Some little $%#*&* stole the factory fitted Sat Nav unit out of my brand new Superb the 3rd time I parked it on the street. Did a right number on the console in the process and damaged the handfree unit on the way out. I've spoken with my local dealer and they can't think of any solution to deter theft in the future. The insurance company has put me on notice they will only foot the cost once more.

Any suggestions as to replacement units with detachable facias? Any thoughts on an easy and tasteful security method? I've wondered about anchoring a couple of steel pins top and bottom of the unit to the chasis and padlocking a cross piece to them at night.

Really sorry to hear about that, I do wonder about mine sometimes when I leave it parked up.

Be interested to know of any solution you do come up with.

Regards

SJ

That's really a PITA mate, sorry to hear about it.

You're right a detachable faceplate or better a whole unit would be a better idea.

Perhaps an uprated car alarm with a pager would also be in order?

Hope it all gets sorted really fast for you.

Bas

Aww man, sorry to hear that.:(

The little ***** think oooh thats nice, I'll have that and make 20 quid too (from something that costs what

Thanks for the condolences.

I've been looking at the pictures available on line and have a question for those of you who have been that far into the dashboard. My thoughts are along the lines of a plate over top of the sat nav unit to prevent access to any of the facia. I can't get to my car at the moment as it is in the shop.

It appears to me that the surrounding material for the sat nav slot is plastic and won't provide a substantial anchor point. I note however the screws at the top, either side of the slot and holding the climate control unit in place. Can anyone tell me if these screw into anything substantial like the chasis? How practical would it be to replace these screws with 3/8 inch bolts facing outwards that would be just long enough to penetrate the facia to act as anchor points?

sorry to hear about the thefts......most annoying.....i decided against the skoda sat nav and put in a BLAUPUNKT FREESTYLER unfortunately its a single din unit, it combines a radio and cd player and sat nav all in one and has a detachable fascia...its absolutley brilliant and i gained extra storage space too. Fitted it in my superb in about an hr and all you need is to make sure the iso plug fits the back of the sat nav...halfords can advise.....no calibration needed as it self calibrates .. punch in the destination and way you go......or get the BLAUPUNKT EXACT and that covers all of europe as well

Can I ask how they got into the car?

I would suggest getting a window security film fitted to your cars glass, as this means that if they break the glass they hopefully shouldn't get into the car to nick the sat nav.

Otherwise I know older cars used to have covers for the radios so you couldn't see what was behind the lift up flap, but this seems to not be done these days

Sorry to hear that. Just what I was going to suggest, about window security film. For example see SupaGlass from Pentagon. Not sure on pricing, but it can be tinted as well.

Steve

Ok, behind the dash, everything is plastic (I've had it all out on my superb when I had one) so there is nothing of substance to anchor too.

All the surrounds are plastic, as is the frame that holds the navigation unit, all the screws screw into them little metal clips on the plastic, the nearest piece of solid metal is the bar that runs across the dash, but that is right up near the top so unless you looped some steel cable around it (assuming you could dig that far into the dash) you wouldn't be able to fix too it.

However, you really wouldn't want it clamped in place anyway, trust me, if they cant get it out easily, they will resort to bigger tools and absolutely ruin your dashboard.

Was the car deadlocked? Did they smash the rear quarter light window to get in? thats the usual way in, if the doors are deadlocked then they still dont get in and you just have a broken window to deal with as you cant open the doors from the inside, so they cant get in.

If they went in through the normal side window then it doesn't matter about the deadlocks as they can obviously climb through, most of them prefer the quarterlight windows as they are less obvious and quieter when breaking.

So basically, always make sure your deadlocks are on.

Personally, I'd take the pay out from the insurers rather than have them re-fit a standard unit, and buy another aftermarket unit with security features, the bonus is that it'll be better than the O/E unit and it'll play DVD's too!

As for tracking GPS devices, GPS is one way only, the sattelites cant see where you are, the system only recieves data from sattelites to work out where it is, it transmits no signal at all, to track a gps equipped vehicle you need some way of communicating the vehicles position to a central computer, for example - our Taxis are all GPS tracked and the in car system relays it's position via a PMR data/voice enabled radio (like a CB radio) systems like Tracker emit a signal that can be triangulated by police vehicles with the relevant recieving equipment, and GPS tracker relays its position by GSM (phone) to the control centre.

Sorry to hear this.

What i do is leave a pair of old well worn and i might add well washed underpants highly visible in the car like on the gearstcick when i`m parked in dodgy areas as i`m mobile for work. Also comes in handy for cleaning the screen.

Worked so far..

Not being funny, but what do you hope to achieve by doing that?!

Hope the thief has hygiene issues, and therefore won't touch your car with a bargepole?

Steve

Not being funny, but what do you hope to achieve by doing that?!

Hope the thief has hygiene issues, and therefore won't touch your car with a bargepole?

Steve

Exactly. Would you rob my car of its stereo?

The only person who would want to break into my car is me or a pervert.

I`ll post a picture tomorrow of the said item in place. See what u think...

I'd be inclined to think the average thief would be of the 'smash, grab, ask questions later' variety myself....

Steve

All i know is it has worked so far. It is cheap and easy to implement.

This is not a mickey take i assure you . After losing 4 car stereos in 12 months i thought i would try a different approach, so far so good. 12 months later, no problems.

Recycled undies cost = 0

Security, Insurance claims, Stress = Hundreds of pounds and sleepless nights.

We could start a new trend !

Sorry to hear about your theft it's no consolation but the bast@!!s broke into mine :thumbdwn: because the mark from the suction mount from my tom tom showed up in the cold. Nothing inside for them to take but they damaged the door when they broke the window:( If they want it they will take it you just can't have anything nice these days.

I don't know how much trouble it would be to remove the unit and reinstall it with the keys and put it in the boot when you leave it. but there's probably too much setup involved (I'm sure some one will know).

Sorry to hear about your kit mate. to the dude who stole it.I don`t know much about the sat nav that come installed in the skodas but i have a nav man and what i do is place the suction unit on the passenger sun visor mirror.When removed you simply flip up the visor and any marks are out of sight,not leaving any clues that you have sat nav.Just thought this might help other mobile sat nav users.

Looking at the brochure and my car the SatNav aerials are at the back of the car, near the radio aerial, so would the stolen unit work away from your car ?

Sorry for not being active, just spent the last 2 weeks putting 5,000km on the car.

To respond to the questions of how the twit got in, he took a screwdriver to the driver's door window, after trying to force the driver's door lock and trying to pry the passenger side door. Doors were locked as were the rear seats so the induvidual had to lean in the window, leaving plenty of his jacket fluff behind (guessing he was wearing a fleece of some sort) and couldn't get into the trunk.

I like the idea of the supaglass but will have to check what the costs will be like.

During my trip I used a portable GPS unit along side the built in version. Based on the results, I much prefer the built in version so will stick with that option. Unfortunately I'm stuck with the factory model now as much as I wished it was a detachable facia version. Maybe I can get a trade in.

I think Bengie will have something to say about the "security film" - I believe someone broke into his Octavia and the film just made their life easier - keeping the glass together in one hassle free piece.

I'd be very surprised if that was the proper Pentagon Supaglass. Equally, I know of a few people who've had ICE installs protected by it. One of the guys even had a full Toad system with camera, and could see they gave up trying and legged it empty handed.

Mpeer - you may even find you get an insurance discount for it being fitted, worth looking into.

Steve

I just got myself a tomtom and it's greeeaat ( I really slipped up by not talking my wife into us getting one sooner)

Then my brother in law just took the wind out of my new pride and joy with the same comment as Stan just made.

The thieves look for the circles on the windows made by the suckers in the hope you leave them in the glove compartment (which we never lock do we...be honest) when you leave the car parked.

The gps has helped me in my job to find ships in remote ports, now I'm scared that one day I'll have to pay the deductible for a broken window on a hire car...........

That suggestion is pants....

That suggestion is pants....

What?

I just got myself a tomtom and it's greeeaat ( I really slipped up by not talking my wife into us getting one sooner)

Then my brother in law just took the wind out of my new pride and joy with the same comment as Stan just made.

The thieves look for the circles on the windows made by the suckers in the hope you leave them in the glove compartment (which we never lock do we...be honest) when you leave the car parked.

Always keep a foam pad in the car so you can wipe the screen where the sucker/mount has been. It is a common problem. Also make sure any bluetooth equipment is switched off or in such a mode as it is not detectable - thieves have been known to search for a bluetooth device in the car, get a reply and know a sat nav/mobile/laptop is in the boot.

It always amazes me how wise to things thieves are, you could almost respect it. If only they would use their knowledge and skill for something positive they could stop living their lives as pointless individuals and stop making life a misery for the rest of us too...Bl**dy Scumbags.