OK, here is the problem. Everyone in the apartment building I live in has had their car broken into. The second to last time I had a broken window and nothing was taken. After that I kept my doors unlocked and moved all my valuables to the truck (I disabled the release). The problem is I forgot (didn’t know) you can access the truck from the back seat.
The idiot got away with a 4 year old GPS unit (that is voice activated and didn’t take the proprietary mic), and is also out of date. He also took a sleeping bag and a winter jacket… The good news is my insurance replaced everything, the bad news is I don’t know how to keep my stuff safe.
The trunk is out, I use velcro on the dash (so they don’t see the suction cup marks on the window). And I am locking my glove compartment, but I have to say I doubt that lock would keep a child out let alone an adult that already broke a lock.
I drive about once a week, and want my GPS in the car for when I get lost which is about once a month.
Thank you for any advice, and happy new year.
My first response would be to move, and/or bug the owner/manager/police to put some security in place.
Regarding the GPS; if it’s a portable unit, just put it in your pocket and take it with you. Mine is semi-permanently installed with velcro so I can just unplug the wire an take it if I’m parked in a questionable area. They only cost about $500, so they are probably below your insurance deductible anyway.
Did you report your loss to the Police and the Apartment Manager? What was their response? I would also remove it from the car. Put it in a bag that you are likely to carry with you when you get into the car. Put anything of value that you might keep in the car in the bag and keep it near the front door of your apartment so that you won’t forget it.
Move if you can or don’t keep anything valuable in the car.
I agree about the location and the security.
As for what else to do, consider adding some Velcro under the dash where it can’t be seen and put the GPS there when you are not using it. It is doubtful if they will look there. Also most cars have a space around the spare tire where you could tuck it away and unless they are also taking spare tyers it should be safe.
The thing is I hardly ever drive I like a 4 minute walk to work. And while the homeless people are a small problem I really do like where I live. As for taking it out of the car, that would mean never having it when I need it. I don’t plan on getting lost, I am just very good at it. I’ve driven to the mall a dozen times, I’ve also driven to the Steak and Shake many times, so how just a couple of months ago I got on the highway heading the wrong direction and couldn’t find my way back to town… I had to plug my old GPS if I didn’t have it I might still be driving around corn fields looking for a highway.
In that case, I would probably just hide it in the trunk someplace so you can dig it out on the occasions that you need it.