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Radio stolen, any prevention tips?

N

neocpp

Senior member
My radio got stolen from my car late at night a couple days ago while parked right outside my house. They messed up some wiring to turn off the alarm and the car wouldn't start until I repaired it, but otherwise everything else was fine -- no broken windows at least.

It wasn't a very nice model (some old pioneer, I was surprised they wanted it even since it's worth ~$40 max), but is there any real reason to replace it? I rarely listen to it, and don't want the replacement to get stolen, but the hole in my dash looks ugly.

Aside from moving to a better place (unfortunately I am stuck here for a few more years), is there anything I can do to stop this from happening in the future if I do replace the radio? I don't have a garage, so it's always on the street. I was hoping the alarm would be enough deterrent, but apparently they can disable it pretty quickly.

Does anyone have suggestions for a reasonably cheap radio with a detachable faceplate? Otherwise I was thinking of just cutting up some plastic to single DIN size and calling it a day.
 
The problem with radio thefts is that the cost of damage is much more than the value of the unit itself.

Most any electronics store that sells automotive radios will have models that have detachable face plates.

They may also install it with a faceplate that looks fairly natural.
 
BudAshes said:
Is this thread from the 90's? I didn't know people still stole that crap. I bet it was some idiot kids.
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Nowadays its almost pointless you get so much more out of a stock system (than you did before) and it manages a lot of the HVAC stuff. Those aren't going to be stolen unless the whole car is taken to a chop shop.
 
It's an older car (01 Integra), and I bought it used. Unfortunately it didn't come with the stock radio, or I would have just put it back in. I suppose I can look on ebay or something.

And yea, my first thought when checking out my car after the theft was "what is this, are we in 1996 again?"
 
Look at a junkyard Hondas have standard plugs so any radio you get from that era should plug in and work great and only run you about 20-30 dollars. Rt128 salvage yard off of 95 in Waltham is pretty good. You'll just have to call Honda for the theft code. It should be free if they ask you for money tell them to eat one
 
neocpp said:
It's an older car (01 Integra), and I bought it used. Unfortunately it didn't come with the stock radio, or I would have just put it back in. I suppose I can look on ebay or something.

And yea, my first thought when checking out my car after the theft was "what is this, are we in 1996 again?"
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More like 1988, maybe Johny 5 stole it from you.
 
Black2na said:
Look at a junkyard Hondas have standard plugs so any radio you get from that era should plug in and work great and only run you about 20-30 dollars. Rt128 salvage yard off of 95 in Waltham is pretty good. You'll just have to call Honda for the theft code. It should be free if they ask you for money tell them to eat one
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Thanks for the tip on the salvage yard -- got a few other brackets and things that would be nice to replace, but aren't worth shipping, hopefully I can pick these up for cheap from there.
 
Anubis said:
EagleKeeper said:
Most any electronics store that sells automotive radios will have models that have detachable face plates.
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that does not always stop people. i had mine stolen and the faceplate was off and inside my house
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I understand that it will not act as a physical deterrent.

However, if the faceplate is required for use; what is the value of the body to anyone? 😕
 
Depending on where you live and the make/model of the car they may have only stolen it so you replace it with a shiny new one.

Then they stop by in a month and steal your brand new fancy radio.
 
neocpp said:
Thanks for the tip on the salvage yard -- got a few other brackets and things that would be nice to replace, but aren't worth shipping, hopefully I can pick these up for cheap from there.
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if you dont have any luck finding what you need let me know there are quite a few up in my area that would be bound to have something. and i make it down to boston fairly often.
 
neocpp said:
It's an older car (01 Integra), and I bought it used. Unfortunately it didn't come with the stock radio, or I would have just put it back in. I suppose I can look on ebay or something.

And yea, my first thought when checking out my car after the theft was "what is this, are we in 1996 again?"
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Ah, the Integra, owned three of them myself, and holy crap what a lightning rod for the dumbest of thieves. Wish I still worked at the salvage yard as I used to hook up people with factory units (back then they were worthless) in addition to the codes from a very friendly Acura dealer.

Best bet is to just get a cheap head unit to replace it, assuming they didn't screw up your harness while being douches.

As far as prevention, I think it is all pretty standard stuff, and very much tied to location. I learned how to drive in an area that you could leave your keys in the car, but eventually moved. Have never been burglarized on the car front, but seemed to adjust from my roots to shittier areas and remembering the mantra to look like the worst score ever. Even brain-dead crack heads have a limit of how much risk they will put down for their next score.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Depending on where you live and the make/model of the car they may have only stolen it so you replace it with a shiny new one.

Then they stop by in a month and steal your brand new fancy radio.
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They do that for home invasions., vehicle could make just as much sense. Sooner or later, they will forget to pull the faceplate
 
Captain Howdy said:
Ah, the Integra, owned three of them myself, and holy crap what a lightning rod for the dumbest of thieves. Wish I still worked at the salvage yard as I used to hook up people with factory units (back then they were worthless) in addition to the codes from a very friendly Acura dealer.

Best bet is to just get a cheap head unit to replace it, assuming they didn't screw up your harness while being douches.

As far as prevention, I think it is all pretty standard stuff, and very much tied to location. I learned how to drive in an area that you could leave your keys in the car, but eventually moved. Have never been burglarized on the car front, but seemed to adjust from my roots to shittier areas and remembering the mantra to look like the worst score ever. Even brain-dead crack heads have a limit of how much risk they will put down for their next score.
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Funny enough, I thought that this was what I was doing. My car easily has the lowest value of the cars on the block (there's an Aston Martin convertible parked 20ft away directly in line of sight!), but I think you're right about attracting thieves, and if you know how to work a certain car, that's what you'll go for.

Black2na, thanks for the offer, I'll contact you by PM if I can't find something.
 
NutBucket said:
You can buy faceplates on ebay but it hardly seems worthwhile to steal a radio and buy a faceplate.
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I thought the faceplate would only work with a particular set?, if you can just call Pioneer and order a new one that will work with all the unit's what's the point of a detachable plate to begin with??.
 
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