Have you ever bought a stolen GPS on the internet?

In many ways the Internet with its various lists and marketplaces is replacing the less than honest pawnshop and "fence."

In many ways the Internet with its various lists and marketplaces is replacing the less than honest pawnshop and "fence."

I often see a "locked" GPS for sale on ebay ... figure "locked" is just another way of saying "stolen."

The seller is sometimes a pawn shop.

Go figure

Especially when the seller says they "forgot" their PIN and cannot remember where their unlock site is LOL. "Your" GPS and you cannot remember one of two pieces of information related to it?

If buying off places like Ebay just pay with a credit card. Unknowingly or not, if the unit is stolen you do a chargeback and get your money back unless they state otherwise in the auction. With prices so cheap at costco, buy.com or amazon why save a few bucks for a lot of potential hassles?

No I have not but with good prices it's Buyer Beware.

You get what you pay for and when things are known to be used there is always risk and one should use reputable sources for procuring merchandise.

How much did you pay for this Nuvi 760?

I don't buy anything on internet unless I can trust the seller. That is, well know public companies such as amazon or buy.com. I also take other precaution such as by using disposable credit card number that my bank provides.

E-bay and any auction site are on my "BIG NO NO" list.

Otherwise, not only you have been conned, committed a crime of receiving stolen property, but also may be a victim of identity theft if you were not careful on the payment method.

But im sure it is easy to get caught out by some sneaky sellers.

If it has a lock on it, you'll be out of luck. And no warranties, either.

How many tries does one have to unlock? Could I take an evening and try every 4? digit combination until it unlocks and use it? Or does it only allow so many tries before it becomes completely locked?

I refuse to answer on the grounds it may incriminate you...

I have a StreetPilot and am not familiar with the Nuvis, and was curious if having this feature is worthwhile? If it can be defeated somewhat easily, then I don't see the value in it. Not that I'm attempting to purchase a stolen unit

Yes, it can be done that way with no fear of 'locking'.

Just messin' with you a bit!

No I have not anyway the prices are so low why bother!!!

Currently I'm doing a bit of research to see which GPS system I would get if something should happen to my c340 and I can't get another one. I'm leaning toward the 2450LM.

My first impression of the lock is that it isn't worth it if it can be defeated, but at the same time a thief might not bother and would not be able to easily access my addresses, so I think I've changed my mind.

A few years back when I was in Queens NY I was dumb enough to leave the mount attached to the windshield. When I came back I found a pile of broken glass next to my car as they searched it looking for my GPS. That was kept in my hotel room at the time.

I now make sure to hide the mount and remove the suction cup markings every time I leave the car. It is a pain, but worth not going through the hassle of having to get a new window put in

FYI, if anyone needs anything replaced and find themselves in Queens, best place to go for ANYTHING is just east of Shea Stadium...

I bought a "like-new" Magellan Explorist 600 on Ebay to replace my old one that was sluggish. Maybe I was lucky that it was not stolen, but the seller did have all the paper work. Good thing because I did not know that Magellan required me to register the new unit with them in order to transfer detail maps from my PC to the unit.

I had one of those a few years ago. I don't know who told you it had to be registered to transfer maps. All I did was build/select the maps then copy them onto the memory card with a card reader...done. Good luck getting decent maps for that unit. I gave up on it after about a year. On top of that, the map files are limited to 64M in size so you end up loading a ton of maps to the card and manually changing between them when you travelled.

I got a really good deal on a 2011 Accord with 77 miles on it from this guy they call "Easy Andy."

We cannot stand a thief!!! You should report the seller to the FBI since they are engaged in internet fraud. Thieves are low life and should be shot on the spot.

The GPS was sent back to the seller!
Garmin knew the former owner but was not allowed to help me to find the police station were he reported the theft, did everything I could. The only option left was to return the GPS. Maybe it will be on the internet again!!

If you had taken the stolen GPS to your local police department, I would think they could easily find out where it was reported stolen.

Never did report my 'lost/stolen' garmin. Maybe I should have. Didn't know for sure where/when it went missing, although, I did suspect the not-so-nice desk clerk at the 'hotel' we were staying at. Won't be staying there again for oh so many reasons. (Avalon - Deerfield Beach FL - a NO star resort)

Why would you even consider staying at a no star resort???

a. Live and Learn
b. For the HeII of it
c. To hear the wife complain
d. All of the above

I think "C" was your main driving force!!!!! Sometimes it doesn't matter where you stay!!!!

we had our nuvi 1300 stolen from our rental car while vacationing in hawaii. i think it was one of the valets, i suspect they go around the garage each night to see which cars are mistakenly left unlocked. it's probably on craigslist or ebay right now.

we then went to best buy and bought a new nuvi 50, which turned out to be a 'returned' item that the staff just threw back on the shelf to be sold as 'new'. we returned it too, after the rest of the vacation.