GPS - stolen

[funtime2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close funtime2]

What a way to start a vacation. We were less than 2 hours from home and had stopped for breakfast. Within one minute of parking the van and walking into the restaurant someone threw something and broke the passanger window and stole our GPS - it was caught on camera. The silver lining in this is nothing else was taken. My pocketbook was behind the passanger's seat and it was not taken. Also we had a widescreen DVD player, 2 cell phones, 2 laptop computers - but none of this was taken. If I had of returned to the van before being seated, no telling what would have happened. Atleast none of us were hurt or killed. We bought a roll of duck tape along with a garbage bag to fill the hole so we could continue on our vacation to Orlando. Stopped at the nearest Circuit City and bought another GPS. When talking with the man who replaced our broken glass, he said he sees it everyday... what a shame.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Portable GPS units have become the hot item to steal from a car. I'm assuming that, as with stereo's at one point, they're easy to steal and easy to resell. Not only do you have to take them with you to keep them safe, you also have to clean that little suction cup ring off your windshield each time you take it out of your car. Thiefs will spot that ring and break into your car figuring you've taken it off and put in in the glove box or under the seat.

While I'd love to have one I'm not certain I want to put up with the hassle of trying to protect one. At the moment my wife has a Sprint phone and Sprint has a GPS service that costs us $10/month. So far it's worked reasonably well but we are limited to locations that have Sprint service.

This past week we had a camera stolen from us while we were on a brief vacation at Westgate Branson Woods. At this point I'm certain that one of the staff members used their pass key to open the door and snatch my camera bag off the dining room table while we were gone one afternoon.

[funtime2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close funtime2]

Forgot to say that the GPS was password protected - so I guess it is of no use to anyone. They probally ditched it when they found this out.

[janapur Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close janapur]

Portable GPS units have become the hot item to steal from a car. I'm assuming that, as with stereo's at one point, they're easy to steal and easy to resell. Not only do you have to take them with you to keep them safe, you also have to clean that little suction cup ring off your windshield each time you take it out of your car. Thiefs will spot that ring and break into your car figuring you've taken it off and put in in the glove box or under the seat.

While I'd love to have one I'm not certain I want to put up with the hassle of trying to protect one. At the moment my wife has a Sprint phone and Sprint has a GPS service that costs us $10/month. So far it's worked reasonably well but we are limited to locations that have Sprint service.

This past week we had a camera stolen from us while we were on a brief vacation at Westgate Branson Woods. At this point I'm certain that one of the staff members used their pass key to open the door and snatch my camera bag off the dining room table while we were gone one afternoon.

We bought an attachment on ebay that acts as a weight to hold the GPS on the dash instead of the suction device on the window. It transports easier, since I no longer have to secure it to the window. We actually bought it because the suction kept failing on our frozen glass in MN winters.

Jana

[Jestjoan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jestjoan]

Sorry to hear about the car break in. You were very fortunate that the other valuables were not taken, too.

I sent a copy of your post to DH.....he needs to learn from it.

[Kay H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kay H]

Nothing is sacred any more. If someone wants somrthing, they just steal someone elses.

I have a gps that I keep in my house in the case but I keep the suction cup on my windshield because it is a pia to attach. If I use my gps and have to leave my car, I detach the unit from the suction, put it in the case and put the case under the passenger seat or sometimes carry it with me.. If someone wanted to look for it, they could break the window but hopefully since they can't see it, they will pass it by.

I love mine and would replace it if it were stolen. The new ones are smaller and touch screen

[SOS8260456 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close SOS8260456]

Sorry you have to deal with this. Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Lisa

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Sorry to hear that this happened. My husband thinks I'm a tad paranoid, but I'm an inner city gal...I use an IPod on trips, and not only do I remove the IPod and place it in my purse at stops, I take the FM-Modulator/Connector and throw it under my seat.

Please, from now on take your purse with you whenever you leave the car, even if it is to go into a mini mart to pay for gas. There are way too many things in it to lose.

Fern

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

I’m sorry to hear about your loss and your broken window… But, I feel your pain… Just last week my car was broken into while we were on vacation as all of you know… It seeming to happen to more and more of us. I know we all get more relaxed and our awareness goes down a little while we’re on vacation, and I know it is difficult to take everything out of our cars… I know things happen out of our control… But we can minimize the damage by bringing our awareness up so we can avoid incidents like this in the future…
On a positive note, no body was hurt and only materials things were taken and can be replaced

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

What a way to start a vacation. We were less than 2 hours from home and had stopped for breakfast. Within one minute of parking the van and walking into the restaurant someone threw something and broke the passanger window and stole our GPS - it was caught on camera. The silver lining in this is nothing else was taken. My pocketbook was behind the passanger's seat and it was not taken. Also we had a widescreen DVD player, 2 cell phones, 2 laptop computers - but none of this was taken. If I had of returned to the van before being seated, no telling what would have happened. Atleast none of us were hurt or killed. We bought a roll of duck tape along with a garbage bag to fill the hole so we could continue on our vacation to Orlando. Stopped at the nearest Circuit City and bought another GPS. When talking with the man who replaced our broken glass, he said he sees it everyday... what a shame.

Shame! Sorry you had such a rotten thing happen to you. I was in a store last week and a thief stole my wallet out of the pram. I didn't realise until I went to pay for my purchase.

[kapish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close kapish]

Remove the suction cup! Clean the windshield!

I have a gps that I keep in my house in the case but I keep the suction cup on my windshield because it is a pia to attach.

There was a thread OY about this. Thieves look for suction cup marks on the windshield and break in to the vehicle. It is also a good idea to clean the cup marks off the windshield.