Stolen!

I mount the cradle on top of the winshield, wiring the power cable to the dome light and use the sun visor to cover when I leave the car. The unit always inside the glove box with lock. The top of winshield usually have dark blue tint so thiefs wont see anything in that area from outside.

Saturday Night, my Honda Element wasn't lock properly. My Good Old C330 was stolen. Feel so bad

Simple, don't leave it in the car. Guess that extra 5 seconds, every time you turn it on, was too much, so the thief got a free GPS that was ready to be used.

At least if they get mine, I won't let them have the satisfaction of being able to use it, Still, I never leave it in the car.

People, be smart. The reason the stolen GPS is a good market for them, is because of stupid people leaving them to be stolen.

I thought with prices coming down as much they have it would be sage now at most places, apperently not.

I don't think I'd have the stones to admit it, or the stones to admit it , of all places HERE!! You must know what everone is thinking, but would never admit to here. Oh well, no use in crying over spilled milk...

you might want to touch base with garmin, since all the units have individual serial numbers is some every tries to update it they could notify the police.

A free GPS is a free GPS, after all . . .

I will start stashing my garmin away to prevent it from getting stolen after seeing this thread.

Thieves have to steal more GPSr than they used to in order to be make same level of profit.

Well, both. If we all used Garmin Lock, they'd have a lot less theft appeal. I think I've read that they have a value of about $25 to fences, assuming they're unlocked.

Unless some units have more than a 4 digit code, it apparently doesn't take all that long to defeat one.

On another site, after coming along with a question and determining his newly acquired GPS was hot, he was back less than 48 hours later asking questions about how to use it... yeah, not the brightest bulb... but he defeated the lock pretty quickly.

0000

0001

0002

you get the idea.

At a Super 8 in Albuquerque, thieves smashed my truck window and stole everything. The GPS was stolen from under the seat along with disposable cameras. They even stole my Bible. The parking lot had flood lights but no security cameras. My truck was visible from the street.

Maybe they'll read Exodus 20:15 and take it to heart.

Unfortunately the Garmins are receive-only, so there's no tracking possible. Apple's MobileMe service provides some tracking/remote wipe, but it's extra $$ per month for the feature.

Sweetie, I am so sad to hear this, that really sucks.

Miss POI

Not to be overly negative, but the locking feature is not going to prevent a thief from stealing my GPS. By the time he or she knows it's locked, I already have damage to my car and a missing GPS.

Taking it with me is best choice in my mind. Once a thief gets into my car for the GPS based on windshield marks or mounts sitting on the floor, they are also going to check the glove box and other quick stash locations while they are in the car. They may not find my GPS but they may find that camera in the glove box or the iPod cabe in the side panel pocket.

Any way you look at it, the owner has to pay for a new GPS and fix the car of any damage during the theft. The only difference may be that the thief has a bricked GPS as opposed to a salable one. I am sure there are ways to un-brick a GPS.

I'm not foolish enough to leave my GPS in the car. I have played with Garmin lock, but I found it very error prone on accepting the digital input on the small touch screen, and it is completely unneeded if I take the GPS with me. Are you suggesting that I and others should hassle with Garmin lock, so that you or others can feel better about the foolish choice to leave the GPS in the car where it can be stolen? Do you think that all thieves know about Garmin lock? Do you believe that the thief will look close enough to tell if the GPS is a Garmin or some other brand that does not have the Garmin lock option, before doing a quick smash and grab? Since I never leave the GPS in the car unattended, how does my not using Garmin lock impact you or others who do in any way? After all, no thief is going to get a GPS by breaking into my car, although he may get one, and may even be able to defeat the weak 4 digit lock, from those who lock it and leave it in the car.

Does that mean you never ever forget to take valuables with you when leaving your car? Honestly, not even once?

I used to think the same way you do; who needs the lock feature if I always take the GPS unit with me when leaving the car.

It's all good until a couple of weeks ago when was in Las Vegas with my relatives. I drove 5 hours (with stops) + a few more hours of walking/driving at night to show my relatives around Vegas. At the end of the night, around 11 pm, I was so exhausted. Got out of my car and went back to our room to get some rest.

When I was about to leave my room the next morning I realized my GPS isn't anywhere in my room. I totally forgot if I took it with me or left it in the car. Naturally, I started to panic. So I walked fast to my car (that darn Vegas hotel seems 10x larger that it actually is) parked in the parking structure. Open the door... Voila! It's in the door side 'pocket'. Take a deep breath... so relieved.

Thank God no one knows (and it's a good thing I don't like valet parking). It's not just the GPS that I'm worried about. I just can't imagine driving on the I-15 freeway (back to Los Angeles) in gusty wind, for 200+ miles, with a missing window. It's just unpleasant.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. You never know these days/. We live in what we think is a safe area but people have had stuff taken from their cars over night. They left their cars outside.

I sat on a citizen based policing board and our Sargent always quoted the figure to show how one of the largest calls for service came from items stolen from garages. Residents would leave the large door open and golf clubs, bicycles, lawn mowers and the like would disappear.

If you ask the any police officer if it's a good idea to leave valuable property (GPS, purses, phones, etc ...) in an unlocked vehicle, they will all tell you that it is not. My friend is a cop and saw my GPS on the dashboard of my car. He was five minutes into his lecture on not leaving it there before I could interupt him and show him how easy it is to remove everything from the car.

Having your stuff stolen is a double wammy anyway you cut it. The feeling of being violated and having to repair/replace the missing and damaged. Determined thieves can get into just about anything given enough time and opportunity. Just watch the annual car thief competitions. It's scary how fast they can be in and gone. I wouldn't be so hard on guys who don't take their valuables with them. How many times have backpacks/briefcases/purses been lifted from inside buildings? How many people have ever been robbed and been forced to hand their valuables to a thief? A thief getting a "locked" unit doesn't give me much piece of mind either. I still have to replace it no matter what. I guess the best idea is to present a non-appealing target. Park next to the car with the window open and the good stuff in plain view. In the end, it may not be your day. As the Good Book says "some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you." Maybe the Arabs got it right. Hard to steal with no freaking hands!

A Crackhead will even break your $ 300 Window for a Quarter in your cup holder. Believe it.

God Bless Them!