Stock Regular Radio Wanted (Not Touring Bose), Forum Friend Help Needed

[MattP725]

Not to sidetrack but you really think thieves would steal an aftermarket head unit without the faceplate? They are rendered worthless without it.

[Bonzo]

Originally Posted by MattP725

Not to sidetrack but you really think thieves would steal an aftermarket head unit without the faceplate? They are rendered worthless without it.

The answer to your question is, unquestionably, yes. The removable face plate is a deterrent, not a fix. I know this because it's happened to me personally. I used to take my Sony face plate off (and out with me) in my old truck religiously. Low and behold, I came out of work on day and my door lock was popped, and the dash was totally ripped out; radio WITHOUT face plate was gone (I still have the faceplate as a reminder). $3000 damage. At first I was like, you stupid MF. But then I called Sony and spoke with them and they were like, sorry about your luck. But all the thief has to do is call up Sony and order a new replacement face plate for $125. So they stole my $800 radio, and while they didn't get it for free, they got a huge discount.

So now I'm sure things have changed with the more modern electronics, mainly because the turn time on stuff is so fast, replacement faces probably aren't available for very long. But with the JVC there isn't any sort of registration program or security code thing either, at least not that I know of. I'm certainly no expert on how it all works anymore, but I do know it's not fail safe. And besides, there is still a really good chance any potential thief will see the radio, then know that there is a also a really good chance the face plate is still in the car. Hidden maybe, but still a 50/50 chance it's in the car. Probably better than 50/50 actually. While I like to remove the face plate from the car totally as much as possible, that just isn't practical all the time. I mean, I'm a guy without a large purse, so where do I put it when I'm just going to Kroger for 30 minutes? Here at work I can just bring it in with me, but if I'm going out to eat or to a concert or something, dragging in my face plate just isn't practical. I'd do it if it were, but it's not. Thieves know this.

So no, the removable face plate is not a 100% cure, at all. It helps, yes, but it's not a perfect fix. I think some proof that it's not a total fix is that if it were, don't you think every single aftermarket radio would have this feature? I would. I think my stock face plate idea goes a LONG way to alleviate this issue. Only a seriously desperate thief would break into a Z only to steal the P.O.S. stock radio that's in there. At that point they would be more into wanting the whole car, or a joy ride. But that stock radio by itself? No way. I think it's a great idea, and will give me a much better piece of mind about it. If that's all it is, then so be it, but piece of mind is worth it to me.

[Bonzo]

Just thought I'd post some pics of my project along the way. Don't have any with the buttons glued in downloaded from my camera, but here you can see how it comes apart and all the dremeling and sanding I did so far.