Garmin Lock?

I use the Garmin Lock on my Nuvi 750. I would guess that once your GPS gets stolen, very few owners ever see them again whether the Garmin Lock was activated or not. My feeling is that making the unit useless to a thief is a good thing.

If most people locked their units, they would not be a popular theft item.

I'm purchasing labels for my units from http://www.stuffbak.com

If the unit is stolen and the thief finds that it's locked they can either throw it away or send it in for the reward. While I don't really want to reward thieves, I DO want to get my unit back.

I'll be putting these labels on both of my GPS units, the new GPS I'm getting (free!) for my wife, and our cell phones.

-This sounds worth looking into to me, thanks for posting it!-

You are required to have your insurance and registration. Unless you are the only driver, you need to leave them in the car, which is where everyone leaves them. I suppose there are some people who carry them with them, but I've yet to meet a single one.

If someone breakes into your car, they have your address already.

Riiiight, that sound convenient. Sure, every time I get out of the car I'm going to remove everything from the car. Let's see, I have my phone chargers (two different ones, one for my phone, on for my wife's), the USB power ports, the ipod to Cassette adapter, the GPS, the mount, my tire gague, flashlight, car jack, flares, first aid kit, emergency coats and a blanket, spare tire, owner's manual, leatherman, rear seat DVD player... the list goes on.

I take out my iPod, and I take the GPS out if I am parked in a large public lot (airport, stadium, amusement park, etc). Mostly, I just stick it in the glove compartment, and the DVD player's two screens go into a soft side case if we're going to be out of the car any length of time.

I agree

Usually people don't break into cars unless they think there is something worth stealing or they want to steal the car. Using the security function eliminates the thief's from using the unit. I would drive to a different area to load the security location. That way at least if it is stolen they won't be able to use it unless they know the pin number. I would not load the security location at my home. That's what I do....

Yep, I guess I am the one, I keep my insurance card in my wallet. We are not required to keep the registration with us in our state. Police do a search of the plate # and if it matches the drivers license, then there is no problem. And if it doesn't, then they will ask you the name of the owner. If you know it, then you get your ticket and go on. If you don't, well the next time you see the dude you borrowed the car from, you better have some cash so he can get it out of the pound.

I don't leave the unit in my car. Ever. But the lock is a good idea -- I agree if the stolen GPSs are useless to the thieves, the thefts might be reduced.

I have my Garmin lock set (the unlock site is NOT at my home) and am using the stuffbak reward splash screen provided by Trapperman in the thread located here: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/10688?page=1

Using the Garmin lock, that splash screen, and the stuffbak.com label on the back of the nüvi 760 I have covered all the bases I can. If I lose the unit (or it's stolen) I have a decent chance of getting it back.

Whoever finds (or steals) the unit won't be able to use it and they WILL be able to contact stuffbak.com anonymously and get a reward for the return of the nüvi. They can contact stuffbak via the web site or the toll free 800 number and will be able to get the stock reward of $20 worth of stuffbak labels plus I have also set an additional $50 cash reward. Stuffbak will tell them to drop it at any UPS dropoff location and will send them the labels and the cash. Of course I'll have to reimburse stuffbak for the $50 but it's worth it to me to get my unit back.

I have put these labels on my cell phones and both GPS units. I also have a tag on my keychain. Independent tests by various news sources have shown that these things work. Stuffbak claims a 75% return rate but the tests by the news stations had a slightly higher return rate.

You can view video of the news segments here: http://www.stuffbak.com/sb/media/

I agree. I just lost mine and wish I had locked it.

While locking them may not prevent every theft... it does prevent giving it to the thief on a silver platter, fully operational & all. Take away any thief's incentive by taking away their reward!

I doubt most thieves are going to break in, look at the brand, and decide to leave it since it might have Garmin lock enabled. It has zero value if it's locked, so I guess the poor drug addict breaking in my car won't be getting high tonight.

Guess NOT!

Good point!. That is why I keep my insurance card and car registration in my wallet.

ohwogo nuvi 750

I would be sure to go to a different location when setting the lock mode. They could very easily find out your address. That is how I have mine set up...

There is an intersection I have to pass in order to get in or out of my residential area. I set this as my "Home" location.

Hi,

I have mine locked, I set my location by driving to the local police station.

I don't think someone who just stole my GPS is going to go by a pct.

I never used the lock on my Nuvi and after some reading I’m willing to try it out. Let’s say a set location two blocks away from my resident. Would this be one of the wise ways to set this lock?

Anyway, just to share. I just got a new Pinnacle Security from http://www.workforpinnacle.com, an added security lock for the house. Very convenient.

I smell spam! What does that link have to do with the Garmin Lock?

Now that you posted this, every thief, that steals a GPS, will drive by a police station to see if it unlocks.

do you think there are thieves who audit this site so they can learn the tricks?

I'm still puzzled by the concept of the safety location. If you set it at home (or close to it) you get the following problems:
- The unit generally takes too much time to get it's original position in the morning so unless you want to wait in front of your house, you end up entering the PIN so you can go
- A thief can probably figure out where you live and drive around the neighborhood to unlock the device. Once unlock , he can change the pin number to his choosing (or remove it?)

Another solution is to set it at a location where you generally drive by, but not so close to your house so that the unit has locked on the satellites by the time you pass by. However, this means you can't prepare your trip and enter a "where to" before starting driving (not a very good idea).

I wish there was a more convenient but safe solution.

The purpose of the safety location is to provide you with a place that you can go to to unlock your GPS unit if you can't remember the PIN number.

It's purpose is not (at least to my understanding) to necessarily allow you to not have to input the number when you are at home and starting out your route.

Here is a link that explains the use of the Garmin lock and the Security Location.

http://www8.garmin.com/uk/garminlock/index.jsp

It seems that way. How precise has the location to be to release the device?

Then maybe the best safety location could be the owner's backyard (or balcony for condo residents) as it is not (normally) accessible to a thief or driving around.

I bought mine here:
http://infosystemspro.net/Catalog.aspx?pid=StuffBak%20Labels...

For 7.95, you get 2 different sized stickers, 9.95 for 3... I used one on my Nuvi, one on my 60CSX. Any size will work with the Nuvi, but the longer one worked best on my 60CSX. Shipping is free, and you can get 10% off some of the packages by entering STUFFBAK10 at checkout.

No affiliation other than being a happy customer.

I just looked on ebay and see many packages there too...

How close do you have to be to your safety location to use the GPS without your PIN. If it is too wide an area, it really doesn't protect you.

I remember reading somewhere that you need to be within 100 yards of the secure location.

That means that even if I use the inside of my house or backyard, someone can access my GPS outsid my house.

If a thief steals your Garmin they will know where you live. So you should never use your home as your security location.

Just set the security location at some obscure spot. A nearby bus stop, your friends house, etc. You would only need to go to the security location if you forget your PIN. So it doesn't have to be a convenient location. Someone once said they set their location on the lake at their favorite fishing spot!!

Even if you pick a spot away from your home, if the GPSr is on when it passes the spot, it will unlock. Therefore, a bus stop near your house is just as likely to unlock the unit as your own home. I have mine set for my driveway, however about a block away it unlocks. I don't expect a thief to actually come to my home, however I will reset it to another location going forward.

Are you saying that you could just drive around and when you hit the "safe" area, it automatically unlocks. That seems strange to me as it doesn't seem to offer any protection. Wouldn't it be better if you had to do something at the "safe" area for it to unlock.

People in general are not very swift when it comes to taking steps to prevent theft (attitude). Take your GPSr and valuables out of the car and keep your car locked..

My understanding and my experience is that it's less than 50 feet.

I use mine all the time. If someone steals my unit, it will not work.

Not when I use it on my 680. If I'm off by a foot, it locks.

But I still use it just to spite the thief. BTW, I have contact info on the splash screen in case its recovered by police.

Based on testing I did with my 660, I would have to agree with MM - within about 50 ft unlocks my 660.

I have mine set to a location near my house, but NOT along any street someone would have to drive on to get to my house.

I have tried it and it will not unlock just driving on any of the nearby streets leading to my house. After setting the location initially, I drove away, powered cycled the 660 and let it boot back up to the Enter PIN screen. I then drove towards the unlock location and the unit unlocked when I was 50-75 feet away.

Having said that, maybe the Garmin engineers have tightened up that distance in the firmware of newer models, I don't know.

EDIT: I also have contact info on my custom splash screen (for the honest person who may find it if I lose it).

Yes, when you hit the area, the unit unlocks. Sometimes I don't bother to unlock the GPSr when driving, but when I near my home, the unit unlocks.

On my GPSr, I just ran a test and the unit unlocked at a distance of 67 yards (almost 200ft) from where I set it.

Wow!

200' seems like a bit to much for my likeing-

Yea... with that one, I think shorter is better!

after my gps got stolen... i WISH i had garmin locked it. im mad that it got stolen from my friend's car... it kills me.

they need to construct either a gps finder or a self-destruct button. there are cell phones in europe where if you keep plugging in the wrong password, it will make a very loud screeching/annoying sound.

I don't use it but after reading some comments in this forum, I may start.

I don't want others to know where I have been, how fast I have been going, nor where my "favorite" places are. Just don't need to share that information.

I wouldn't use my home as the "secret" location since if it gets stolen from my car, my registration or other paper may give that away. Anyone that uses a year (1900 - 2010) is certainly not using the best code, either.

Thanks to this forum for some really great ideas.

Can't hurt, might help!

there should be a fingerprint / voice recognition.. im just lazy...

That'd be nice-

I use it. Anything to make it hard for a thief to get any advantage.

print recognition would be great.

I also use the Garmin lock for the very reasons already stated. However, I take additional steps to keep my home address from the criminals.

Although California Vehicle Code requires the actual or a facsimile of the registration card to be maintained in your vehicle, I scan the card to PDF and then black out the street address, leaving only my name and the city. They will eventually find me but at least this will slow them down. I also do the same with my insurance card.

I would doubt any LEO would question or complain about me hiding my street address. If they do, the explanation is that it prevents me from being further victimized by the criminal if they steal my car which would mean one less report they will have to write up.