Are removeable faceplates really a theft deterrent?

[Bob]

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.

[Tony F]

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




--
2001 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

[mfreak]

> 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..

[Tommy's Computer]

mfreak wrote:
>>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..
>


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.

[MOSFET]

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

[MOSFET]

>
> 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

[Captain_Howdy]

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.

[hvnd4speed]

Im with TonyF on this

I used to live in a bad part of Oklahoma and I had some really nice
audio equipment and the biggest deterrent was removing my faceplace and
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 down
the street, the higher the chance of them stealing your audio equipment
and DO NOT throw up stickers on ur car from the manufacturers

One of my little brothers friends was the neighborhood thief and the
kid was coming around selling stolen audio equipment and he offered up
some nice equipment my way but i turned it down, ive been too afraid of
the law, point being, the idiots in the neighborhood who bumped their
**** loud, you could gaurantee within a week it was gone

the kid is now locked up for various crimes like auto theft and
burglary, etc.


--
hvnd4speed

[Barry & Nikki]

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.

[Matt Ion]

Captain_Howdy wrote:
> 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.

[Bob]

In article <sGMth.796304$R63.588742@pd7urf1no>,
Matt Ion > wrote:
:Captain_Howdy wrote:
:> 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.

[Brandon Buckner]

Matt Ion wrote:
> 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.

[Brandon Buckner]

Bob wrote:

> 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.

[Bob]

In article >,
Brandon Buckner > wrote:
:Bob wrote:
:
:> 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.

OK, thanks Brandon. I've been doing Usenet for a long time, so I
understand the off-topic banter that happens so often.

[Matt Ion]

Brandon Buckner wrote:
> Bob wrote:
>
>> 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,


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.