dave97LX

Yesterday, I had two things that'd make me a happy guy if I still had them today:
1) A passenger-side window.
2) My head unit.

Unfortunately, I don't. I work at a country club and I left work to the news that my window had been smashed (in the parking lot, in broad daylight right outside the club and driving range) and my stereo had been lifted. Sweet.

I'm left with a gaping hole in my dash and some decisions to make. Fortunately the thieves werent too smart as they tried to pry at the window frame first, then gave up, smashed a window and hurriedly ripped out my entire deck and pocket assembly without noticing the sets of RCAs they unplugged that obviously led to a more expensive amp. Anyway...

A few things had me thinking. First of all, why are these plastic mounting assemblies so easy to just rip out? They were able to rip out the whole thing just while leaning through the window, they didn't even have to get in my car to do it! When I get a new HU is there a sturdier, preferably not cheap-plastic mounting assembly I can get or am I stuck with this easily breakable crap? Look at this picture and you can see the piece that's left (and so easily lost the fight)...


(By the way, they didnt rip out the console and trim, the police have that for fingerprints)

Also, I know nothing about alarm and security systems...and my accord is an LX which means it doesn't have any antitheft or keyless. And my budget is pretty limited after an $830 service/inspection last week and covering my deductible. Plus, the deck I had was a sony cdx-mp80 which they dont even make anymore, so I doubt I'll get much for it. Now that I know I'm vulnerable to juvenile pricks with claw hammers, what should I do here? I'm at a loss and quite shocked, thanks for any help :shocked:

TTT

Definitely get a decent alarm, it will help... and make sure you do something to let them know you have an alarm, like have a red led somewhere in your car. You can also get insurance on your audio equipment, although the process may be kind of long, its worth it. For the head unit, you can check where it goes in and see if there is a metal bracket attached to your dash or firewall somewhere to see if you can attach your head unit to it. There will usually be a place on your hu where you can bolt a metal bar to it, then you can attach the metal bar to the piece on your car. Of course you would have to use bolts that need a special tool to undo. And lastly, just use common sense. Don't be showing off your car to people you don't know, and don't go riding around in a parking lot blasting your music. Also, if you have any stickers on your car, take them off. Oh, and for this situation, definitely try and contact your insurance company. If you have a good insurance policy they should be able to help you out some... its better than nothing.

Sorry to hear about the loss man

booner

Yep, that's a bitch. It happen to me last year, I had it coming though. It was a bad part of town at about midnight, I didn't even think to take the faceplate off :doh: so stoopid...

They messed up the dash as well, cut it all up trying to rip it out, mine was in good, hopefully they damaged the radio doing it.

My advice to you is get a security system, don't get tinted windows, that'll atract them, buy a new a stereo and move on... all within buget, that'll be the tricky part. As far as I know there is no non-cheap mounting assembly.

My moms boyfriend once had a security system of his own, he devised these sharp metal shards and put them on the back of the radio, you were able to reach around on his car. One day he got into his car and found some blood under the stereo, the radio was still there but then he had blood to deal with.

One more thing, my friend mounted his stereo back into the assembly a few inches, enough to not be able to see from the side of the car, somewhat of a pain to push the buttons but it might save your stereo. Maybe make it so it can slide and lock in place, have it flush with the dash when your cruisin' then when parked unlock it, push it back, then lock it again, I dunno just some more creative ideas.

Sorry to hear that this happened at your work, thieves just bust your gut soemtimes.

cobbcustomz

Same basic thing happened to me at the end of April, Was at HIN and someone went into my car during the awards and stole my Indash TV. It wasnt hard to get out i am sure as it was basically just clipped in as well. F*** Thieves

dave97LX

I guess my oversight was not taking the faceplate off. Then again, I was in a parking lot on private property on a Thursday at 3PM, so I wasn't in super-lockdown anti-theft mode either. TTT, I hear ya about that bolt on the back of the head unit...unfortunately I had to special order the screws and trim from Sony that didn't come with the stereo and no bolt was included...I didn't care then, but I'm making sure next time.

I'll probably be back on here in a week or two asking about alarms and that kind of thing (when I've got some money again) but I've been reading reviews of a lot of alarms I've looked at that flip the hell out and go off for no reason all the time, even at the lowest settings. I'm hoping there's a pretty decent alarm out there that won't randomly go off, has glass-break sensors and maybe even page my cell phone when the alarm is triggered...but doesn't cost me more than my stereo. Times like this, I wish I had an EX because of that blinking red light on the dash, maybe that would've done it...

If anyone else has more input or advice, I appreciate it, thanks guys.

TTT

I'm not really knowledgeable about alarms, but when I do hear about them, it seems like Viper alarms are always mentioned among the best. I would definitely take a look at those, but I'm not sure about the prices.