hiding inside.

David

I leave nothing of value in any of my cars. Living in the Los Angeles area, street crime is all too common.

I leave nothing in my car, not just because I worry about it going missing, but it is also the repair costs to broken windows, destroyed door key locks and the associated body and paint work, and attempted prying open of the doors also causing body and paint damage.

I have been down this road before. I have had several stereos disappear and have personally gone through all the above mentioned glass and body/paint repairs in at least 4 incidents in my life so far.

I havent been broken into since I dont leave the idiots anything to steal.

If it were only the couple hundred for the GPS, it wouldnt be as big an issue. The costs can escalate $400-$600 or more over the loss of the GPS itself.

Hope everyone stays safe and crime free!
Vanman

I take only the GPS in with me, but now I am not sure it is okay to leave the GPS mount on the dash?

WHen i first got my gps, it always came with me.
Lately though i';ve gotten in the habbit of leaving it in the car, but under something on the passenger seat, when I go into say the CIrcle K for smokes, but most of the time, the heat and the fact I;m in The Big CIty in SOuthern California make me paranoid.

Being someone active here, and doing some Geocaching, I need to synch my gps with data files on my computer fairly often, so thats another reason to take it in the house. Of course, there's the "Last Postition" bookmark my Nuvi does when I unplug it from the in-car power adapter - great feature when I'm in one of the huge parking areas here in Southern California.....

Most of the time it's in the car. If I feel it is not a safe area I take it with

Mine stays on the dash. I never take it down. My wife puts hers on the floor or seat so it is less noticeable.

That's a good enough reason for thieves to break your window to steal a GPS or something valuable if they don't find a GPS. You may not lose any valuable items but you'll definitely have to spend some $ to fix a broken window.

I carry mine everywhere. Very rarely leave it in the car and that's only if I am going to only be a moment or two. I get lazy when it comes to taking the hookup and cables. But I ususally just lay those on the floor. Just don't want a broken window and/or to lose my toy. Not worth the risk. I have had my car broken into before and it is not very nice.

always take mine with me.

I usually leave mine in the glove compartment to keep it out of sight, and bring it in occasionally.

Take it with you, always, without question.
You never know when you'll need it.

You may leave your gps in your car if you have a car garage or car port but don't leave it especially if your car is just parked outside your house. You may never know when a car theft or burglar will attack.
windshields

I don't usually bring it in unless I'm updating a file or doing something with my nuvi hooked to my computer. I use a beanbag mount, so no suction cup marks, and it fits pretty neatly under the front seat of my truck.

I've never worried about the display - I fly an open-cockpit biplane that has had a Garmin 430 GPS in the instrument panel for several years. The airplane is hangared, but the hangar is not climate-controlled. The hangar has a metal roof, and I've seen hangar temps >130'F in the summer and <0'F for days on end. The GPS display has always worked - never had a problem with it, not even once.

It's even accidentally gotten wet a few times when the airplane has been parked outside and gotten rained on/in. Never had a problem, so I don't worry about the nuvi. I figure at the worst the screen technology has stayed the same, and at best it has improved since the 430 was built.

I don't the weather changes are not good for the gps unit. I use a bean bag mount, move the unit to the trunk on trips during the nice weathet and put it in travel case when its not that nice weather.

Mark

I've been taking mine with me wherever I go. It's been used while I've been out of the truck for other purposes too. BTW, I'm wondering how long the mini usb power connection is going to last with unplugging it on a daily basis? I wish it received power like my satellite radio thru the cradle.

if I'm going to be out of the car for a significant time, such as during the workday. I also don't like to leave it subjected to high heat (here in CA) for a prolonged period.

more work but rather than have a window broke.

I use a beanbag placed on the dash. I put the charger and GPS in the glove box, the beanbag under the rear of the front seat (out of sight), and then I lock the car.

From the outside, there is no visual evidence that a GPS had been in use.

I usually take it in because most of the time it's not needed (local trips). On the road I like to keep it with me, but will leave in in the mount on the floor & out of sight if I'll only be a few minutes away.

i always take my GPS inside when i leave the car.. and take down the suction cup off the window too. i dont like tempting fate for some dirtbag to bust my window out to steal it.

I feel that both my neighborhood and parking garage are relatively "safe", so I usually leave the mount but take or hide the GPS unit itself.

At home I usually take the GPS unit inside b/c so I can download all these good POIs.

I take mine inside when at home, I keep it in my pocket when parked, and put it in a small ice chest when at work. The ice chest will keep it from getting too hot in summer, or too cold in winter.

Looks like everybody's consensus is not to leave the GPS unit in the car or garage. ^_^

My 660 stays on the dash. My wife likes to bring hers inside.

Having worked for a major Defense contractor as an electronic technical for more than 30 years,I have witness numerous electronic failures due to exposure to temperature extremes. Temperatures inside a car, especially around the top of the dash and the windshield area are significantly above the limits that your GPS is designed to operate under. If you continually subject your GPS to those extreme temperatures you will stress components and shorten it's life span. Put your GPS a place where it will be exposed to normal temperatures when not in use.

How long does it take to open a lock vehicle door?

The other question to ask yourself how well your cd player does works after 10 years of extreme temperature exposure or your vehicle’s computer.

I carry mine with me as a simple solution to theft.

Cheers

I have been in electronics and automotive since High School and I turn 65 in December of this year.

The key phrase is "Thermal Cycles". In the world of internal combustion engines, the engines that last the longest are stationary industrial engines that are continuosly running 24/7(properly maintained - oil change, coolant, etc.). Thermal cycles will take the smallest crack in a material and increase the size of the crack until the part fails.

Electronic equipment contains components created using different materials. There are even more chances for fatigue because there are dissimilar materials bonded together that have different expansion rates. Extreme thermal cycles will cause uneven stress on these mechanical/electrical connections which will result in early failures.

So, take the GPS inside. The GPS will last longer and so will the battery inside it.

I take mine in and after leaving it plugged in for a week or so in my garaged truck it drained my battery so after use its gets taken in..

If I'm making a stop, I leave it in the console of my car. When I get home I bring it inside and put it on the table. Since I don't use it every day, or sometimes, every week, after a few hours I put it in the fridge. (Search on extending battery life) When I am going to use it again I take it out at least an hour before I leave so it can reach room temperature again before I power it up. Though we don't usually have much humidity here in Tucson, I leave it in its case so no condensation forms on the unit itself.

I leave it in the car, never had a problem.

I always take the thing with me. But not because I'm afraid of it being stolen. I'm worried about it draining my battery.

The Li-Ion batteries do very poorly in heat. Stored in a room at 104 degrees F for a year, the Li-Ion battery will lose 35% of it's max charge. And the other downside to Li-Ion batteries is that you can't force a charge to increase the max charge (like you can with the NiMH).