Early Wednesday morning my car was broken into (1990 CRX Si) and my two-way radar went off. So I went out to the street and saw my driver's side door slightly ajar, with nobody in sight. After a brief inspection, I found that nothing was missing. I closed and locked her up and went back to bed. The next day I drove to work and parked the car, leaving my windows slightly cracked because of the heat here in Minneapolis at the time. Came back to my car at 5:00 PM Wednesday and hit the disarm button. Three beeps, and the drivers door is registering as ajar again. I was out of range of my two-way as I have to walk about eight blocks to work from my parking spot. I go up to the car, and again, my door is slightly ajar...this time the deck and remote control are gone. My hidden amps and subs and everything else are thankfully there, but the deck is gone... :'(

I've now had every single deck I've ever bought for any car stolen from me. Fourth time now. Is there any way to prevent this for real, or is it just a matter of if somebody wants it bad enough, they are going to get it? Are car alarms even worth it these days? Does anyone even bother to look if one goes off? I park my car on an open busy street area, where people are constantly walking by. I find it hard to believe that nobody heard it. Man I'm bummed. I haven't even paid off the system yet, and I've only got liability on the car...I'm done with buying decks, and I'm not going to get anything nice until I have a garage to park it in, but with my luck, even a garage won't save me.

I'm saving up to purchase a 2005 TSX next Spring, but I am beginning to wonder if I should even bother before I have somewhere to park it a little more secure...

 

that's why i'm using my stock HU but have replace all the other audio components.

 

sorry to hear about your loss though. i hate thieves.

 

Yeah I guess that's my plan for the future, using stock head units...but can't really use the stock HU from my current car, can I?

 

I hate thieves. My GF's brother had his cd player in his car stolen yesterday, in broad daylight, near a construction site. The friggin passenger side window is probably more expensive than the cd player itself. F*cking crackheads.

 

they even stole his loose change and a couple of cds. Something you should always do is copy down the serial # of the stereo system in your car and etch your DL# on it so when they go to pawn it, the chances of you getting it back is greater than say...zero. Hopefull he gets his back.

 

I don't mean to trivialize your situation, but when you hear a car alarm go off, do you turn around and yell "STOP THIEF!!"? Probably not. No one else does either. Car alarms have become background noise in the city.

That being said, I'm really sorry to hear about that. Maybe try one with a detachable faceplate?

 

Heh heh heh...you are a nice guy, but the reality of the situation is...this really is sort of trivial to everyone but me, you know? I mean it is exactly as you say, nobody is gonna intervene with a thieving, it isn't in their best interest. That's why I thought it would be a good idea to invest in the two way radar thing. Still, you have to be pretty ballsy to just break into a car in plain sight and rip out a stereo and go on your way. It is just kind of a shame, you know...

I've had three detachable face-plated units. The first one they ransacked the vehicle and found the face plate in the glove box (yes stupid I know). The second one they simply took without the face on it (stupid as hell I know). The last one, I forgot to take it off one night, and it was gone. This time I decided what's the point, and got a decent alarm system instead. The alarm system did nothing but delay the theft by 8 hours or so...

It just seems like I've bad luck I guess.

 

Seems like what you need is a video surveilance system. Broadcast the face of the looser on the 6 o'clock news and I'm sure you'll get the stereo back.

I guess the best place to park is by an ATM machine. They have video cameras 24/7.

 

I feel even worse for you now....

It's sad that you can't even own stuff anymore without people wanting to take it.

 

Sorry to hear about your theft.

What we used to do at my shops for alarm-head unit protection was as follows:

1) Install a piezo siren inside the car (air vents). Make sure it's not easy to get to.

2) Use a backup battery (NOT a b/u battery siren) to keep the alarm going even if they pull the battery terminal.

3) Make sure the brain of the alarm is HARD to find.

Most alarm installs are not secure at all, and are not hard to disable... but if you can make the alarm hard to disable and make it painful to be inside the car as it goes off, it's an extra layer of deterrence.

 

sorry to hear about that. i used to have a 91 civic with a similar dash, i remember that the deck is really easily removable. If you get another deck, maybe try screwing it down to something else. I remember the plate used to screw down the deck was really flimsy in my car.

all the best

 

i dont know what the dash of the CRX looks like but i used to have a 93 civic LX.
the stock stereo faceplate was thick and the din hole in the dash was deep. i rigged up a small circuit to the back of the factory faceplate i removed from the stock stereo. then mounted a red LED light that would flash where the anti theft light on the stock faceplate normally flashes.

when i park the car i would remove the aftermarket faceplate and flip a switch on the OEM faceplate to start the light flashing and simply stick the stock plate right over the aftermarket stereo.
looked totally stock. better than thoes fake stereos because this was actually the stereo that belonged in the car. not only that the flashing anti theft light made it look like it actually had power and was connected to the battery.
i had a 800.00 stereo behind there and never had any problems with it. the rest of the system was concealed in the trunk.

i think you need few things,
1 a disguise for the HU like i described
2 an alarm that will set and lock the doors even if you forget.
3. get a hood lock for your car so they cant disconnect the battery.
4. it sounds like you have a 2 way paging alarm you need to park closer to your work so your not out of range.
5 a pezo siren connected to the alarm located in the car will usually deter most theives if they get that far. and a good alarm install with everything hidden is best. i reccommend having all the wires for the alarm extended and install the alarm brain under the carpet someplace and all the wires loomed and taped and routed to look stock.
6. remove the yellow and black wires from the plug of the HU and reverse them. this way black becomes 12 volts and yellow becomes ground. if anyone steals the radio they will smoke it the first time they attempt to hook it up.

 

I suggest this (check out the video).

 

Haha...the good ol' flamethrower.

So is that how you got the flaming head, Dan?

 

Yep, it was an R&D experiment gone horribly wrong.

 

Not the category that Honda would be proud of being included the most in:

2003's most stolen vehicles
Rank Year Make Model | Rank Year Make Model
1 1995 Saturn SL | 14 1994 Honda Accord
2 1998 Acura Integra | 15 1995 Honda Accord
3 1994 Saturn SL | 16 1991 Toyota Camry
4 1999 Acura Integra | 17 1995 Honda Accord
5 1995 Acura Integra | 18 1993 Honda Civic
6 1997 Acura Integra | 19 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe
7 1996 Acura Integra | 20 2001 Mitsubishi Montero
8 1994 Acura Integra | 21 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe
9 2002 Mitsubishi Montero | 22 1995 Honda Civic
10 2000 Honda Civic | 23 1990 Toyota Camry
11 1991 Acura Legend | 24 1989 Toyota Camry
12 1999 Honda Civic | 25 1993 Honda Accord
13 1994 Honda Civic |
Source: CCI Information Services

 

Long after they've been initially sold Acura and Honda are still in high demand.

 

i miss my integra mine is the white one...

 

I think the stock TSX HU (especially with NAV) will make a harder target. .....And maybe think about a locking car cover.

 

humm.. well how about gettin a deck with a face removel.. that way.. u can take the face plate out and a HU is useless without the face plate... so a thief wont bother taking it... he wont get no money out of it.. thats ur best hope of not gettin it stolen.. its like make peanut butter and jelly.. its useless without the other...