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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Car Audio / January 2007Are removeable faceplates really a theft deterrent?
I happened to come across several shady places on the web which offer head unit removeable faceplates for sale. This makes me wonder how much of a theft deterrence they provide? I mean if you can buy another faceplate for a $250 head unit for about $35, what stops thieves from stealing head units and then purchasing a faceplate to get the stereo back to sellable condition? I even saw head units without faceplaces for sale on the same web sites, which tells me there is a market for them as well. Where I live (Central Valley, CA) vehicle break-ins are very common..,almost makes me not want to invest any money in a decent aftermarket car stereo. I'm sure an alarm system would be a good investment but my budget is limited and the last thing I want is to have the alarm go off without good reason. Speaking as a police officer, the vast majority of stolen CD players are ones where the victim forgot to take the faceplate off (assuming that most modern players are the removable face variety). Not to say that some get their stereos stolen even with the face plates off, (which are usually hidden in the glove box, under the seat, center console, etc. in which case the thief ends up taking it too) but it is MUCH less common. My experience is that most thieves end up selling a $250 CD player for less than $50. So at least for the small-scale thief, buying a faceplate to sell along with the stolen player is pointless. Park in well-lit areas, remove EVERYTHING of apparent value from plain sight, lock your doors, don't advertise your system - either by playing your music loud in your neighborhood, showing your system off to "friends", or putting "steal me" stickers all over your car, investing in an alarm can't hurt (yes, like you said you don't want it going off for no reason or it's useless), removing your face plate, etc. These are all things which will REDUCE the chances of your car being broken into. That's not to say it won't happen, but the idea is to make your car less appealing of a target than the one parked next to you. Tony  Signature2001 Chevy S10 ZR2 Pioneer DEH-P9600MP Head Unit, Phoenix Gold Ti500.4 Amp, Focal 165HC Speakers & Image Dynamics ID8 D4 v.3 Sub 2006 Mustang GT Coupe Alpine IVA-D310 DVD Head Unit, Alpine MRA-550 Digital 5.1 Amp, Boston Acoustics Z-Series Speakers, Alpine SBS-05DC Center Channel Speaker, Amplified MTX Thunderform Sub > I happened to come across several shady places on the web which offer > head unit removeable faceplates for sale. This makes me wonder how > much of a theft deterrence they provide? I beleive removing faceplates GREATLY deters theft.. Over the years, I've had several breakins, and I've never had a HU without the faceplate touched. My worst hit was a very meticulous job, they got everything, amps, subs, eq, they even took the relays, fans, and power distro blocks which were screwed down to a mounted board in my trunk.. I'm sure if the faceplate was on my HU at the time they woulda took that too, but that's the ONLY thing they left behind.. >>I happened to come across several shady places on the web which offer >>head unit removeable faceplates for sale. This makes me wonder how [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I'm sure if the faceplate was on my HU at the time they woulda took > that too, but that's the ONLY thing they left behind.. My theft deterrent is having all Jensen equipment. It can rock all day long and the bass bumps like crazy but the thieves just don't want to touch it. Fine with me. Even if they did steal the amp and HU I can replace both for under $200. > My theft deterrent is having all Jensen equipment. It can rock all day > long and the bass bumps like crazy but the thieves just don't want to > touch it. Fine with me. Even if they did steal the amp and HU I can > replace both for under $200. There is nothing wrong with Jensen. I use one Jensen amp in my four amp set-up. It works perfect. But I see your point. MOSFET You sound just like Bob. Only problem is that some people like more crazy then others. >My theft deterrent is having all Jensen equipment. It can rock all day >long and the bass bumps like crazy but the thieves just don't want to >touch it. Fine with me. Even if they did steal the amp and HU I can >replace both for under $200. Im with TonyF on thi I used to live in a bad part of Oklahoma and I had some really nic audio equipment and the biggest deterrent was removing my faceplace an secondly, dont show off your bumps, thats the biggest one in my book. The more people know about what you have and or can hear you comin dow the street, the higher the chance of them stealing your audio equipmen and DO NOT throw up stickers on ur car from the manufacturer One of my little brothers friends was the neighborhood thief and th kid was coming around selling stolen audio equipment and he offered u some nice equipment my way but i turned it down, ive been too afraid o the law, point being, the idiots in the neighborhood who bumped thei **** loud, you could gaurantee within a week it was gon the kid is now locked up for various crimes like auto theft an burglary, etc -- hvnd4speed > You sound just like Bob. Only problem is that some people like more crazy then > others. That was my first thought. If he'd typed all in lower-case, I would sworn it was Bob's in disguise :) >>My theft deterrent is having all Jensen equipment. It can rock all day >>long and the bass bumps like crazy but the thieves just don't want to >>touch it. Fine with me. Even if they did steal the amp and HU I can >>replace both for under $200. :> You sound just like Bob. Only problem is that some people like more :> crazy then others. : :That was my first thought. If he'd typed all in lower-case, I would sworn it :was Bob's in disguise :) I'm not sure if I am the Bob you are referring to, but if so, I am a bit puzzled as to what about my original post prompted these comments. No offense and with all due respect, and I'm not trolling, I'm just curious. If my post sounded a bit cynical I understand, but it's also no fun getting your vehicle broken into and/or stolen like mine has twice in the past 6 months. > I'm not sure if I am the Bob you are referring to, but if so, I am a > bit puzzled as to what about my original post prompted these comments. > No offense and with all due respect, and I'm not trolling, I'm just > curious. If my post sounded a bit cynical I understand, but it's also > no fun getting your vehicle broken into and/or stolen like mine has > twice in the past 6 months. Nope, not you. Bob Wald, the resident troll that touts Jensen/Boss, etc and insults everybody in the group while he's trying to get their support. And they weren't referring to you, but to the guy named "Tommy's Computer". Your post was fine and prompted some good comments (in regards to your post, not after that). You have to realize that people seldom stick strictly to the subject of the OP when responding to another poster of the thread. :> I'm not sure if I am the Bob you are referring to, but if so, I am a :> bit puzzled as to what about my original post prompted these comments. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] :people seldom stick strictly to the subject of the OP when responding to : another poster of the thread. OK, thanks Brandon. I've been doing Usenet for a long time, so I understand the off-topic banter that happens so often. >> I'm not sure if I am the Bob you are referring to, but if so, I am a >> bit puzzled as to what about my original post prompted these comments. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Nope, not you. Bob Wald, AHHHHH NOOOO, YOU'VE SPOKEN HIS NAME, NOW HE WILL APPEAR! > the resident troll that touts Jensen/Boss, etc Oh no, he's all abou JVC *everything*. Car stereos, home stereos, TVs... granted, we've got a 27" JVC TV that we've had for something like 10 years now, and it still looks fantastic, nothing wrong there... but our good buddy 'bob wald' (all lowercase, mind you) rates them above pretty much everything else in existence. > That was my first thought. If he'd typed all in lower-case, I would > sworn it was Bob's in disguise :) Don't forget the "......." between everything and "lol"s and such. and I've never had a HU without the > faceplate touched. I wish I could say that. I actually had my stereo stolen with my faceplate out once. But this is VERY unusual and it was a particularly expensive HU they stole the guts from (an Alpine 7939). I actually still have the faceplate for it. This was stolen (along with several other items) from a '95 Maxima that I used to compete in IASCA with (I also forgot to engage the alarm, and although I had a garage it was full of crap so I couldn't park in it...dumb...dumb...dumb...). I still have the faceplate for the 7939 and I keep it as a reminder to NEVER let my guard down when it comes to security. But Tony is ABSOLUTELY right. The vast majority of stolen HU's are ones where the owner left the faceplate on. Removable faceplates DO reduce theft (as long as you remember to remove the faceplate every time you leave the car, of course). No question. Again, as Tony pointed out it is not cost effective for a thief to steal the guts and then buy a face plate as he will only get $20-$50 at the local pawn shop for both components. MOSFET I go religiously to a local police auction and have for the past 9 years. I use to spend a lot on car audio equipment there. I can safely say it does not matter if the stereo has the face removed. There were and always have been BOXES!! of chassis available at the auction. I use to purchase these and faceplates. I enjoyed the challenge of mating each with its respective counter part then turning a complete/working stereo into cash for myself so I could continually upgrade my systems in all my vehicles. I have since controlled my bad habit but unfortunately I still have MANY complete stereos as well as hundreds of faceplates (ALL legitimately obtained). So if you need anything give me a holla. Especially if you are looking for a stereo I don't want to move everything to my new house that I am building. |
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