Just curious GPS in your vehicle at all times?

 

I've been reluctant to leave mine in my car. According to the newscasts, they report that GPS units are now the hot item being stolen out of cars.

I take mine off and bring it in the house at the end of a trip. I also take it off when I get to my destination and hide it in my armrest compartment, glovebox or under the seat. (My secret is out.)

My brother has had two of his Garmins stolen from his car. Both had passwords, but the thief doesn't know that until he's got the unit.

I can replace the GPS, but don't want my car broken into.

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Originator of Keeping Your Windmill Alive. Live in MA & have a cooking website. 6 yr. member. http://kitchentoysmakecookingfun.blogspot.com/

My coworker never takes his

My coworker never takes his out, sorta a pain to do so with his.

However, I am like you. I always take it out because of two reasons...

1) I don't want it to be stolen and it is easy to steal (no wires attached)
2) I don't want the hot sun to bake it. I take my GPSr and RD out whenever it gets hot.

Removing it is so easy with our models that I can't think of a reason NOT to take it out (or hide it).

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

I take mine out of the car 98% of the time

One of the advantages of my Nuvi350 is size - no bigger than a deck of playing cards - slips easily into a front shirt pocket. About the only times I don't take it out is refueling - I leave it in the pickup while I go in and grab a beverage & snack and pay (unless I paid at the pump...); running into the post office to get the mail, or if I'm making a quick stop at the grocery store - otherwise, if it's not on the bracket on the dash, it's in my pocket, or on the desk at home when I don't take it along on a local errand.

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*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

Same

I only leave mine in the vehicle if I am in plain view of th vehicle. Never overnight ( i have to park in the street in my neighborhood), of while i am at the office during the day.

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Garmin 660; Nintendo DS soft carry case, YM, rd1chaos, Blackberry PIN 30154995, way too many gadgets to list here.

Out of Sight

I think out of sight is a sure way to avoid it from being stolen I have a quick disconnect on my Garmin dashboard mount and just move the Garmin C550 to the seat and cover it with a piece of paper when I leave the vehicle. I think as long it’s out of sight it doesn’t “ask to be stolen”.

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Ham radio Operator W9WOW. Using Garmin Streetpilot C550. Mac G5 Duo with Mac OS 10.4.10

I am too poor to risk

I am too poor to risk leaving in the window! LOL

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Allways remove it when I'm away from home.

kch50428 wrote:

One of the advantages of my Nuvi350 is size - no bigger than a deck of playing cards - slips easily into a front shirt pocket.

I take my c530 with me whenever I'm out of the car (except at home in the garage). Unfortunately the c530 is a little bulkier than the Nuvi, so I either cary it in my hand or in my wife's purse. Wish they would put a belt clip on the case for the c530.

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Garmin StreetPilot c530, Mapsource

Amen to that (the belt

Amen to that (the belt clip)!!! Boy that would really turn me into a GPS geek...lol. No more pocket protectors in today's world.

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

A word of caution...

If you take your device out of your vehicle but leave the mount behind, you might be just as vulnerable to a break-in as if you had left the unit in the vehicle.

Also, if you remove a mount from the windshield be sure to remove the 'suction-cup rings' that are left behind. Why? A brazen thief will notice those tell tale signs (the rings) and not hesitate to see if maybe you've left the GPS unit in the glove-box.

Mike L.

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Freedom isn't free...thank you veterans! Heard about the tests to detect PANCREATIC CANCER? There aren't any! In Memoriam: #77 NYPD-SCA/Seattle Mike/Joe S./Vinny D./RTC!

Windows busted, but I still

Windows busted, but I still have my GPSr...lol. Good points though. I am not sure how many ppl will rub off those rings on the windsheild though. But it wouldn't hurt too.

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Glad to know I'm not paranoid

Mike L. wrote:

If you take your device out of your vehicle but leave the mount behind, you might be just as vulnerable to a break-in as if you had left the unit in the vehicle.

Also, if you remove a mount from the windshield be sure to remove the 'suction-cup rings' that are left behind. Why? A brazen thief will notice those tell tale signs (the rings) and not hesitate to see if maybe you've left the GPS unit in the glove-box.

Mike L.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one wiping the rings off the windshield. smile
A friend of mine thought I was being paranoid, I prefer to call it cautious.

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Originator of Keeping Your Windmill Alive. Live in MA & have a cooking website. 6 yr. member. http://kitchentoysmakecookingfun.blogspot.com/

wow, so some do do that huh?

wow, so some do do that huh? It is good to be cautious! I am just too lazy I guess.

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Is the Garmin Lock really useful?

This brings up a good point, is there a use of the Gramin Lock feature. the thief will not know its locked until after he has broken in your car, and stolen your unit. He's not going to bring it back if he cant get it to work!! I guessing there is still a way to reset the device completely despite the lock or does it really make the device in operable? My guess also is that people who use the lock choose a birthday or a house number or maybe their PIN to their credit cards???

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Texan Brit

Too Cautious ???

Taking the gps off the mount is a cinch. But sure is a hassle in taking the mount off and then wiping the suction-ring almost everytime I leave the vehicle. But I rather do this little job then having to deal with a broken window and lost gps. (lost $$$ & time)

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HarveyS - Nuvi 350

I don't know how useful the Garmin Lock is...

I'm using it anyway. It gives me great satisfaction to know that if someone steals my GPS they won't be able to use it, or sell it on eBay. I can call Garmin to make sure they don't unlock it for anyone if it is sent in, too.

I think when most GPS units have anti theft and most people use it, there will be so little gain in taking GPSs, that it will go way down. That's another reason I decided to use Garmin Lock -- I want to be part of the solution to the problem.

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Garmin Nuvi 350

I feel the same way about

I feel the same way about the lock. I use it but no one knows until it is too late. Just the satisfaction that it will be unusable unless they know my home address. Should probably relocate my "security" location somewhere other than "home".

I also put my RD and Garmin out of sight but am also too lazy to remove mounts. I did just switch to the weighted beanbag mount and I can just drop the whole thing just under the edge of the drivers seat and plop it back when I return.

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Mark E

Neal

I have the mount set up on the waterfall area of the vehicle(consol area) lower than the dash I then connected an external antenna which sits on the dash out of site I cover the GPS unit with a hat when I'm not in the vehicle. One can not tell there is a unit in the car.

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Neal

Always hide it

I have a 2720, which is a bit on the large side. Overnight I bring it inside. If I'm out and about, I turn it off and unplug when I am within site of my destination (say a block or two), but not in the parking lot, putting it in the a storage compartment before I get parked so there is no reason to think it is in the car. That way, when I am parking, no one has reason to think I'm doing anything other than getting out of my car like everyone else. Or, I'll do that and take it with me - but it is bulky, so that is not what I usually.

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___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

Removing gps from auto.

I use the dash mount I bought from Garmin. I not only keep my gps in the house, but hide the mount in glove compartment. There was a story the other night in New Jersey where they broke into 10 cars, most losing their gps units. Forget the price lost on unit alone, you'll need to replace a window or repair a door lock. Don't tempt a thief!!!! This town has a very low crime rate.

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Alan-Garmin c340

Yeah, I saw on the news this

Yeah, I saw on the news this morning that there were several (like 7 or so) break ins in a 'good' part of richmond, where i live.

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Call me paranoid but I

Call me paranoid but I either have my GPS in the cup holder of my car while I am driving or in my pants pocket if I'm not driving. I don't use the suction cup since it's a dead give away there MAY be a GPS inside. Even the rings left on the window by the suction cup can be just enough to make someone break a window. It's just not worth the risk.

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

Only when I need it...

Okay, so only when I think I will need it. I like downloading tracklogs to my pc when I'm exploring or going somewhere new. I also take it on any sort of trip that takes me out of town.

Running normal errands, going to the office, nope.

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Rusty Myers Austin, TX Garmin eTrex Vista, Zumo 550

I take mine out

I take my GPS out of the car most of the time. If I don't, i'll hide it in the glove compartment. If I'm away from my car for a while, I'll take the suction cup as well. I've never thought about wiping the suction cup too, but that's a very good idea as well.

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Nuvi 350

Well knock on wood, but I

Well knock on wood, but I have had my RD for over two years and havent had any break ins. I leave my mount up most of the time and take my RD with me. I do the same with the GPS.

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Stolen Garmin

My c340 was stolen from my glove compartment 3 months. The car was parked in the parking lot where I work. I guess I forgot to lock the car. That's the only missing thing from my car, nothing else. My wife replaced for me. What a nice wife! Now it goes with me. I guess I'll buy a bean-bag thingie in lieu of the plastic mount from Garmin.

Hiding GPS

The first thing my brother in law in England said when I told him I was coming over there to visit with my Nuvi 670 was that many cars are broken into there when a thief sees only the tell tale sucker marks on the windshield and to make sure to always wipe mine off. They call them Sat-Navs in the UK and there are a lot of them in use, especially Tom Toms. Many get stolen, locked or not. Best to carry it with you. I also have an aircraft GPS, (Garmin GPSmap 196),for which I have a beanbag mount for use in the car. I used it a lot last year for a trans continental trip. The problem with that mount is that it slides about on the dash and can be a pain and a distraction when driving. There are a couple of US states though who prohibit anything being mounted on the windshield so you are forced to use the beanbag or that permanent plastic mount.

I typically take it with me,

I typically take it with me, but not for security reasons; I'm scared of cooking the thing when the car gets hot. Temps over 150 in my parked car are common, and it seems that could do some damage.

Nuvi 680

I have the Nuvi 680 and I bought the beanbag mount with mine........so no windshield marks but I leave mine in most of the time.....if it's hot and sunny out I set it under the seat or on the seat with a newspaper or blanket over it...i think it would be a pain to have to enter the password every time you turn it on ..........so I haven't locked it yet...........The beanbag mount works very well....you can set it wherever you want and it doesn't move..................Dave

We never leave it in the

We never leave it in the car, not because of a theft concern. Since we use our nuvi 350 only when we go to an unfamiliar place and it's so small, we just carry it like a cell phone. When using it, we just place it in a cup holder or somewhere similar. As a matter of fact, the suction cup is still in the box.

I leave my GPSmap76 in my

I leave my GPSmap76 in my work truck on the dash about 90% of the time. I also have some other work specfic electronic that I leave in all of the time and my laptop only comes out on weekends and 1 or 2 time during the week all are in plain view genrally parked on the street just to much stuff to take out every night and never had any problems yet.

Just get two of those stick

Just get two of those stick strip for EZPass, you can stick your GPS on dashboard in literally one second.

No.. i had known incidents

No.. i had known incidents about units being stolen...even in office parkings

Not if your office is in bum

Not if your office is in bum egypt, like mine is!

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Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

I leave my GPSmap76 in my

Loveland, Co? What's the population and crime rate like. New York is better than ever and crime is down, but leave a closed brown bag on your front seat with dirty underwear in it and they'll break your window and take it.

PS Really happened one New Years Eve!!!!

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Alan-Garmin c340

98% of the time with me

My primary mounting is on the bike, second is for use in rental cars when traveling for work (my personal car has a built in unit). The bike mount is not too secure and as others noted, the built in lock feature is not known until it is too late. Hence, I take it with me nearly all the time.