I know it's kind of a funny question but I have been really interested in buying one and I want to know if they are more trouble than they are worth. I don't want to buy a HU for over $1500.00 if it is just going to get stolen within a month. How easy are they to remove? Are they just as easy to steal as a single din unit? What have any of you done to make them difficult to steal or not so visible or attractive to the wrong set of eyes?

 

The best thing you can do (IMO) to get a little peace of mind and protect your investment is to install some kind of 2 way paging alarm system either before or at the same time as the new head unit (I recommend the Python 881XP). That way, if someone opens your door/breaks a window/bumps your car/etc. you will know immediately regardless of whether you are 5 feet away, in the supermarket, in the mall, etc etc.

I have a friend that was at a local racetrack sitting in the stands when he got the alert that the door in his Tahoe had been opened (he has the 881XP). He ran off down toward the parking lot and saw a cop, flagged him down and had the cop follow, and found a guy inside his Tahoe removing his big drop down LCD from the cab. Well, needless to say, the cop busted the guy and it probably saved my friend from having his expensive system stolen. Anyway, that incident made a believer out of me and I got the same alarm. Works great and allows me to relax when I'm away from my beloved box.

 

i have, and it really sucked

 

I know a guy here made his double din navi deck recessed a bit more than normal... then he took the face off his stock deck..... and instead of removing the face of his navi(not that its possible) he places the stock units face over it... it sits perfectly flush/stock... so any one peeking in sees a stock unit.

 

I use a tablet laptop for navigation and take it with me whenever I'm not in the car. I usually have a bag on me anyway, so my 3.xlb laptop isn't too much of a pain in the a$$ to drag around...

2 reasons why I didn't go in-dash navi - #1- price and #2- appealing to scum who steal.
- sh00k

 

The one nice thing about my AVIC-D1 is that it looks pretty darn stock from a distance, you would have to really be trying to see what was in my dash. A casual glance though, and you would think it was just a black stock headunit. Had it in my miata for 7 months, and never had an issue, even with the top down.

 

syztematik - I already have one. A Crimeguard 545i3 and I love it!

kkawana - That's a great idea! Any pics?

midtowndesi - I'm still very tempted to just get a seperate navi unit.

Thanks for all the input guys! Keep it coming!

 

What would be a great idea is to find a way to make the tC flip down door work on our cars. Then you could shut the door and no one could see what you have in there.

 

^That's another thing I have been trying to figure out.

 

Somone is selling their door in the classified section, I would love to be able to make this work. Let me know if you decide to undertake the project.

 

cjastacio .... no i dont.... i'll shoot ya a pm.... tho.. of who to ask... figure not fair to broadcast ones theft deterant specs

 

I am thinking of purchasing the avic D2 and use the Double Din and cut the top portion of it and just leave the sides and bottom and try to leave the cover. My guy said with a 6.5 screen it might be possible. For now the TC has 600 miles on it and trying to figure out what i want for now.

 

The door is a cool idea to hide it but once again, scum who know what an xb interior looks like will wonder what's behind door #1 and break into your car to find the answer. =(
- sh00k

 

^True, but scum always like to make a quick go at it. The more difficult the break in looks the less likely you are of being hit by any regular scum. I want to make it look like they have to do their homework before trying to break in. That is why I like the door idea so much. Now if only I could come up with some sort of a design.....